BCBSRA News Archives

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2009

2009 CBSA National Lawn Bowls Championships

BC bowlers win Men's B1, B2 and B3 Men's titles, Women take silver in B2 and B3

BC’s Randy Fred successfully defended his National Title from 2008 in the B1 totally blind class. Randy capped off an undefeated tournament by beating Geoff Connor of Alberta by a score of 21 – 8, while Calgary’s Brian McIvor won the bronze.

In the men’s B2 partially sighted class, last year’s silver medalist Ken Wahl from BC won the gold medal as he was uncontested. Ken played exhibition games throughout the preliminary double-round-robin portion of the event in the B3 class.

In the men’s B3 legally blind class, BC’s Al Hanet defended his 2008 National Championship Title by beating newcomer Bob Smith from Calgary 21 – 14.

The final game of the women’s B2 partially sighted class was one of the more exciting of the event as the players were tied at 17 points each when the 3 hour time limit expired and had to play an extra tie-breaker end. Calgary’s Heather Hannett beat last year’s champion Iris Ferguson from BC by a score of 18 – 17 in the extra end with bowls so close they had to measure to determine the winner.

In the women’s B3 legally blind classification, last year’s champion Arlene Stapleton from BC was upset in the finals by Ontario’s Nel DeBruyn.
(Results courtesy of Canadian Blind Sports Assoc.) For full results visit the CBSA website at www.canadianblindsports.ca.

Summer 2009 Newsletter

The 2009 Summer newsletter is now available in .pdf or as a word document. It includes results for several sports, plans for upcoming events and more. To download the pdf, click here. To download the word document, click here.

Nanaimo Sports Hall of Fame Inducts Edgson -2009

Long time BC Blind Sports member and Paralympic swimmer, Michael Edgson has been inducted into the Nanaimo Sports Hall of Fame. Michael began his swimming career in Nanaimo. More...

IBSA Pan American Games / IBSA World Youth and Student Championshsips

Competition update – Day 4
Canadian Jr Men’s Goalball Team and Pan American Women’s Teams Win Silver Medals, Team Canada Athletes did extrodinarily well at the events winning 23 medals with 9 gold, 8 silver, and 6 bronze. Even more impressive, every Canadian competitor won a medal! More from the Canadian Blind Sports website.

Competition Update – Midway Through Day 2
July 17th, 2009. Colorado Springs, Colorado -Canadian Blind Sports Goalball Teams have played 6 out of 11 scheduled games for the day at the 2009 IBSA Pan American Games and IBSA World Youth and Student Championships.
Canada’s Junior Men’s Goalball Team began the day by beating Russia 8 – 6 on the strength of an impressive 8 goal performance by Dylan Johnson. All Athletics athletes who competed in last night's events won medals for a total of 2 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze as well as a win by Team Canada in the exhibition 4 X 400m race. To read more of this story and others from CBSA, visit the CBSA website.

Official IBSA Showdown Rules for 2009-2012

IBSA showdown rules are now available in word or pdf formats. Download Word version / .pdf version.

2009 Run for Light:

The 29th annual Run for Light Fun Run was held on Friday, May 29, 2009 in Stanley Park. What a great night for the Run, we had great weather for the approximately 1000 participants. What better way to spend a Friday evening than by the ocean supporting BC Blind Sports!
Thank you to all participants, volunteers, community partners, and our sponsors, for your tremendous support. See you next year!

BC Junior Goalball Teams win Gold/ Bronze at Nationals

The BC junior men's goalball team won the gold medal defeating Ontario, giving BC its first gold medal in Junior Goalball Nationals. The junior women's team finished third. after losing to Alberta in the semi-final, 2 - 1. More...

4 BC Goalball players named to CBSA National/ Development Team Pools

CBSA has announced the 2009 National Men's and Women's National Team pools, and Development Team pools, and 6 BC athletes have been identified.
As well, 3 athletes have been named to the IBSA World Youth Games to be held in Colorado Springs, USA. More...

2009 BCBSRA Insight Newsletter

The Winter edition of Insight is now available as a downloadable pdf. To download, click here.

2009 Island Open

Randy Kruzeniski followed up his 2 world titles at Karate Super Grands 2008 in December with 3 silver medals at the Island Open in Victoria, B.C. More...

2008

Tom Cowper

BC Blind Sports is sad to announce the sudden passing of Tom Cowper, a cherished volunteer of BC Blind Sports who will be deeply missed. Tom was instrumental in winning the bid that brought both the 2008 Canadian Blind Sports National Goalball Championships and the upcoming 2009 Canadian Blind Sports Junior Goalball Championships to Kelowna, where he ran a Junior Goalball program. He was a lead organizer of last year’s games, and helped make the event so successful. Tom recently was awarded the BC Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AERBVI) Jay Wadsworth Chapter Award for his tireless efforts. Demonstrating how dedicated Tom was to the blind sports movement, his family has asked that instead of flowers people who wish to pay tribute send a donation to the BC Blind Sports Goalball Program. Thank you Tom, you will be missed by all. Obituary

Western Canada Martial Arts Tournament

Randy Kruzeniski participated in the Western Canada Martial Arts Tournament, held at BCIT, October 18, 2008.

Entered in four events in Karate forms and Kobudo forms (traditional weapons), he won 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze for the day.

The next stop is the Super World Grands in Sacramento in December of this year. Randy says it's been a rewarding 2008 in the martial arts area having picked up 9 gold, 4 silver and 1 bronze in four tournaments. However the biggest challange will come in Sacramento in December.

Get set BC: The 2008 Canadian National Goalball Championships will be held in your backyard!

For the first time ever the BC Blind Sports and Recreation Association will proudly host the Canadian Blind Sports Association’s National Goalball Championships, between March 15th and 17th in Kelowna, BC. All of the best Goalball players from across Canada will compete in both men’s and women’s competition for the opportunity to be called the best in the Nation. More...

BC Athlete Assistance Program 2007-2008

BC Blind Sports is accepting applications for support from the BC Athlete Assistance Program (BC AAP)
Available support is awarded to those athletes who best meet the established Criteria for the eligible sports. These sports are currently supported by BC Blind Sports and Recreation Association for purposes of the BC AAP program. For details click here.

28th Annual Run for Light

Lumberman’s Arch in Stanley Park
Date: May 30, 2008
Distance: 4.3km run along the Seawall, that starts at sundown in Stanley Park at Lumberman’s Arch.
Start: Warm up at 9:00pm and the Run starts at precisely 9:32 pm.
Register NOW by mail, phone or online.
For more information, visit our Run for Light page.

2008 PREMIER'S ATHLETIC AWARDS

Premier Gordon Campbell paid tribute to 99 top BC athletes representing 56 sport disciplines at the 2008 Premier’s Athletic Awards on February 11 2008. Doug Ripley and Shawn Marsolais were selected by BC Blind Sports as the top male and female athletes in the sport of goalball. More details on the Awards page.

42nd ANNUAL ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AWARDS AND BANQUET

BC Blind Sports is pleased to present Doug Stoutley with the 2008 President’s Award. Doug Stoutley is a tireless ambassador in the field of sport and recreation for individuals who are blind. More details on the Awards page.

2007

CBSA on the move

The Canadian Blind Sports Association (CBSA) office has moved to Vancouver. Their new address is: #325 - 5055 Joyce Street, Vancouver BC, Canada V5R 6B2
Phone: 604 419-0480
Fax: 604 419-0481
(May 25, 2004)

Paralympic Results - Canada's Paralympic Team had amazing results, and members of BCBSRA on the team had some exceptional performances. Congratulations to them and to all of the athletes, coaches, and volunteers on the 2004 Canadian Paralympic Team. Canada finished 7th overall in the medal count wining 72 medals.

See full BC athletes results in our special Paralympic section)

25th Anniversary of the BC DAIRY FOUNDATION Milk Run™
We here at BC Blind Sports thank BC School Sports and the participating schools and their students across the Province  who participated and raised money in the 25th Anniversary of the BC DAIRY FOUNDATION Milk Run™. More...

Athlete of the Year Awards
Sport BC is proud to announce the winners of Sport BC’s 37th Annual Athlete of the Year Awards.  March 13, 2003

CANADIAN MEDALLISTS AT THE 2002 PARALYMPIC GAMES

CANADA TAKES HOME A RECORD SIX GOLD MEDALS FROM SALT LAKE CITY
The Paralympic Flame was extinguished Saturday night in a symbolic end to 10 days of exciting athletic competition at the Salt Lake City Games. Canada moved up from 15th in the world four years ago in Nagano to 6th out of 36 nations in 2002.   March 17, 2002

CANADA ENDS GAMES WITH A FOUR MEDAL TALLY
In cross-country, Brian McKeever and his guide and brother, Robin, both from Canmore, AB, ended the Salt Lake City Games on a silver medal note at Soldier Hollow. Brian, who is visually impaired, won his third medal of these Games, the previous two being of the golden variety. The tandem finished the 20 km course in a time of 55:41.4.  March 16, 2002

DANIEL WESLEY COMPLETES HIS SET OF MEDALS 
Daniel Wesley of New Westminster skied two clean runs in the sit ski slalom Friday winning the gold medal in a time of 1:30.02. Wesley's medal run at Snowbasin completes the set as he won a silver medal in the Super G and bronze in the downhill. Stacy Kohut (Canmore, AB) finished in fourth place 1:36.01.  March 15, 2002

TWO MEDALS WON IN GIANT SLALOM AT SNOWBASIN
Calgary's Karolina Wisniewska became Canada's most decorated athlete of the Salt Lake City Games Thursday with a silver medal run in the Giant Slalom (2:29.85). Lauren Woolstencroft from Victoria picked up the bronze medal (2:31.03). Mary Riddell of the United States won the race in 2:25.90.    March 14, 2002

MCKEEVERS WRITE HISTORY IN PARALYMPIC CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING WITH A SECOND GOLD MEDAL
Brian McKeever and his brother and guide Robin (Canmore, AB) won a second Paralympic gold medal today in cross-country skiing, Visually Impaired, at theNews button 10-km free-style event at Soldier Hollow. Brian finished the race in 22 minutes and 39.1 seconds, more than 37 seconds in front of Irek Mannanov, from Russia, and 1 minute 54 seconds before Alexander Schwarz, from Germany. Today, Brian became the first Canadian male to have won two gold medals during the same Paralympic Games. Shauna Maria Whyte (Hinton, AB) and Colette Bourgonje (Saskatoon, SK) were 6th and 9th, respectively in the 5-km cross-country sit- ski event.   March 12, 2002

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK WIN GOLD MEDAL FOR CANADA
For a man who claims he prefers the longer distances, Canmore's Brian McKeever and his guide and brother Robin obliterated the field and won a gold medal in the 5km cross- country classic race at Soldier Hollow in a time of 12:07.3. New Westminster's Daniel Wesley followed up Saturday's sitski bronze with a silver medal in the Super G Sunday.

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CANADIANS FOURTH AND SIXTH IN BIATHLON ON FIRST DAY OF COMPETITION AT THE SALT LAKE CITY PARALYMPIC GAMES
Shauna Maria Whyte (Hinton, AB) had Canada's best result on Friday with a fourth place finish in biathlon. Calgary's Brian McKeever, along with his guide and brother, Robin of Canmore, finished in 6th place. March 8, 2002

CANADIANS PART OF THE "JOURNEY OF FIRE"
Let the Games begin! As the Journey of Fire wound its way throughout the streets of Salt Lake City, a small but boisterous Canadian crowd cheered on five-time Paralympian Ljiljana (Lilo) Ljubisic (Vancouver, BC) who carried the torch in the official relay.
Accompanying Ljubisic were Jasmine Northcott (Ottawa) who is a representative of AthletesCan; Todd Nicholson (Ottawa) the captain of Canada's Sledge Hockey team and Carla Qualtrough (Ottawa) who is the Canadian Athlete's representative on the mission staff.   March 7, 2002

WHISTLER NATIVE OVERWHELMED AT BEING NAMED CANADIAN TEAM FLAG BEARER AT THE SALT LAKE CITY PARALYMPIC GAMES
At a Canadian team reception today at the Olpin Student Union Building on the University of Utah campus, Alpine Ski racer Mark Ludbrook was named the flag bearer for his country.

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