British Columbia Blind Sports and Recreation Association

News and Content

Insight -
The Newsletter for the Membership of BC Blind Sports – Fall 2007 Issue

Table of Contents

Board of Directors
Sport Commissioners
Staff
27th ANNUAL “RUN FOR LIGHT”
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
SUMMER STUDENTS
ATHLETICS
DRAGON BOATING
GOALBALL
SWIMMING
LAWN BOWLS
BC DISABILITY GAMES
CROSS COUNTRY SKIING DEMONSTRATION
IBSA WORLD YOUTH AND STUDENT GAMES
IBSA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS AND GAMES

Board of Directors

President: Brian Cowie
Past President: Doug Stoutley
Vice President: Tami Grenon
Treasurer: Tom Ollis
Athlete’s Representative: Doug Ripley
Chair, Sport Commissioners: Al Hanet
Member-at-Large: Shawn Marsolais
Member-at-Large: Ken Spencer
Member-at-Large: Elaine Todd

Sport Commissioners

Athletics: Don Steen
Dragon Boating: Dianna Johnston
Goalball: Doug Ripley
Golf: Bill Hamilton
Hockey: Brian Cowie
Lawn Bowls: Al Hanet
Showdown: Patrick York
Swimming: Hugh Tildesley
Tandem Cycling: Brian Cowie
Wrestling: Shelley Morten

Staff

Executive Director: Jane D. Blaine
Financial Manager: David Chung
Program Director: Mike Lonergan
Coordinator of Member Services: Susan Flanagan
Office Coordinator: Kristy Kassie

27th ANNUAL “RUN FOR LIGHT”

Hundreds of participants and volunteers came out to support BC Blind Sports and Recreation Association’s 27th Annual “Run for Light” fun run on May 25, 2007.

The weather was cool and dry, perfect for the sunset run, walk or wheel along a 4.3km route along the Seawall in Stanley Park. With participants creating a path of light along the seawall with their glow-in-the-dark t-shirts and lightsticks, the event helped raise awareness of BC Blind Sports programs for people who are blind or visually impaired. The post-run gathering was highlighted by a prize draw, where all registered participants were eligible to win prize packages regardless of their speed or finishing time.

Thank you to our volunteers, sponsors and community partners who contributed to the success of this event. Congratulations to Sue Englefield , winner of the Run for Light Volunteer draw prize.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

BC Blind Sports and Recreation Association held its Annual General Meeting on Friday, June 29, 2007. Please see the updates to the Board of Directors in this newsletter.

SUMMER STUDENTS

BC Blind Sports thanks our two summer students, Kyla Karakochuk and Amy Liu, for their enthusiastic assistance with BC Blind Sports programs and office administration.

ATHLETICS

Dustin Walsh and his guide, Steve Walters, competed at the Canadian Track and Field Championships in Windsor, ON, from July 12-17, 2007. Dustin and Steve were also members of Team Canada at the IBSA World Games in Brazil.

DRAGON BOATING

Eye of the Dragon, our Vancouver based dragon boat team, enjoyed a very active season. The team competed at the Alcan Dragon Boat Regatta and Festival, the Nanaimo Dragon Boat Festival, Fraser Valley Dragon Boat Festival and the Victoria Dragon Boat Festival. The team even traveled to San Francisco to participate in a festival there.

The Sonar Dragons (our Kelowna team) competed at the Kelowna Dragon Boat Festival. They made it to the A Division in the Pearl category. Due to high winds and rain, races on the last day of the Festival were cancelled.

GOALBALL

The 2006-2007 season saw an increase in the youth presence at the Vancouver practices. BC was represented by a youth team at the Canadian Junior Goalball Championships in Brantford, Ontario and Angell Lu-Lebel was selected to Team Canada as they competed at the IBSA World Youth and Student Games in Colorado, USA.
Three teams of youth and senior players from across BC competed at the BC Disability Games in Powell River.

SWIMMING

The Can-Am Meet for Swimmers with a Disability took place in Vancouver from July 13-15, 2007. Among the top swimmers in attendance was Donovan Tildesley. Donovan is also the recipient of the Kerr’s Recognition SWAD Male Athlete of the Year award.

LAWN BOWLS

Nineteen lawn bowlers and their directors participated in the BC Blind Sports Lawn Bowls Provincials which took place at the BC Disability Games in Powell River.

Congratulations to Randy Fred, who won gold in the B1 Men category and Shirley Cole who won gold in the B2 Women category. In B2 Men competition, Ed McMillan won gold, Al Hanet earned silver and Ken Wall took the bronze. In the B3 Men category.
Six bowlers and directors: Al and Vi Hanet, Kjeld Toftdahl and Warren Pready, Randy Fred and Stan Dalzell, Ed McMillan and Donn Sherry, Shirley Cole and Madeleine Sherry and Marie Schneider and Angela Robson, competed at the Canadian Blind Sports Lawn Bowls Championships in Peter- borough, Ontario.
Among the medalists were Randy Fred (Gold, B1 Men), Shirley Cole (Silver, B2 Women), Ed McMillan (Gold, B2 Men), Al Hanet (Bronze, B2 Men), and Kjeld Toftdahl (Gold, B3 Men).

BC DISABILITY GAMES

The BC Disability Games were held in Powell River, BC. Athletes competed in a variety of events from July 11-15. BC Blind Sports athletes participated in goalball, track and field, lawn bowls and golf. Some athletes took the opportunity to try archery, which was offered as a demonstration event.The volunteers of Powell River were extremely supportive throughout the Disability Games. For all the results and event photos, visit http://powellriver2007.com.

CROSS COUNTRY SKIING DEMONSTRATION

BC Blind Sports, in conjunction with Courtney Knight, held a “dry land” (no snow) cross-country skiing clinic on Saturday, September 15 at Deer Lake Park. This was a trial session to introduce the sport to a few BC Blind Sports members. It was also an opportunity for our program staff to work with the cross-country ski coaches.

IBSA WORLD YOUTH AND STUDENT GAMES

The International Blind Sports Association (IBSA) World Youth and Student Games took place in Colorado Springs, USA, from July 12-16, 2007. Youth from 37 countries gathered to compete in track and field, judo and goalball.

Angell Lu-Lebel, a member of the youth goalball team in Vancouver, was selected to the Canadian goalball team. For complete results, see www.usaba.org/Pages/07WYSG/07WYSG.html

IBSA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS AND GAMES

Mukhtiar Mahil, and his coach/sport guide, Sammy Toora, as well as Dustin Walsh and his guide, Steve Walters, were members of the Canadian team at the IBSA World Championships and Games in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Congratulations to Mukhtiar who won a gold medal in the 90kg weight class. For complete results, visit www.ibsabrasil2007.org.br/

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