British Columbia Blind Sports and Recreation Association

News and Content

Insight - The Newsletter for the Membership of BC Blind Sports: Summer 2008 Issue

The newsletter is also available as a Word document, click here.

Table of Contents

28th Annual Run for Light
Annual General Meeting
A New Face
Summer Students
Dragon Boating
Lawn Bowls
Congratulations to the Paralympians
City Chase
AIM Kids Goalball Program
Blind Curling
Access for Sight Impaired Consumers (ASIC) Hightlights
Board of Directors
Office Staff

28th ANNUAL “RUN FOR LIGHT”

Emcee George Vernon welcomed the crowd followed by a high octane warm up led by Dragon Boater, Brian Evans. Member of Parliament, Hedy Fry highlighted how lucky we all are to live in Canada, noting the plight of those who are blind who are excluded from more than just sports in developing countries.

At night-fall, participants who were blind or sighted donned glow-in-the-dark t-shirts, left Lumberman’s Arch and ran, jogged, and walked the 4.3 km route guided by flashing barricades, and reflective pylons.

As always, the final leg featured the incredible sight of hundreds of runners moving along the sea-wall lighting up the sky with their glowsticks.

Thank you to our volunteers, sponsors and community partners who contributed to the success of this event.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

BC Blind Sports and Recreation Association held its Annual General Meeting on Saturday, June 14, 2008. Please see the updates to the Board of Directors in this newsletter.

A NEW FACE

We welcome Helen Varga to the office team. She is currently on temporary assignment as the office coordinator.

SUMMER STUDENTS

BC Blind Sports welcomes our two summer students, Katie Clark and returning from last year, Amy Liu, who will be assisting with BC Blind Sports programs and office administration.

DRAGON BOATING

"Eye of the Dragon" hit the frigid waters of False Creek on March 1 to begin another exciting paddling season. We welcomed 4 new members, including a new coach, Chris Scully, and 3 paddlers. Chris comes from an extensive background as a paddler and coach for several other dragon boat teams. One of the new team members is a visually impaired paddler, and the other two are referrals from team members.

Dan Hebert, who has been our coach for 4 years was not quite ready to sever his ties to our team, and remains as our drummer, an alternate coach, and our public relations advisor.

"Eye of the Dragon" has competed in two mini festivals so far. On May 3, at the FCRCC (False Creek Racing Canoe Club) regatta, we placed second in the competitive consolation final, giving us a 6th overall finish out of 32 teams. At the Alcan regatta, on June 7, we reached one of our team goals by qualifying in the Competitive A division final. We finished a close 6th place, giving us a sixth place overall finish out of 24 teams. This result gave us confidence for our next event.

The International Alcan festival, which took place on June 21 and 22, is our biggest competition of the season. We finished second in our class with a time of 2:13.360.

We are also looking forward to some out of town festivals, including, Harrison, Victoria, and Kelowna.

Moving up from last year's gold medal in the Diamond A Division, we ended Nanaimo with a 3rd place finish in the Platinum B Division.

LAWN BOWLS

Under mostly sunny skies, Nanaimo Lawn Bowling Club hosted its annual pairs invitational event.

Sixteen bowlers from Richmond, Coquitlam, Qualicum and Nanaimo enjoyed 2 competitive games and great fellowship.

Both Anne Graves of Nanaimo and Dan Watson of Qualicum did well in their first competition after being on the green for only a few practices.

Winning both their games, Kitty Gray and Kendrick Wall of Nanaimo, assisted by Margaret Soothill, were the big winners.

Qualicum’s Sam Simpson with director David Burton and Nanaimo’s Randy Fred with director Stan Dalzell won both of their games and placed placed 2nd .

All bowlers, directors and markers congratulated Madeleine Sherry and Margaret Coleman for the delicious lunch they prepared.

We were very pleased with the work of the markers and substitute directors who filled in so that each bowler had their own director.

Special thanks to Eugene Amburg and Howard Cordick who represented the mainland well and to Angela and Len Robson of Coquitlam for their transportation and directing help.

Check out the website www.nanaimolawnbowling.com for a write-up and photos of the day.

Thanks to all who came and those that helped.

Watch for information on the 2008 Canadian Blind Sports Association (CBSA) National Lawn Bowls Championships to be held in Courtenay, BC September 2-6, 2008.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE PARALYMPIANS

Dustin Walsh, T11 (B1*), along with his guide runner, Steve Walters, qualified in Athletics for his second Paralympic Games.

Dustin is preparing for Beijing with the Canadian Paralympic Track and Field Nationals and a staging camp with the Canadian Paralympic team in Vancouver before going to the Games on August 30th.

Swimmer, Donovan Tildesley, S11 (B1*), along with his tapper, dad Hugh Tildesley, is also going to Beijing.

Donovan broke his own men's 1500 metre freestyle world record July 12 at the 2008 Can Am Open competition. He finished with a time of 19:02.11 smashing his 2005 record of 19:51.12.

Brian Hill, S13 (B3*), a swimmer from Duncan, BC, will also be in Beijing with his club C.N. Piscin Du Parc Olmypique. He currently resides in Quebec where he attends school.

Brian Cowie (B3*), a cyclist who also competes in triathlon, and his pilot, Devon Smibert, head to Beijing for Brian's 3rd Paralympic Games.

BC Blind Sports and Recreation Association congratulates these athletes on their accomplishments and wishes them luck at the games.

They join the total 41 athletes of all disabilities who have qualified from BC. Paralympic Team Canada boasts 150 athletes and 130 officials as part of the estimated 150 countries participating in 20 sports and disciplines in this year's Games.

*B1 – totally blind
*B3 – 5% to 10% vision

CITY CHASE

Canadian Blind Sports has partnered with several provincial Blind Sports Organizations and City Chase to hold Goalball awareness events across Canada.

The first City Chase stop was Vancouver on May 10th, with other stops in Calgary June 7th, Montreal July 12, Ottawa July 19th, and possibly Toronto on August 16th.

Both the male and female Goalball teams came out to UBC, where we set up a court and challenged City Chase participants to experience Goalball, playing the wings alongside a provincial athlete at centre.

The event was a major success, with several hundred people experiencing Goalball.

Following the event, Shaw TV decided to come out for a Goalball practice and do a story on the team and the sport. The resulting video will be posted shortly at www.canadianblindsports.ca.

AIM KIDS GOALBALL PROGRAM

Over 8 weeks, the Surrey School Board and BC Blind Sports put on an introduction to Goalball program for several Surrey youth.

Every Wednesday 5-10 children came out for a 2 hour Goalball practice with BC Blind Sports program director, Mike Lonergan. This group of children and youth who are visually impaired or blind were encouraged to bring friends and siblings to come join in the fun.

In addition to learning basic physical literacy skills such as jumping jacks, push-ups, jogging and stretching, they learned some basic Goalball skills including safe, effective blocking techniques, court orientation, tracking the ball, as well as both straight and cross-court shots.

The 3rd annual AIM (Athletes in Motion) Games featured Surrey youth with physical, sensory, and intellectual disabilities trying sports that included Goalball, Boccia, power-wheelchair soccer, and many others.

The program was a great success, and hopefully will be repeated next year.

BLIND CURLING

The Vancouver Blind Curling Club is looking for new curlers who are visually impaired- no experience necessary.

Curling happens 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. every Wednesday from September to March. Come to the Vancouver Curling Club and enjoy lunch for a modest fee and then curl for 2 hours.

At the beginning of the season, players and a volunteer coach are arranged into teams.

In the second half of the season, teams are arranged according to skill level. Prizes are awarded to winning teams.

In addition to the curling, players enjoy the social aspects of this club.

Anyone interested in the sport of curling can contact Carol Kent at carolkent@telus.net or BC Blind Sports at 604-325-8638 info@bcblindsports.bc.ca

ACCESS FOR SIGHT IMPAIRED CONSUMERS (ASIC) HIGHLIGHTS

Here are a few highlights from the ASIC 2007 Annual Report that may be of interest to BC Blind Sports Members.

In keeping with its mission and purpose, ASIC, formerly known as Advocates for Sight Impaired Consumers has changed its name to Access for Sight Impaired Consumers. ASIC continues to advocate for people who are blind/visually impaired.

Some of the current issues ASIC is working on – Elections BC accessibility services for the May 2009 election, audio ATM access, the Talking Rx, Accessible Pedestrian Signals – with audible geographic information, TransLink talking stop announcers and text displays, and alternate billing formats from corporations such as Terasen Gas.

For more detailed information on these topics and others, please visit the Access for Sight Impaired Consumers web site at www.asic.bc.cx

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President----Brian Cowie
Vice President---- Tami Grenon
Treasurer---- Tom Ollis
Athlete's Representative---- Doug Ripley
Chair, Sport Commissioners---- Al Hanet
Officer-at-Large---- Larry Walsh
Member-at-Large---- Elaine Todd
Member-at-Large---- Shawn Marsolais
Member-at-Large----Ken Spencer

OFFICE STAFF

Executive Director ---- Jane D. Blaine
Financial Manager ----David Chung
Program Director ---- Mike Lonergan
Coordinator of Member Services ----Susan Flanagan
Office Coordinator ---- Helen Varga

INSIGHT is published by the BC Blind Sports & Recreation Association
Address correspondence to:
BC BLIND SPORTS AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
330-5055 Joyce Street,
Vancouver, BC V5R 6B2
Phone: (604) 325-8638 Fax: (604) 325-1638
Email: info@bcblindsports.bc.ca
Website: http://www.bcblindsports.bc.ca

Note: Information in this newsletter is intended for general guidance only. Readers are advised to speak with BC Blind Sports staff for more information and with a physician before changing any exercise, diet or other health practices.

End of Content | Back to Top

Text navigation: About BCBSRA | Calendar | Sports | Results | Run for Light | Awards | Links | News Archives | Administration | Membership | Newsletter | Donations and Planned Giving | Contact Us | Home