The days are counting down to when Alberta will be hosting all of Canada at the National Special Olympic Games, and local coach Martin McSween will be in the thick of it.
Last January The Drumheller Mail reported that McSween was named head of the Alpine ski team representing Alberta at the games, and after a year of organizing and training, he has a squad of eight skiers from Calgary, Edmonton and the Crowsnest Pass ready to take to the slope. McSween said a couple local skiers were close to qualifying for the games, however the lack of facilities may have hurt their chances.
The 2012 National Special Winter Olympic Games are from February 28 to March 3 and are being hosted by St. Albert. All of the events will be held in the St. Albert area, with the exception of the Alpine Skiing, which will be in Jasper at Marmot Basin. There is expected to be 650 Special Olympic athletes representing all the provinces and territories in Canada.
They will be accompanied by about 250 coaches, managers and mission staff, as well as thousands of family, friends and fans coming to cheer on the athletes. Events include speed skating, floor hockey, snowshoeing, figure skating, curling, cross country skiing and alpine events.
This is McSween’s fourth national games and he was an assistant coach at the World Games in 2009. This is the first competition acting as head coach. He said the position brought different responsibilities, including more work behind the scenes other than just in the training arena.
“It’s a lot of fun, but a lot more busy,” said McSween. “I am involved in a lot more meetings and putting together the technical packages.”
He has some familiar faces on his team including athletes Chris Doty, Ambyr Lindon and Andrew Schur, who all went to the 2008 National Games. The team had their final training session at Rabbit Mountain on January 14.
The games are criteria for athletes to qualify for the World Special Olympics.
“It’s exciting to be involved with Alberta as the host, it’s our home turf,” said McSween.
