As the hype continues after the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo this is the time to enjoy the strength and ability of the Paralympic athletes. Locally in BC we have some phenomenal organizations who work with Para- athletes year round. Through coaching one on one to fostering groups of athletes these organizations become part of the fabric of the athletes’ lives and a part of their community.
One of Power To Be‘s volunteers, Jackie, and her husband, are sailing athletes and they experienced going to Rio and winning silver medals for Canada. She works with Stephen McBride, head coach at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club to continually create opportunities to support people to sail and compete. Jackie shared that “the Rio Paralympic village was a vision of the future, and the only time I expect to ever live in an environment where everything about us is accepted, normalized and celebrated. Many coaches enjoy working with the Paralympic athletes because of the camaraderie and support across nations”.
One of Jackie’s coaches, and a local community partner, Sarah Black is one of the owners of The Athlete Centre “a multi-disciplinary clinic that takes a collaborative and integrated approach to give their athletes the best possible care in injury prevention, rehabilitation and performance.” Sarah is currently in Tokyo now with some of our Canadian athletes and we are excited to share about the great work she is apart of. To stay connected and watch the team in Tokyo, find links to results and livestreams visit: https://athletics.ca/events/2020-paralympic-games/
If you like Twitter Devin Heroux from CBC is offering great Paralympic coverage, and if you enjoy reading stories check out the latest Tokyo Paralympic update from The Canadian Sport Institute (CSI) Pacific. CSI Offers world-class Olympic and Paralympic training environments in Vancouver, Whistler and Victoria.
Some of the other local partners working with para athletes include BC Wheelchair Sports, Victoria City Rowing Club, Pacific Institute for Sports Excellence, and CanAssist. Power To Be connects with these organizations through work we do on committees, collectives, and at community events as well as initiating cross referrals to one another’s organizations to support the goals and interests of the participants we collectively work with.
The Paralympic movement is one of the great initiatives of our era; changing the world one leap, jump, adaptation, collaboration and opportunity at a time. We wish all the organizations and athletes the best of luck for this event and beyond.