As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Special Olympics, we are taking a look back at the #50moments that have defined the Special Olympics movement here in B.C. and throughout the world.
When high-profile supporters choose to turn the spotlight on Special Olympics athletes and the movement, it makes a big difference. Celebrity champions generate significant awareness and inspire everyone to open their hearts to a wider world of human talents and potential.
Special Olympics is fortunate to have had many champions from the world of professional and amateur sports, media, and entertainment throughout Canada and B.C. These leading lights have generously given their time to advocate for our athletes and our cause, helping change the way the nation sees individuals with intellectual disabilities.
In the 1960s, nationally renowned broadcaster and advertising leader Harry (Red) Foster began his trailblazing work as a founder of the Special Olympics movement in Canada. This Special Olympics Canada Movement Maker had already led significant advocacy and fundraising efforts to support individuals with intellectual disabilities. In 1968, his work brought him to Dr. Frank Hayden and the Special Olympics Games in Chicago, where he partnered with the Toronto Maple Leafs to sponsor a Canadian floor hockey team to compete at the Games. They were the sole Canadians to participate among nearly 1,000 Americans.
Foster then worked on a similar event for Toronto and on June 11, 1969 – less than one year later – the first Special Olympics Games came to life in Canada. The National Hockey League sponsored teams, Maple Leaf Gardens donated its arena for floor hockey, and other events took place at the Canadian National Exhibition and a local pool. Celebrities and media alike attended the two-day event.
Foster incorporated the Canadian movement in 1974 and by the late 1970s and 80s, Chapter organizations across the provinces followed. Foster also engaged other celebrity champions to support the cause, including hockey legend Howie Meeker and the late Frank Selke Jr. who was a household name in Canadian sports. Well-known as a personality and executive producer on Hockey Night in Canada, as well as the President and General Manager of former NHL team the Oakland Seals, Selke Jr. used the connections from his successful career to grow the Special Olympics movement in Canada.
Here in B.C. and throughout Canada, Meeker has helped change attitudes toward individuals with intellectual disabilities with his influential and generous advocacy work. Now a member of the SOBC Hall of Fame, Meeker has also been a vital supporter of SOBC – Campbell River athletes and programs, championing them and lending his name and time to their annual golf tournament that has raised more than $750,000 over the past three decades. His support has made an important difference in the lives of so many individuals with intellectual disabilities, and his direct involvement with athletes, family members, and volunteers is truly inspiring.
In B.C., many celebrities have joined Meeker in championing Special Olympics athletes and the movement over the years, turning heads and changing perceptions of individuals with intellectual disabilities. Noted B.C. sports reporter Bernie Pascall, another Special Olympics Canada Movement Maker, covered the first Special Olympics Games in Chicago and was hooked by the passion of the athletes; he has remained involved ever since.
“If you attend just one Special Olympics event, you’ll be back for more,” Pascall says. “Once you see the dedication and hard work of these Special Olympics athletes – it’s just inspiring and you’d want to get out there and cover it more often.”
And for many years, our province’s leading sports teams like the Vancouver Canucks, BC Lions, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, and Vancouver Canadians have shown their desire to create positive change through sport by generously supporting Special Olympics BC with public awareness efforts, fundraising, and opening important doors for our movement and our athletes.
Today, SOBC’s celebrity champions attend the Sports Celebrities Festival presented by Wheaton Precious Metals to show their support for Special Olympics; they give their time to provincial and local events to interact with our athletes and community; they lend their voices to calls for awareness of Special Olympics and respect and support for athletes. They make a difference by setting an example for a more inclusive, respectful world.