The end of 2014 saw the Special Olympics BC Performance Program expand into snow sports and powerlifting, bringing together athletes and coaches from around the province for on-snow action in Kamloops and powerlifting development in Richmond. Great participants and experts made these opportunities outstanding.
SOBC alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing athletes and coaches from all over the province headed to Sun Peaks Resort in early December to participate in the first on-snow Performance Program snow sports training camp, held at the venue for the 2015 SOBC Winter Games snow sports competitions. The camp involved sport-specific training and sessions in key performance areas such as mental training, nutrition, and creation of training plans.
About 60 athletes and coaches from every SOBC Region took part in the camp, building their own skills and gaining resources and knowledge to share with their peers in their home programs. One of the skill-development highlights was the cross-country skiers trying skate skiing for the first time – SOBC cross-country skiing programs currently focus on classic style – and they did a terrific job.
Longtime SOBC – Kelowna athlete Tracy Melesko, an ace cross-country skier, said “everything was helpful” at the camp, and she enjoyed the chance to develop new skills in skate skiing.
“It’ll help us for our national level,” said Melesko. A longtime Special Olympics athlete and veteran of numerous Special Olympics Provincial, National, and World Games, Melesko loves training hard and continuing to improve, and her goal for the 2015 SOBC Winter Games is to make it to the National Games again – the 2015 SOBC Winter Games are the qualifier for the next Special Olympics Canada Games in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, in 2016.
Melesko’s coaches hail her ability to apply mental performance techniques to help her excel in her training and competing.
“It does help with your skiing, like visualizing before you race,” Melesko said. Before a race she pictures herself getting a great start and then finishing strong. Such mental performance techniques are taught to SOBC athletes and coaches throughout the Performance Program and provincial team training to support their competitive abilities, and they thrive with these tools.
All the athletes who took part in the camp will compete in the upcoming 2015 Provincial Games in Kamloops, and Melesko said Sun Peaks was “very nice, and very different” since it offers the opportunity to have all three snow sports competing at the same venue.
Snow sports coaches also participated in a dryland training camp in November where they worked on more tools and techniques to help their athletes with dryland and sport-specific training, mental performance, and nutrition.
In December, powerlifting coaches from around the province came together for a day of training at the Richmond Oval where they worked with experts from the British Columbia Powerlifting Association, developing their skills and learning to lead training for the squat event. Currently, SOBC athletes focus on the bench press and deadlift, but this camp marked the beginning steps to potentially add the squat event across the province.
The participating coaches were very excited about the opportunity to work with the BCPA leaders, and they went home with many ideas at hand.
SOBC – Langley coach Sandy Allen said she appreciated the lessons from the camp and the great support from the BCPA. She gained a stronger understanding of the process the athletes need to go through to compete, and of the idea that “people are really willing to help in any way possible to help serious athletes who want to go all the way.” Allen said she also gained a strong appreciation that coaches need to raise their game in order to help their athletes make it to the next level.
“If you want to really help the athletes, you have to be in shape yourself and have some formal training,” she said.
The Performance Program aims to give SOBC athletes and coaches a richer experience in a high-performance sport environment, growing together with more tools and techniques to help them be at their best. Those who participate in Performance Program events bring home the important new lessons and technology to share with local athletes and coaches so that everyone can benefit from these ideas and resources.
In 2015, the Performance Program action opened with the latest camp for swimming athletes and coaches January 9 to 11. There’s lots more to come in 2015, and more website resources are set to be unveiled soon. Stay tuned for updates!