The weekend was filled with joyful heart-warming stories from parent coaches to government support from the Lieutenant Governor, Her Honour, the Honourable Lois Mitchell and celebrity Olympic athlete, Mark Tewksbury.

“I’m incredibly proud to share our achievements and what our future will look like with all our program leaders and supporters across the province,” said Johnny Byrne, president and CEO of Special Olympics Alberta.

Special Olympics Alberta celebrated all of the outstanding achievements and members in our province along with sharing the exciting roll out of the Special Olympics’ global strategic plan and how we’re going execute this in Alberta and our local communities. This year also marked the election of our new Provincial Athlete Leadership Committee with Hector Jean as our North Representative, Jessica McLean as our Edmonton Representative, Mark Evans as our Calgary Representative and five Members at Large: Dallas Sorken from St. Albert, Rogger Gratton from Edmonton, Warren Pattison from Edmonton, Andrew Chamczuk from Stony Plain and Doug Hutt from Grande Prairie. Check out their bios in in Athlete Leadership Committee.
 

The Special Olympics Alberta awards created a buzz on social media with more than 150 guests attending the awards on October 15 at the Delta Hotels by Marriott Calgary South Hotel. Sponsors from across the country and province joined Special Olympics Alberta to help present awards to all the outstanding members and communities in our province.

Inducted into this year’s awards were:
Male Athlete of the Year: Doug Hutt, Grande Prairie
Female Athlete of the Year: April Lam, Edmonton
Team of the Year: Calgary Roughnecks, Calgary
Athlete Spirit: Gloria Rice, Calgary
Unified School: Lester B. Pearson High School, Calgary
Male Coach of the Year: Tanner Mack, Edmonton
Female Coach of the Year: Jodie Schreiner, Calgary
Volunteer of the Year: Carol Wideman, Camrose
Volunteer Rising Star: Joey Mah, Calgary
Law Enforcement Torch Run Outstanding Contribution Award: Paul Manuel, Calgary
Law Enforcement Torch Run Community Spirit: St. Albert
Murray Koch Youth Development: Edmonton
MDA Community Leadership: Lakeland (Bonnyville, Cold Lake and Area)

Special Olympics Alberta would like to thank all incredible supporters who were able to attend the awards and conference. We’re grateful to share and celebrate with you.

For more photos of #SOAAwards, check out our Facebook album and Flickr album along with the coverage on Twitter and Instagram.

We look forward to seeing you next year!
 

Stay Connected! @SpecialOAlberta #SOAAwards