We know that it feels like so long ago since Team PEI 2020 was heading off to Thunder Bay to participate in the Special Olympics National Winter Games, but let's rewind 7 months to highlight some amazing results and the coaching leadership that contributed to the success.

 

Team PEI athletes returned home with renewed excitement, many new memories, 19 personal bests and a few medals - 25 to be exact!

Competing on a national scale requires many hours of training and development of skills. This is overseen by the dedicated coaching team that work with each individual athlete to ensure they are performing at their personal best and for team sports that they are working cohesively together.

You can read the full details about the games experience here but we wanted to give you a brief highlight of the coaches from each sport.

5-Pin Bowling

This was first time as Head Coach for both Dave and Fran, but both brought many years of experience and expertise to these games.

Dave Morrow has been volunteering with SOPEI for 18 years and his passion for ensuring the athletes perform the best and have fun at the same time is evident.

Fran Gillis as we highlighted earlier this week has been volunteering with SOPEI for 12 years and always goes above and beyond to ensure the athletes have opportunities to learn ways to improve their game.

Medal Count: 7

Individual Competitions
3 Gold
1 Silver
3 Bronze
Teams finished with a Gold medal and 5th place in their respective divisions

Number of smiles - unlimited!

 

Cross Country Skiing

 

 

 

This was Kathleen's 2nd time as the Head Coach for Cross Country Skiing on a national level, her first was at the 2016 games.

Kathleen MacNearney has been volunteering with SOPEI for over 5 years and when not officially coaching she is cheering along in the sidelines for her daughter Ellen.

Medal Count: 5

Combined medal count for both athletes
1 Gold
3 Silver
1 Bronze

Special Moments - numerous!

 

 

Curling

This was the first time as Head Coaches for the husband and wife team of Gie and Nancy but they lead the team as if they had years of experience.

Gie Rogers  and Nancy MacPhee have been volunteering with SOPEI for over 3 years

The team place 5th in their division

Memories Made - Priceless!

Snow Shoeing

 

 

Michele has been a head coach previously in other sports but this was her first Head Coach experience for Snowshoe.

Michelle Chapman has been involved with Special Olympics PEI for 16 years and when she is not coaching you can find her at the figure skating competitions cheering on her daughter Alyssa

Medal Count 4
2 Gold
1 Silver
1 Bronze

Steps Taken - Many!

 

 

 

 

Figure Skating

Although she has been working as a training coach for Alyssa throughout many years, this was Jessica's first time as Head Coach and her first games experience. She brought her expertise and leadership to the position

Jessica Godfrey has been volunteering with SOPEI for 3 years. Her passion for the sport of figure skating and supporting Alyssa in all of her skating goals has enabled everyone else to see Alyssa's true potential.

Medal Count: 1 Bronze

High Fives and Smiles - Lots!

Speed Skating

This was Kristen's first time as Head Coach for Speed Skating but her expertise in coaching on and off the ice had a huge impact on the comfort of the athletes to adapt when unexpected challenges occurred, a true leader. Both of the skaters she was coaching had personal best times in ALL of their distances in either their divisioning or final round!

Kristen MacDonald has been involved with Special Olympics PEI for over 2 years but her passion for enriching the lives of the athletes is evident in all that she does with SOPEI.

Medal Count 5
2 Gold
3 Silver
1 Bronze

Hugs Given - Immeasurable!

 

Floor Hockey

Seasoned veterans to the SOPEI family these 3 amazing coaches have developed many athletes to success on a national level and each have the ability to bring out the best in the team, even when things are not looking so great.

CY Holland has been involved with the Special Olympics movement for 37 years and his easy going attitude along with the ability to remain calm, cool and collected keeps the athletes inspired.

Peter Howatt has been volunteering with SOPEI for 34 years and his favourite moment was the floor hockey team winning gold on PEI when the national games were hosted here in 2004.

Rickey Burns  has been involved with Special Olympics PEI for 18 years and his lighthearted attitude is loved by the athletes.

Medal Count - Gold

Warriors until the end!