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The 2016 sa国际传媒 Winter Games concluded over the weekend in the Okanagan city ahead of the upcoming sa国际传媒 Summer Games in Abbotsford. It鈥檚 guaranteed that international sport awaits for some of those who competed in Penticton and those who are preparing for Abbotsford.
As the entry level event, the sa国际传媒 Games have provided the first multi-sport experience for numerous athletes who have gone on to bigger things. Most recently, 22 sa国际传媒 Games alumni won medals at the 2015 Toronto Pan American Games, including Island performers Hilary Caldwell, Jeremy Bagshaw, Alec Page, Fred Winters, Mike Mason, Jesse Hodges, Maddie Secco, Nathan Hirayama, Mike Fuailefau and Sean White. Many of those athletes will also be at the Rio Olympics this summer.
Grant, a Grade 10 Reynolds Secondary student, looks like the kind of athlete who has the right stuff to make that kind of jump, too. He broke his collarbone in his second match at the last sa国际传媒 Winter Games, in 2014 at Mission, only to rebound for two gold medals in Penticton.
鈥淚t was awesome to have this [comeback],鈥� said Grant.
鈥淭he thing I like about our sport is that you don鈥檛 have to rely on anyone else but yourself out there on the mat.鈥�
The likes of Grant can be described as members of Team Tomorrow.
鈥淭he level of athlete continues to impress 鈥� Penticton and Abbotsford will definitely put some on track to the sa国际传媒 Games [which is the third level in the multi-sport process after the Western sa国际传媒 Games],鈥� said Kelly Mann of Victoria, in his 17th year as president and CEO of the sa国际传媒 Games.
For others, the sa国际传媒 Games will be as good as it gets, but it has left thousands of club-level athletes in the province with stories to tell of their time in the Games.
鈥淭he high-performance pyramid gets pretty pointy at the top. There鈥檚 only so much room on an Olympic podium,鈥� noted Mann.
鈥淏ut this also contributes to those who are into sport for life at all levels. Everywhere I go, I meet people who have stories they remember from their youth competing in the sa国际传媒 Games.鈥�
More than 104,000 athletes have competed in the sa国际传媒 Games since 1978. It鈥檚 important to get them at the crucial point of their developmental curve. It鈥檚 instructive that the average age of the athletes competing in the 2014 sa国际传媒 Summer Games in Nanaimo and 2014 Winter Games in Mission was 14.4 years old. Max Grant, 15, fits the demographic.
鈥淭he goal for Max is that he would like to be in the Olympics one day,鈥� said dad Jeremy Grant, who was assistant coach of the Island judo team at the sa国际传媒 Games. 鈥淏ut he knows what a long, hard road it is and the work that needs to go into it.鈥�
Island-Central Coast athletes won 53 medals, including 14 golds, at the 2016 Winter Games in Penticton, which concluded Sunday.
Other highlights included Matthew Lange of Victoria edging Brenan Formanek of Port Coquitlam in a tightly-contested recurve archery final; and the all-Island barebow archery final between winner Daniel Gustafsson of Victoria and silver-medallist Aiden Hare from Parksville.
The Island girls gymnastics squad also had an impressive showing, winning the overall team silver medal, thanks largely to Crofton鈥檚 Brooklyn Stobbe鈥檚 individual silver, and cross-country skier Aiden Noble of Courtenay won the gold medal in the midget individual start competition.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got a good recipe book now for host communities to try [using practices from past Games host communities]. I鈥檓 really happy with the job Penticton did as host,鈥� said Mann.
