CASS Athletics

2010 Athletic Banquet Photos

 

 

Senior Male Athlete of the Year Nominees

Steve Lajambe                  Kurt Barbarie

     
                    Justin Roberts                     Rob Gallinger
 
  

Senior Female Athlete of the Year Nominees

Caray Ford                      Lexie Lajambe

     
 
                 Nichole Kinzel                       Hayley Julien
 
 

Intermediate Female Athlete of the Year Nominees

Emma Horner                        Jamie Orlando

      
                  Danielle Heubner                       Karissa Barbarie

  

 
 
 
 

Intermediate Male Athlete of the Year Nominees

Coty Thomas     Austin Adams   Ian Frazier        Sam Good

     
 
 
 
 

CASS CURLING TEAM CAPTURES NOSSA AND HEADS TO OFSSA.
For the first time ever a CASS Curling team won Nossa and is currently attending OFSSA in Toronto this week.
Follow the link to keep up with how they are doing.
Way to Go Boys!!!
Dan Rankin
Cody Tetreault
Austin Adams
Kyle Sherlock

http://www.ofsaa.on.ca/curling/index.cfm?DSP=Chapter&ID=4612

Paralympics Begin!

My last shift at the Paralympic Village was Friday, Mar. 12, the day of the Opening Ceremonies.  We had 30 cm more of snow overnight and it was still snowing when I left at 4pm.  I was in an 'outlying' resident centre for this last shift instead of at headquarters so my responsibilities were keeping the athletes houses driveways shovelled and clear for them to get in and out of easily.  I had to call for a road snowplow twice in 3 hours so the athletes in  wheelchairs could make it up the street.  The athletes were mostly training in the gym because of the snowfall and having to leave for the Opening Ceremonies.  The alpine venue was closed again today for training because of snow and avalanche conditions so that brought a lot of athletes indoors.   My shift ended just as the athletes were being shuttled out to Vancouver and I returned to Whistler to catch a bus to  Vancouver airport. 

Vancouver was in full swing again with Paralympic and Canada decorations, even the airport where I had 5 hours to kill before my flight!  They had these great 'golf carts', lots of artwork, and I had the chance to sit-ski!  I caught the 'red eye' out at 11:30pm BC time, watched the sun rise as we flew east right over St. Joe Island, arriving home Sat. afternoon.  My son Nolan had his final NOHA hockey game the next morning at 8:30am which meant leaving at 6:30am from our place, and with the clocks moving ahead and the time change 3 hours from BC, I actually lost 4 hours sleep that night after having been up 40 hours straight!  My eyes were stinging; I know why it's called the 'red eye' now.

Although I will miss the mountains and snow of Whistler, it was truly great to get home to a beautiful, sunny, spring-like weekend with no snow.  I was able to watch the Paralympic Opening Ceremonies and the first Team Canada sledge hockey game on TV, marking the first time ever the Paralympics have been broadcast.  Canada is favoured to win sledge hockey with the potential for us to make a triple gold sweep (like my kids!)for the first time ever as well. 

The Paralympics are being broadcast live @ paralympicsport.tv with highlights and some games on CTV, Sportsnet and TSN.  Be sure to support our athletes by tuning in.

Winter Returns to the Whistler

We awoke this morning to the sound of avalanche charges because of heavy snowfall last night in the mountains.  The ski runs are closed until the last charges are blown and have settled.  This snow makes it more ddifficult to put on the paralympic events that are outside, since snow conditions are constantly changing and perpetual grooming necessary to keep courses at their best.  It has however brightened things up and looks more like you would think a Mountain Resort would look like with all the clean fresh snow.

Last night at the Athletes Village, Canada was officially welcomed to the Paralympic Games.  These welcoming ceremonies are held for each country in the Village; the countries with just a few athletes join with 2-3 other countries, however Canada has the largest team with just over 100 athletes and so were on their own.  The mayor of the Village is a 3 time paralympian (wheelchair basketball) gave a motivational address to the Canadian team and the Canadian Chef de Mission also spoke to the athletes.  After the flag raising ceremony, everyone was invited to dance and celebrate with Sumi!

 

Night Shift Adventures

The past few days I've been on the 2-11pm shift and have been able to see what happens here after dark.  There definitely has been a run on condoms, but when I asked a few questions I discovered that in the Eastern block countries, condoms are very expensive so the athletes have been stocking up on them.  There are containers of them around the reception areas and in the washrooms, but several athletes will fake a look at a map while discreetly snatching a handful of condoms.  It's been quite comical to watch!  I've been working at the Resident Centre Headquarters, basically like a front desk of a hotel, trouble shooting for athletes; mostly helping people who have been locked out of their rooms, need to change towels, and giving directions around the village.  I had to help a man from Kazakhstan use his swipe card on the Coke machine, but of course all the instructions are in English which he speaks none of, and he's an arm amputee.  He gave me a medal for helping him!  He's a marathon runner but is here as an assistant to his Winter Paralympian team.

Paralympic Torch at Whistler Today!

I had the chance to see the Paralympic relay today after my work shift in the Athletes Centre.  The torch was lit with the Paralympic Flame in a ceremony at a Four Host First Nations Celebration event in Whistler, then passed on the way to Whistler Village.  The torchbearers wore grey suits instead of our white ones, and the torch was grey with the paralympic 3 swooshes replacing the rings on them.  There were 3 hours of music and live interviews with paralympians and torch bearers while the torch made its way up Blackcomb Mountain, across the Peak to Peak and down Whistler Mountain into the Village Square.  I met my friend and RBC Paralympian summer athlete Andrea Holmes whom I had attended the Canadian Olympic Academy with 2 years ago in Vancouver.  She was at the time trying to be the first paralympian to compete in both summer and winter games, but failed to make the standing alpine team.  Instead she got a  role with the torch relay and will actually be able to carry the torch later this week in Vancouver.