Melfort Special Olympics' curling programs embarking for a weekend bonspiel in Regina. (Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff)

By Aaron Schulze

Special Olympics Resume

Melfort Special Olympics prepared to resume athletics, respond to cancellations

Sep 24, 2020 | 5:38 PM

After waiting half a year, Melfort Special Olympics athletes are set to resume athletics amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Bowling in early October and curling in November will be two of the first regional sports Melfort Special Olympics will compete in.

The board of directors’ goal during Melfort Special Olympics’ annual general meeting on Sept. 22 was to ensure all coaches and athletes were ready after a near six-month layoff.

“Financially, we’re actually really good,” Coach Carl Kruger told northeastNOW. “When everything got shut down, we actually didn’t spend money. We have our one 50/50 raffle that ends Sept. 30 and we should be in good shape for the rest of the year. We decided not to have our annual bottle drive. With COVID-19, using the athletes to go out wasn’t feasible.”

Bad news for Special Olympics during the layoff was the 2022 Canada Summer Games in Medicine Hat being cancelled. Kruger expects provincial games in 2021 to follow suit.

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Despite two years of games being taken off the table, Kruger said Melfort Special Olympics is looking at the bright side with its local athletics resuming.

“We’re finally getting going and doing that at least,” he said. “All of our coaches and athletes have missed each other tremendously. It’s a good feeling we’re able to do it locally. [National and provincial games is] a bonus as far as we’re concerned. It’s nice to be able to send some there, but locally is what we really strive to get.”

The weeks leading up to athletics resuming will feature a ton of paperwork. Kruger said athletes must sign new agreements, saying they’ll follow all provincial health guidelines laid out amid the pandemic. He said coaches and athletes have gotten used to social distancing during the layoff.

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow