Organizers delight in success of Special Olympics in Calgary

Article content

With the Special Olympics Canada Winter Games Calgary 2024 behind us, organizers are praising the city, volunteers, and venues for their volunteer spirit and stepping up to execute the best possible Games.

Coordinators of the event said they are also excited to leave behind a legacy of the Games through workplace inclusion for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities.

Article content

Article content

General manager Karen Dommett said the biggest takeaway for her was a reinforcement of how supportive the Calgary community is.

“The volunteer force that we have in this community and what it takes to put on an event — we needed every single volunteer that contributed to the Games; they all played an incredibly crucial role,” she said, adding that pivots were made on the fly due to unforeseen circumstances, and she applauded the volunteers who did not miss a beat when it came to being versatile and resilient.

“We reallocated folks to certain areas where we needed more hands on deck, and we were able to relieve some other areas where things were going incredibly smoothly, so everyone was incredibly adaptable and ready to jump in wherever they needed,” Dommett said.

Co-chair Cheryl Bernard said she is grateful for community engagement from sponsors, volunteers, and athletes from across the country, adding that Dommett was instrumental in ensuring every conceivable plot twist was thought of ahead of time.

“We had numerous meetings over the last 18 months, and we talked about all the ‘what-ifs’ — what if we don’t get enough snow, what if we get too much snow, what if it’s -25,” Bernard said.

Article content

Article content

“We covered every ‘what-if’ that you could imagine, and I think that was why we were able to pivot — because we had a great leader in Karen.”

Approximately 800 athletes from across the country, including 96 from Alberta, competed in eight sports between Feb. 27 and March 2.

Co-chair of the Games Francois Poirier said the venues showed “extremely well” in terms of accommodating the athletes, coaches, and provincial organizations.

“We were able to utilize some of the legacy facilities like the Olympic Oval and WinSport. The City of Calgary was very generous when making two of the municipal golf courses available — one for snowshoeing and one for cross-country skiing,” he said.

Poirer, who is also the president and CEO of TC Energy, said the company was one of the sponsors for the volunteer program and had 150 of their own employees give of their time.

“I got wonderful feedback from our employees that I saw out at different events volunteering about how proud they were to represent the company, so it’s been a great opportunity for employee engagement.”

Article content

Legacy program to encourage inclusive hiring

As part of the Special Olympics Canada Winter Games Calgary 2024 initiatives, the Games Legacy program was announced last October, encouraging organizations to work with the Goodwill Industries of Alberta’s Employer Inclusion Accelerator program to adopt inclusive hiring practices.

Dale Monaghan, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of Alberta, said he welcomes the opportunity to use some of the legacy funds raised to enhance the program.

“Goodwill is a specialist; we’re very proud of now being one of the largest employers in Alberta of people with disabilities and barriers to employment, through our stores and our career centres,” he said.

Goodwill helps companies, non-profits, and municipalities become more inclusive of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This includes best practices in hiring people with special needs and training and grooming in career development.

“People with disabilities are tremendous employees, and they are very loyal to the employer that sees their unique abilities as something that can be embraced and leveraged,” Monaghan said.

Article content

Poirier echoed Monaghan’s sentiment and said that individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities have a lot to offer: “We recently hired our very first individual with an intellectual disability into the company, and we hope to do more — I made a commitment that our company would lead by example.”

Bernard said the legacy program promoting workplace inclusivity will build better communities and, ultimately, a better city.

“The common thread that I see is what the dignity of a job does for an individual; it opened my eyes to the potential to see the pride and joy on their faces when they talk about their work and the profound sense of belonging,” she said.

“So give that opportunity, take a chance. Through this employer inclusion program training, Goodwill is allowing corporations to feel comfortable going down this path. And I promise you, you’ll never go back.”

‘Four seasons of weather in five days’

Dommett said that a lot of time and effort was put into planning and discussing contingency plans based on weather, especially when taking into consideration winter games in three outdoor venues.

Article content

“We did not expect to experience all four seasons of weather within five days. We did not anticipate needing to enact plans that included both cold and warm weather and significant snowfall all at the same time,” she said.

The first day of the Games was rescheduled due to extremely cold temperatures, and the final day of celebrations — which was initially set to take place at the Olympic Plaza — was moved indoors to Calgary City Hall.

“We saw virtually four seasons of weather in five days, but despite that, I think it went very smoothly, which is a credit to the management team that oversaw all of the last-minute changes,” Poirier said.

Dommett acknowledged MNP Community Sport, which stepped up to create an impromptu dining hall and activity area for the athletes who were displaced for the snowshoe and cross-country skiing competitions due to weather.

Unforgettable experience for the athletes

Poirier said that the mission of the Games was to make it an unforgettable experience for the athletes and that the joy on the faces of all those participating was evidence of its success.

Article content

“I met so many athletes, coaches, and family members of athletes who said that the Special Olympics movement has done so much to bring individuals out of their shell to improve their self-esteem,” Poirier said.

He added that based on the level of support from volunteers and corporations, combined with the legacy facilities, he believes Calgary would be an excellent candidate to host the future World Games.

“I think the next World Games that are up for bid will be 2033 for the Winter Games, and I would very much like to see the city consider submitting a bid,” he said.

“People who did not go out and enjoy the events missed out on an opportunity to see how much the athletes actually contribute to society and how much joy they can bring.”

Article content