Nearly 70 Special Olympics athletes from Olds, Drumheller, and Airdrie met at Shamrock Lanes on April 1 to celebrate the end of their bowling season and to say farewell to a dedicated volunteer.
Daniel St-Laurent spent a decade coaching the Special Olympics bowling program in Airdrie, but will be moving on soon.
“It changed my life,” said St-Laurent.
His replacement, Sandy Foreman, has an 18-year-old daughter who competes in all four sports the Special Olympics program currently offers in Airdrie (swimming, floor hockey, softball, and bowling). She said softball season will start in May, but bowling is by far the most popular of the Special Olympics sports in Airdrie.
“Bowling is the most accessible of the sports, it’s the least physically demanding,” said Foreman.
The Special Olympics program in Airdrie could always use more volunteers, especially ones as dedicated as St-Laurent, said Foreman, but they would also like to see more athletes.
It’s often the same group of people that compete in all four sports, Foreman said, and she is confident there are more Special athletes in Airdrie that could benefit from the program.
“Maybe they don’t know what Special Olympics offers in Airdrie, but they should come check it out,” said Foreman.
Foreman said with an influx of new volunteers the Airdrie Special Olympics program was able to resurrect its invitational bowling tournament this year (it hasn’t taken place the last few bowling seasons) and that she looks forward to carrying the coaching torch for St-Laurent.
The outbound coach said Foreman is in for a life changing experience.
“I realized it’s not just coaching, when you see them bowling it’s very encouraging for me,” St-Laurent said.
“Because they hit one pin and they’re happy, I used to hit one pin and be very frustrated.”
His advice for Foreman is simple.
“Be patient, be open, and make sure that you have fun.”
