Special Olympics Airdrie has named its second athlete of the month.
Justin Nott, 18, was recognized as July’s recipient at the organization’s monthly meeting at the Co-op in Airdrie on July 19.
Nott, who has been involved with Special Olympics for more than six years, becomes the second nominated athlete of the month, following Katie Forman in June.
“I feel happy and very excited to be named the athlete of the month,” Nott said. “I did good on the baseball team and my teammates helped me a lot. I knew they could do it.”
Nott joined Special Olympics Calgary for floor hockey in 2005, before joining the golf team the following year, bowling in 2007 and baseball in 2008.
“During that time, he got to go to the Alberta Winter Games in 2007 and brought home the bronze medal for floor hockey,” said his mother Gail.
Earlier this year, he was part of the floor hockey gold-medal winning team from Calgary at the 2011 Alberta Winter Games in Edmonton. He now participates with newly formed Airdrie club and keeps a busy schedule with golf on Tuesdays and baseball on Wednesdays for the summer months.
Beginning in October, he will bowl on Mondays and play floor hockey on Wednesdays.
“My favourite sport is floor hockey, as it’s fun, so I’m looking forward to the new season in October,” Nott said.
“My word of advice for other athletes is: play hard, concentrate and pay attention to all the sports. You need to focus in the game. I’d encourage everyone to come out because it’s fun meeting new people and learning new games.”
Gail said she most enjoys her son’s interaction with other Special Olympians and the different experiences that he gets to enjoy.
“Just watching him succeed is my enjoyment, as you can the improvement in him,” she said. “He likes being busy with the sports and seeing all his friends. That’s the whole thing – he enjoys any type of sport.”
Airdrie is just getting to the point where they can start expanding and growing, so as they get more experience, more opportunities will become available. I think it’s great – and if I don’t have to drive into Calgary, that’s fine.”
