PHOTO COURTESY OF JAELYNN FUNK
All 40 bocce athletes pose during the Alberta Special Olympics world qualifier Saturday at the Medicine Hat Lawn Bowling Club.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Despite the heat, Saturday’s locally held Special Olympics bocce qualifier was a success.
The Special Olympics held the bocce world qualifier for Alberta at the Medicine Hat Lawn Bowling Club on Saturday with 40 athletes from the Hat, Lethbridge, Edmonton and the Yukon participating in the event for a spot on Team Alberta for the 2023 Special Olympics World Games hosted in Germany.
Local bocce coach Jaelynn Funk said it was a fun day despite the heat.
“The fun outweighed the heat, believe it or not. It was really great to be able to have everyone come down,” Funk said. “We had a team from the Yukon, a team from Lethbridge and a team from Edmonton and then our Medicine Hat athletes. It was great for us to interact and play some games together.
“We drank lots of water, had tents set up and had misters going throughout.”
Funk said it was the first time since before 2020 that they were able to host and face off against other cities. She said the qualifiers and how many qualified won’t be announced for a few weeks. Funk added the Medicine Hat athletes had a strong weekend.
“Our Medicine Hat athletes played awesome this weekend, they were great hosts,” Funk said. “They were super friendly and awesome at welcoming everyone and they all played their best, they all played hard. They all did really well this weekend, it was really good to see.”
Funk offered a big thank you to all the volunteers and spectators who were in attendance and the Medicine Hat Lawn Bowling Club for hosting the event.
“A thank you to all the volunteers who came out and all the spectators who survived the heat for us. We really couldn’t have done it without a huge team,” Funk said. “Special Olympics strives off our awesome volunteers, so I was super thankful for all the people who were able to come in and make this go together.”
