Five members of the Special Olympic team in Airdrie will be representing Alberta at the Special Olympics Canada Winter Games next week.

The games are taking place in Calgary from February 27 until March 2. More than 4,000 attendees, including athletes, coaches, officials, and mission staff, along with their families and friends gather in the city south of Airdrie for eight different sports.

Airdrie will have a total of five athletes partaking in the games. They will be looking to bring home the gold in 5-Pin Bowling. These are the five athletes (last names are withheld for confidentiality reasons):

  • Brendan 
  • Christian 
  • Luke 
  • Jayden 
  • Evan 

Sandra Foreman, the Head Coach of the Bowling team explained how excited everybody is.

"They are all very excited, they have been since they won gold at the provincial games."

They have held various training camps throughout last year and this year to practice their skills so they will be prepared to give it their all.

Competition for bowling starts on February 28 and lasts until March 1, the 27th will be a practice day for the teams.

"They will be competing as a team, and there will also be individual awards for them if they do very well."

Foreman is very excited for her athletes and can't wait to watch them compete.

While not participating in any sports, members of Special Olympics Airdrie, Emma, Chelsea, Bailey, Ava and Will have been named to the Special Olympics Canada Winter Games Cheer Team.

They will greet the athletes at the airport on Sunday, meet the teams at their hotels on Tuesday and lead the spectators in cheering on the athletes throughout the games.

Airdrie's five athletes will be gathering at No Frills on Monday to catch the bus to head to their hotels for the games. If you would like, feel free to head down around 11:30 a.m. and send them off.

On February 27, George McDougall High School will be one of the stops on the Special Olympics Canada Winter Games Torch Run.

Send your news tips, story ideas, pictures, and videos to news@discoverairdrie.com. You can also message and follow us on Twitter: @AIR1061FM

DiscoverAirdrie encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the DiscoverAirdrie app. For breaking news, weather and contest alerts click here.