Regional Qualifier Roundup: Dedication and determination on display
This winter, hundreds of Special Olympics BC athletes are giving their all in Regional Qualifiers across the province!
These athletes are challenging themselves, pursuing personal bests, and trying to earn spots in the next level of provincial competition. These events are the stepping stones toward the 2028 Special Olympics Canada Winter Games set to be held in Kelowna, and the 2029 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Switzerland.
It all starts right here with Regional Qualifiers! All participating athletes are registered in their community programs around the province, where they are training hard in preparation to compete with pride and purpose in Regional Qualifiers.
Special Olympics BC sincerely thanks all the volunteers who are generously giving their time and efforts to put on Regional Qualifiers, and we applaud all the athletes who are competing with pride and determination.
What events and sports are part of Regional Qualifiers?
In the 2026 Regional Qualifiers, athletes are competing in the eight Special Olympics BC winter sports: 5-pin bowling, alpine skiing, cross country skiing, curling, figure skating, floorball, snowshoeing, and speed skating. This is the first time floorball Regional Qualifiers are being hosted, because this sport was first introduced in Special Olympics Canada in 2024!
Full list of competitions
Between January and April, 25 exciting Regional Qualifiers are planned to take place.
Which Regional Qualifiers have happened so far?
Among the first events were the Figure Skating Regional Qualifiers, which took place as part of Skate Canada BC/YT regional competitions in January and early February.
It was exciting to see Region 1 Special Olympics figure skaters in action for the first time in many years! The Columbia Valley Skating Club connected with longtime Special Olympics BC – Vancouver figure skating coach Jessica Chapelski and started a Special Olympics program within their club. They were inspired to reach out because they wanted to offer more competition and growth opportunities for local athletes with intellectual disabilities.
Special Olympics figure skaters from across the Kootenays, Okanagan, Lower Mainland, and Island competed with skill and spirit in their respective Regional Qualifiers. Chapelski said the Lower Mainland competition saw several exciting skates by new athletes from each community in the region, as well as determined veteran athletes. Several persevered through injuries and delivered inspiring performances.
“The athletes were really excited. They were super pumped to be there and support each other, and they had really great skates,” Chapelski said.
SOBC – Kelowna athlete Kassidy Rutledge caught up with Samantha Mayer and Kayla Stapley, the Kelowna figure skaters who competed in their qualifier!
The early part of the Regional Qualifier season has also seen exciting competition in speed skating, with the outstanding competition hosted by SOBC – Coquitlam for athletes from all across the province. Bowling and curling has also begun, with exciting Regional Qualifiers hosted by SOBC – Richmond and SOBC – Langley so far.
On-snow action kicked off with SOBC – Burns Lake successfully hosting the Region 7 & 8 Snowshoeing Regional Qualifier. Read more from Athlete Reporter Torben Schuffert of SOBC – Smithers, who filed the following fantastic story!
What did Athlete Reporter Torben Schuffert experience in the 2026 Region 7 & 8 Snowshoeing Regional Qualifier?
On Feb. 14, Region 7 and 8 snowshoeing athletes travelled to Burns Lake for our Regional Qualifier competition. Locals from Burns Lake, Smithers, Prince George, and Quesnel attended.
We had the best weather. There was snow and blue skies.
All the volunteers in Burns Lake did a fantastic job. We had a great groomed loop to run on.
We had athletes compete in 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 5000, and 10000m snowshoe races.
Tina Giesbrecht from Burns Lake organized the event. I asked her: Tina, it is a lot of work organizing a competition. What is the best part for you during the competition?
When I asked some of the attending athletes why they wanted to compete, they said because it is fun. My friend David from PG also told me he likes to do really well.
Ann Forbes from Smithers said that she likes to run fast, and that is what she did.
It was good to see all ages out. The youngest competitor was 21 and the oldest was 62!
I asked my mom, who is a coach for our snowshoe team in Smithers, how she feels watching all the athletes compete. She said, “I am just so proud of all the achievements of all the athletes. To see how they put the skills that they have worked on during practice into action at a competition and how they overcome adversity is something I have no words for. I can’t describe the joy that I feel and that I see all around during a competition. It is contagious, at the end of each competition every volunteer has a big smile on their face.”
I want to finish by saying that the smiles were not only on the volunteers’ faces. All the athletes left with a smile as well.