TeamToba2010

In The News

2010-07-30T13:27:00.000-05:00

Just in case you missed it, here are some links to stories about Team 'Toba.

Shaw TV
Media Conference (View this one in Internet Explorer for best results.)

Winnipeg Free Press
From July 15th

From July 22nd

London Free Press video on Winnipeg Sun Website
Day 1

There are many stories that can also be searched for on the London Free Press website.

If you know of more local stories online, please let us know.

Games Photos

2010-07-30T11:20:00.000-05:00

Here we are gang. By the numbers, we had over 2,800 photos to sort through. Once sorted, many had to be edited. The photos were whittled down to around 500. Some competitions, like Rythmic Gymnastics, posed photography challenges. With no flash photos and generally poor gymnasium lighting, these photos had to be enhanced. This took some time to do, but finished we are.(That and I was on a week's holidays immediately after the games.)

So enjoy your photos!

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*Notes

All the photos were re-sized to work well in Picasa. Feel free to download them and save or print them. If you are printing, most images will work well for 4x6" and 5x7" prints. Expect those that have had some retouching to look grainy. If you want to print anything much bigger, like 8x10 or 10x13, feel free to contact me via email, mike.neale @ shaw.ca. (Please note, take the spaces out of the email address first. I added spaces to avoid automated spam programs.)

On Picasa, the website re-sizes the photo for web viewing. In order to save the full resolution, don't use the right-click method (or you'll get the half-resolution image), but click on the download button at the top of the web page.

To view photos in a full screen slide-show, there is a slide show button on the top left corner of the web page.

Cheers everyone!

A Fond Farewell to London

2010-07-21T14:07:00.000-05:00

And thus ends the adventure of Team Manitoba's 2010 edition. This team had an amazing games and truly showed what it meant to be a 'team'. Considering that a games contingent is made up of groups of smaller sport-specific teams, that says something.

There are so many stories that come from an experience like this, that it becomes difficult to summarize.

We had powerlifter Robin Latimer, enjoying his first games, go out to watch the Rythmic Gymnastic girls. At first blush, a big 'guy' watching a 'girls' sport is rather humourous. But the girls loved him and they were the first ones out to support him when it was his turn to perform.

In the pool, we had a sick Ashley McLeod go out and fight for her medals and Jason Norminton with a pair of North American Records.

At the track, we had Darren Enns who overcame some early challenges in the games to win 3 medals and the hearts of his track teammates and coaches.

One thing we, as Team Manitoba can say, is that the London Games Organizing Committee did an exceptional job. Their hospitality was first rate and we can't say enough about how helpful and accommodating the 'sea of green' volunteers were. Our athletes were so well taken care of that they really could focus on preparing for their competitons. From hospitality to transportation to the sport volunteers and officials, everyone had a warm and welcoming smile on their face. The athletes were treated like the superstars they are.

To the amazing friends and family, both those that came to London and those that stayed home, thank you for supporting your athletes so they could come and shine for Manitoba.

In the end, the medal count was amazing, but those will be forgotten amongst all the stories and friendships that developed. So to London, we say thank you and farewell.

Look for more photos in the coming couple of weeks. We'll post here and on Twitter when new ones are posted.

Athletes, coaches and mission staff, enjoy your well deserved rests.

Cheers everyone.
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Final Medal Tally

2010-07-17T20:27:00.001-05:00

Manitoba's final medal tall is this:
30 Gold
26 Silver
23 Bronze

Grant Total of 79

Way to go Team Toba!

Saturday's Results

Swimming.
4x50 Men's Freestyle - Silver
4x50 Women's Freestyle - Gold
4x50 Men's Medley - Silver
4x50 Women's Medley - Bronze

Soccer
Manitoba vs Ontario, 4-3 loss. Manitoba takes Silver

Softball
Manitoba vs British Columbia, 12-6 win. Manitoba takes Bronze

Athletics
1500m
Bronze - Kari Macklem

400m
Bronze - Joel Friesen
Silver - Ian Sheppard

Standing Long Jump
Silver - Brenton Kehler

Running Long Jump
Gold - David Ingram
Bronze - Joseph Anderson

Shot Put
Gold - David Ingram
Bronze - Ian Sheppard

Powerlifting
Robin Latimer, Super Heavyweight Division
Squat 120kg - Silver
Bench 85.5 kg - Silver
Deadlift 147.5 - Silver
Squat/deadlift combo 267.5kg - Silver

What a great games!

Medals!

2010-07-17T02:56:00.001-05:00

Sports Results for Friday, July 16 2010

Athletics
Pentathalon – Gold – Ryan Kneisz

3000m – Silver – Leaha-Marie Van Steelant
3000m – Bronze – Brita Hall

Shot Put – Gold – Courtney Cook
Running Long Jump – Bronze - Melissa Daly
High Jump – Bronze – Brenton Kehler

200m – Gold – Darren Enns
200m – Gold – Joseph Anderson
200m – Silver – Ashley Mulko
200m – Silver – Melissa Daly
200m – Silver – Joel Friesen
200m – Silver –Courtney Cook
200m – Bronze – David Ingram

800m – Silver - Leaha-Marie Van Steelant
800m – Silver – Kari Macklem

Softball
Loss vs Alberta 19-7
Loss vs Alberta (Score not available) (Semi Final. Team Manitoba move on to the Bronze Medal Game)

Soccer
Win vs Saskatchewan 5-0
Win vs Saskatchewan 3-1 (Semi Final) Team Manitoba advances to the Gold Medal Game

10 Pin Bowling
Dale Cuningham – -Gold – Individual Play
Darbe Cunningham – Gold Individul Play
Steve Klasseon – Silver – Individual Play
Dale Cuningham – -Gold – Individual all-round
Darbe Cunningham – Gold - Individual all-round

5 Pin bowling (Individual Play)
Gold – Flora Francois and Marc Pellissier
Silver – Gisel Flora, Gerald Letandre, Kelsey Rehill, Sherman Kreutzer
Bronze – Marcel Vandersteen, Brian Levreault

Swimming
Ashlee McLeod – Gold – 200m Backstroke
Tanner Price – Gold – 50m Breaststroke
Tanner Price – Gold – 100m Individual Medley
Jason Norminton – Gold – 200m Backstroke
Terry Kelly – Silver – 100m Individual Medley

Friday's Results

2010-07-17T02:49:00.005-05:00

2010-07-17T02:47:00.001-05:00

Newsletter for Friday

Norminton With a Pair of Records!

2010-07-16T17:00:00.000-05:00

Wednesday and today, Jason Norminton dominated his events with a pair of North American Down Syndrome Records.

On Wednesday, in his 200m individual medley, he swam 3:33.11. The medley is a race of four different swim strokes, the butterfly, backstroke, breast and freestyle.

In today's 200m Backstroke Jason swam a 3:15.99.

"Jason is a very dedicated athlete who has trained very hard to get to this point. I'm so very proud to have been his coach for the past 4 years." Coach Mlee Price.
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A great day so far

2010-07-16T12:25:00.000-05:00

So far, Manitoba's having a great day. If you are following us on Twitter, you'll see that we have medals pouring in from track, we're well positioned for a haul at the pool and well seeded in Soccer for semi finals.

As well, bowling is starting to wrap up, powerlifting starts tomorrow, softball semis tonight and more from the track and pool.

It'll be an exciting last day and a half!
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Soccer Round Robin

2010-07-16T09:05:00.000-05:00

On the soccer pitch Manitoba over Sask 5-0. That ends round robin play. With 2 wins and a tie for 8 points they are currently seeded 1st. With a +9 goal difference, it looks like their seeding will remain unchanged unless team Ontario can score a load of goals in their upcoming game.
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Thursday's Newsletter

2010-07-16T02:31:00.000-05:00

Thursday

7 Gold 12 Silver 10 Bronze

2010-07-16T02:22:00.000-05:00

That is our current total as Manitoba is bringing home the medals and rising to the occasion with personal bests and highlights coming from all arenas of sport.

Rythmic Gymnastics wrapped up today with Nicole Carr being selected by TSN for an interview. The cameras seemed to love our little Princess. The Rythmic Team pulled in a whopping 10 medals amongst them.

At the track today, it was HOT HOT HOT again. The morning saw the team bring in a bronze and a silver in the morning. In the evening, sports were suspended when the rain rolled in.

At the bowling lanes, things were rolling along nicely at 5 pin while 10 pin hauled in their first Gold medal in doubles action.

At the pool, the Danny Crow strategy continues. It was more, “Wake Danny, move the team, wake Danny, move the team.” The strategy still paid off as Danny pulled in a pair of personal bests and another Gold. Overall, the swim team had another great day at the pool with a medal haul of 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 4 Bronze.
Coach Gord reports “this team has peaked at exactly the right time and is scoring personal bests all over the place.” You can see in Gord’s eyes how proud he is of his team.

At the soccer pitch, the team had a very hard fought tie (2-2) against Ontario in the morning and after a tight 3-3 first half, polished off team Nova Scotia with a 7-3 victory. TSN filmed this game, so stay tuned for highlights of this one.

At the ball diamond, Robert Long had a Grand Slam home run in a 12-6 victory over British Columbia. The guys came up short against a very good Nova Scotia side with a 19-8 loss.

The Powerlifting duo of Coach Darryl and Robyn Latimer continues to tour the venues, putting out the laughs. Coach Darryl also says, “Please don’t put a microphone on Robyn, he’ll ruin my rep.” To this, Robyn replied, “You don’t have a rep coach.” This duo can be seen at the weigh-ins tomorrow as they prepare to compete on Saturday.

These are the concise results.

Athletics
Margaret Harder – Bronze – 50M
Darren Enns – Silver – 100M (Unofficial Result until all Men's divisions finalized Friday Morning)

Rythmic Gymnastics
Michelle Augert – Level 2B - 5 Silver in Rope, Ball, Hoop, Ribbon and individual all-round
Ashlee Wilwand – Level 3A - 5 medals - Gold for Rope, Silver for Ball, Bronze for Club and Ribbon and Silver in individual all-round

Softball
Win vs B.C. 12-6
Lost vs Nova Scotia 8-19

Soccer
Tie vs Oakville 2-2
Win vs Nova Scotia 7-2

10 Pin Bowling
Gold in Doubles play, team of Steve Klassen and Dale Cuningham

Swimming
Danny Crow – Gold - 25m Breaststroke
Tanner Price – Silver - 200m Breaststroke
Terry Kelly – Bronze - 50m Butterfly
Jason Norminton – Bronze - 50m Butterfly
Ashley McLeod – Gold in 100m Backstronke + Bronze in 400m freestyle
Alexandra Gantenbein – Bronze - 100m Freestyle

Wednesday's Newsletter

2010-07-15T07:14:00.002-05:00

... is online.

Wednesday

A Golden Start

2010-07-15T01:57:00.000-05:00

Manitoba had a golden start to these 2010 Summer Games. It happened at the Athletic Venue courtesy of Brita Hall and her victory in the 5000m race. And that was just the beginning of the medal haul.

Manitoba had a fantastic day in the pool today with personal bests coming hot and heavy. It was an early start to the day for swimmers and Danny Crow best exemplified this with his multiple nap morning. Coach Gord Stewart reports that the routine was, “Wake Danny, move the team. Wake Danny, move the team.” It seemed to be a fantastic strategy as he came out with a medal and two personal bests. “Whatever works!” - Coach Gord reported. It certainly helps that the swim team has come together as a tight and supportive team.

Swim Results:
Betty Rose 2PBs and 1 silver (25m free)
Danny Crow 2PBs and 1 gold in (25m free)
Shannon Legg 1PB, 2 silver (200m free and 100m breast)
Jason Norminton 2PBs, 2 bronze (200m IM and 50m
back)
Tanner Price 2PBs, 1 bronze (200m IM)
Ashlee McLeod 2PBs, 1 gold (200m IM)

Correction: Yesterday, the newsletter reported that Barry Mulligan was a soccer athlete. He is, in fact, a Soft Ball athlete. Speaking of Barry, it was a day of comedy in the hitter’s box. Barry has always been known to swing at EVERYTHING. “If it’s between the dugouts, Barry will swing.” Coach Warren comments. “Yet today, he decides that the best pitch he’s ever seen in his life is the one that he’ll watch go over the plate! The umpire couldn’t have gotten a dirtier look from Barry for calling a strike!

With losses to PEI and New Brunswick as well as a well earned tie with Brampton-ON, they will be seeded in Division #2. On the soccer pitch, in the first game vs Alberta, Alberta drew first blood. Tim Gratton with great passing, hit the side of net for Manitoba’s first shot. Alberta then added a second goal. Manitoba’s first was scored off Tim’s foot. Manitoba had a free kick and Tim sent it just over the
corner of the net. Ian Swain had some good attempts but couldn’t capitlize. And that was just the first half.
Second half, Jonathan Currie, Doug Stobbe, Wayne Bauche and Tim worked really well together. Harvey played net in the second half and was commanding the troops from his vantage point. Then the shots started raining in and he stood on his head to keep the game tight; at one point stopping 3 in a row.
Final score AB 3 MB1.

vs New Brunswick
Our guys came out with a vengence. Solid directional passing and 4 goals scored in first half to New Brunswick’s one. A solid defensive second half with no blood drawn. Final score MB 4, NB 1.
With their 1-1 record, the soccer team has been placed in Division B.

Rythmic Gymnastics reports a great day all around. There are no results to report from this venue. Divisioning will be announced at the start of competition tomorrow. Nikki Carr reports that she will no longer spend her free day on Friday with her parents, but will instead escort Rick Syrenne for the
day as he goes about his duties.

5 Pin Bowling reports a solid day of divisional play. There are no results to report at this time.

10 Pin Bowling has been having a great time, Dale has emerged as a wonderful team leader and, along with Steve, Darbe, Cliff and Curt, is in the running for the all-round. (All-round takes 9 games of total scores + handicap.)

Back at Athletics, there were still more PBs happening there despite the heat that closed the venue for the afternoon. Despite this, the Athletics Team is now known as the team that will cheer for absolutely anything, from other teams to popular brands of coffee. At the opening ceremonies, the coolest one was “Guy Carrying Signs! Guy Carrying Sings!” The weirdest one was “White Car Driving By! White Car Driving By!” (We did say 'Anything!') Tomorrow’s competition will be in the morning and evening with no events held in the afternoon. 100m finals run in the morning.

In Powerlifting, Coach Darryl Ludwig reports, “Across campus, Robin Latimer is lifting small vehicles in training for power lifting later in the week.”

Manitoba’s current medal count stands at
2 Gold - 3 Silver - 3 Bronze

More importantly, the personal bests, the teamwork and camaraderie is our developing story.
That is all from London. With opening day jitters behind them, the team is looking forward to a fantastic second day of competition.

Cheers!

Our Daily Newsletter

2010-07-14T15:09:00.000-05:00

Our daily Newsletter can be accessed from the following links.

Monday

Tuesday

Cheers!

From the soccer pitch

2010-07-14T11:20:00.000-05:00

Here's the story from the day at soccer on a hot and humid day one morning.

Vs Alberta

Ab drew first blood. Tim Gratton with great passing, hit the side of net for Manitoba's first shot. Alberta then added a second goal. Manitoba's first was scored off Tim's foot.
Manitoba had a free kick and Tim sent it just over the corner of the net.
Ian Swain had some good attempts but couldn't capitlize.
And that was just the first half.
Second half, Jonathan Currie, Doug Stobie, Wayne Bosch and Tim worked really well together.
Harvey played net in the second half and was commanding the troops from his vantage point. Then the shots started raining in and he stood on his head to keep the game tight; at one point stopping 3 in a row.
Final score AB 3 MB1.

Vs New Brunswick
Our guys came out with a vengence. Solid directional passing and 4 goals scored in first half to New Brunswick's one. A solid defensive second half with no blood drawn.
Final score MB 4, NB 1.

Group Divisioning is decided this afternoon. Stay tuned.

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Let The Games Begin

2010-07-14T01:27:00.000-05:00

... and with those words from Dr. Frank Hayden, founder of the Special Olympics movent right here in London, the games were declared open.

Our athletes had an amazing time this evening, celebrating the opening of these 2010 Special Olympics Canada Summer Games. We had the usual dignitary speeches, we had music entertainment, a dance team performance and Grapes himself, Don Cherry assisted with the athlete’s oath.

Leading up to the ceremonies, the day itself was one filled with practices, sport meetings for head coaches, transportation issues and healthy athlete visits. Our teams all reported that they had a good time testing out their venues and getting some practice time in. There were a few minor bumps in the road as far as transportation went, but that is why we have a practice day. The well oiled machine that is the Games Organizing committee will be all over those minor issues and they will be non-issues tomorrow.

Speaking of this organizing committee, what an amazing job they have done. It certainly appears that no small detail has been left out. From all the minute scheduling details to touches like a bottle of water under each seat at the ceremonies. This is truly a well oiled machine. Perhaps it’s our men and women of the Police services who seem to be running all of the committees that is the reason. Things are just getting done. It has certainly added to the enjoyment of the whole experience thus far.

At these opening ceremonies, we had Track Athlete Brita Hall, a 30 year veteran of Special Olympics, carry in our Flag, while Barry Mulligan, a Westman soccer player lead us in with our team sign.

That’s all from London for today. Now it’s time to compete!

Cheers!

Athletes Want to Hear From You

2010-07-13T14:39:00.000-05:00

We are hours away from the opening ceremonies and athletes are already asking if we have heard from home. They want to hear from their friends and families. How do you do this?

Well, if you are using Twitter, then type a message starting with @teamtoba2010 Keep it short, there is only 140 characters. Those messages will be passed along in a more timely manner. A sample twitter message might look like this.

@teamtoba2010 David Ingram, athletics. Good luck in your race tomorrow! Love Mom.

Now, if you want to use this web blog, then at the end of the post, click comments. It might be 0 Comments or it could be 5 Comments, the number doesn't matter. It will open up a new page with a blank area to type your comments into. At the bottom, it will say "Comment As" with an arrow. Click the arrow and then click on 'Anonymous'. This allows you to make a post without having an account. Just make sure to sign your name inside your comments.

Again, make sure to include the athlete's full name and their sport at the top of your comment. (To: David Ingram, Athletics) We'll pass on the best wishes the next morning, at the latest.

Watch Twitter for live updates and photos from the opening ceremonies!

Cheers!

The Journey to London

2010-07-13T00:03:00.000-05:00

Here we are, now in London. At this time, the halls are quiet, save for some snoring that can be heard from behind closed doors; and that is just the coaches!

The travel to London was, for the most part, uneventful. We had the usual challenges that we have when travelling with a large group. Someone not feeling well, someone missing home. But this is the time that teams come together and rally around their comrades and learn to support one another.

Arrival in London saw a flurry of activity. Our buses were met by some rather large young men of the University of Western Ontario Athletics department. These fine young men muscled all of our big bags onto a moving truck and hauled them over and into the staging area at residence. The team just needed to walk over and claim their bags, no lifting or hauling necessary. (Boy, we could have used that service at the airport!)

It was up to the rooms to settle in before the head coaches and mission staff had a brief meeting to dispense information from our amazing Chef Jenn. Then it was off to the chow lines. It appears that most of our athletes managed to get in before or among the sea of red that was team Ontario. A couple of our teams were caught at the back of the long line.

With supper done, many teams had some downtime. Some went for tours of their venues, others had sport meetings and yet others got together to have some fun. Before long, it was lights out to dream of glories yet to come.

Tomorrow is a practice day, a chance for teams to try out their venues for a few hours before starting the competition ons Wednesday. Tomorrow night, opening ceremonies. That should be a night to remember for our athletes.

If you were following along on Twitter today, it was, for the most part, a series of updates as things occured. Look for more of the same tomorrow.

Photos from the airplane are posted. More travel photos will be posted as cameras come my way.

That's it from London.

Cheers!

Staging Camp

2010-07-11T23:40:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone!

Well, if you have been following the Twitter feed, you'll know that the staging camp is in the books and the athletes are tucked in and (hopefully) fast asleep.

As you know, a staging camp is important to organize the team, make sure that everyone has everything that they need, both physically and informationally. That's a new word, by the way, Darryl Ludwig will confirm it. This camp, according to the people who have been there before, went pretty smoothly and only a couple of minor hiccups for us to take care of. Don't worry, if you didn't get a phone call, your athlete wasn't the hiccup.

The Pep Rally was fun and Simon made sure to pump up the athletes before we got down to the serious business. Then it was off for some break out team meetings before heading off to bed.

It's an early 5am wake up call for everyone, 6am to board the bus to the airport. Follow us on Twitter, username teamtoba2010 and we'll keep everyone posted as we travel.

Photos from the staging camp are in the Picasa Gallery linked on the left side of this Blog page.

See you in London.

Cheers!

Twitter for Newbies

2010-07-09T17:20:00.000-05:00

Found an article for those people unfamiliar with how Twitter works. You'll find it's not as 'alien' as some people fear it to be.

http://news.cnet.com/newbies-guide-to-twitter/

First Photos

2010-07-08T22:56:00.000-05:00

Photos from today's Media Luncheon and from the Track Team's Team building at the park have been uploaded. Just click on 'View My Gallery' to the left in the Picasa Photostream box.

On the Picasa website, you can browse through the different Team Toba galleries during the games.

Photos will also be added via Twitter/Twitpic. For those, you can follow Teamtoba2010 on Twitter or watch the Twitter stream in the bar across the top of this page.

Welcome Friends, Family and Media

2010-07-08T01:00:00.001-05:00

Welcome to the Team Toba Blog. Follow the regular updates here as well as on http://Twitter.com/teamtoba2010

Guest comments are turned on. If you wish to leave well wishes, congratulatory or other messages, we will pass them on to the athletes.

Thank you for supporting Team Toba!
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Welcome

2010-05-15T12:41:00.001-05:00

Welcome to coaches and mission staff to the 2010 Team Manitoba weekend conference.

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May 11 update

2010-05-11T16:08:00.001-05:00

4 days to go until the coaches and mission staff weekend.
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April 30 test

2010-04-30T22:58:00.001-05:00

This is a test of the blog system as sent from mymobile.
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