Team Canada preps in Richmond for Special Olympics World Games

For the first time since the pandemic, 89 Special Olympics Team Canada athletes are going to Germany to compete on the world stage. Sarah Chew visits a practice to find out more on how they’re making history.

By Sarah Chew

Posted April 29, 2023 11:55 am.

Last Updated April 29, 2023 12:03 pm.

For the first time since the pandemic, 89 Special Olympics Team Canada athletes are going to Germany to compete on the world stage.

The last time these games took place was in 2019 and some competitors tell CityNews they’re happy to be heading back to the Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023 in June.

Amanda Manzardo, a soccer player from Coquitlam, says she is excited to show the world what the team can do.

“When I got picked on the team I was pretty shocked. And then when I found out that it was an all-girls team, I was even more shocked. Like, I was very happy that they finally picked an all-women’s team to go…so we can show the world what we can do,” Manzardo said.

team canada players kicking a soccer ball/practicing in richmond

Athletes in Richmond are getting ready for the Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023. (Sarah Chew, CityNews Image)

It will be the first all-women’s soccer team to go to the summer games representing Canada. Something the team’s head coach says is a monumental achievement.

“There’s different players with different skill sets, but they complement each other. Like some of them really see the field of play where other ones are…like, ‘You put the ball to me and I’m the sprinter and I’m going to go,” Amanda Trenchard explained.

“I just see them coming together as a team.”

Trenchard adds that they had to run most of the training online, as the 11 women come from eight different provinces.

The person in charge of Team Canada says she thinks the athletes are going to do well on the world stage.

“Teamwork is like by far the biggest thing that is hard to come by. So the soccer team and the rest of the basketball team, the bocce team, are really working at getting everyone together to be part of that one team… the athletes that we have, the skills are on-point. And I’m very excited about the possible future for this team,” Susan Lamboo, the Chef de Mission of Special Olympics Team Canada, said.

team canada players playing bocee in richmond

Athletes in Richmond are getting ready for the Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023. (Sarah Chew, CityNews Image)

Boccee player Laura Stremble says she flew from Ontario to come practice in Richmond, and says she is a little nervous to compete in front of a large crowd but is excited for the challenge.

“It’ll be a whole new ballgame out there with new teammates from all over the world. But I hope it goes really well at the games and I hope I win for bocce,” Stremble said.

Manzardo says she is also excited to show off her skills in Germany.