ASRAB and Flaman Fitness partner to launch the 2011 sight night Fun Run/Walk

Mark your calendars for the second annual sight night event!  November 19, 2011 is sight night in Calgary - a fun walk and run after dark to raise funds and awareness for ASRAB. Sponsored by Flaman Fitness, sight night will once again start and finish at Eau Claire Market, with an 8K run or 3K walk along the Bow River pathway. The event has been designed to welcome everyone regardless of age or experience and emphasizes...vision-optional!

Former Mayor Dave Bronconnier and ASRAB junior Goalball player, Caitlin Higgins are honorary co-chairs of this years event. In addition to endorsing sight night, the former Mayor will serve as Caitlin's guide runner. Caitlin is an excellent representative of the ASRAB core of athletes and clearly states her reasons for accepting the role:

 "Thank Goodness for a few familiar things I can still count on, like the Alberta Sports and Recreation Association for the Blind.  Here, I can get together with kids my own age, who face many of the same challenges I have; we understand each other and can work through them together.  We participate in all kids of sports, individually and in teams, like skating, biking, and running; our competitions are fierce but friendly.  I am on the youth goalball team and really look forward to our weekly practices.  My world would be a lot smaller and a lot less fun without the opportunities that ASRAB is offering me.  This is why I am proud to co-chair sight night on November 19, 2011 with former Mayor Dave Bronconnier.  Please support us as we raise money so that all visually impaired and blind Albertans can take to the trails, feel the thrill of the ride and the challenge of competition in whatever sport they choose."

The best way to register for sight night is to visit the ASRAB web-site at  www.asrab.ab.ca.  You can choose to challenge yourself to the 8K run, or make it an evening walk with the family. Create a team and invite your friends and family to join you at the 2011 sight night fun run!

The sight night Challenge

You can ramp up your support of ASRAB, however, by taking the "sight night challenge".  You will have the opportunity to raise funds for ASRAB by telling your family and friends about the event, encouraging them to register, or asking them to make a tax deductible donation to ASRAB by supporting your fund-raising efforts.  Once you have raised $250.00 or more in pledges for ASRAB, your registration fee will be refunded and you will participate for free!  It's a real win-win for everyone as ASRAB gains the financial support, your generous donors receive a tax receipt for their donation, and you get your registration fee back.

Visit the following links to revisit the 2010 sight night and get yourself, your family, and your friends registered for 2011.  Help ASRAB to make the 2011 event a huge success! 

The Board Of Directors of ASRAB sincerely thanks you for your support!  Check out the following links!

http://asrab.ab.ca/PDFs/2010%20Sight%20Night%20exposure%20report.pdf

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sight-Night/130916720269924?ref=ts

We are thrilled to announce that ASRAB will offer training programs in both Edmonton and Calgary this year, available to all ASRAB members interested in having a great time while learning how to get prepared for a run or walk of this nature.  (more details in the weeks ahead).

Questions can be directed to sightnight@asrab.ab.ca or at 403.262.5332.

sight night - Saturday November 19 - 6:00 PM - Eau Claire Market, Calgary

Presenting Sponsor:  Flaman Fitness *** Elite Level Sponsors:  Black Diamond Equipment * BURNCO Rock Products Ltd. * Flaman Foundation * The Running Room

ASRAB: 2011 AGM Update 

On April 10, 2011 ASRAB held their Annual General Meeting reporting on association activities for the 2010 year.  

To read a copy of president Peter Wettlaufers report click here!

ASRAB is pleased to welcome Gord Winters who was elected as treasurer on the ASRAB board of directors.  Gord graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a degree in accounting and currently works at Grant Thornton LLP as a senior accountant.  ASRAB wishes to thank Wayne Littlewood and Toni Freimark, for their contributions during their tenure as members of the board.  We would also like to thank all of our returning board members for their hard work.

The Alberta Sports and Recreation Association for the Blind holds its AGM each year and encourages all members to attend and contribute to the association!

ASRAB Board of Directors

President - Peter Wettlaufer

Vice President - Kevin Kaminski

Treasurer - Gord Winters

Secretary - Pamela Luscombe

Sport and Recreation Director - Lorna Snow

Athletes Representative - Trent Farebrother

North Region Director - Dean Kozak

Central Region Director - Bill Koch

South Region Director - Vacant 

ASRAB Athletes travel to South Africa to compete in High Level Tournament!

With the weather in Calgary being so glum wouldn't it be nice to go somewhere sunny and warm - like South Africa?  That's exactly what two ASRAB Lawn Bowlers and their directors did, not to relax in the sun but to represent Canada at the 2011 World Lawn Bowling Championships.  The tournament took place at the Wingate Park Country Club in Pretoria from May 3rd to 13th, 2011.  ASRAB athletes, Heather Hannett and Bob Smith, along with their directors Sue Acorn and Stuart Barton, gained the opportunity to compete in the high level tournament by placing at last years BBAC Lawn Bowl Nationals.

Heather and Bob were among hundreds of athletes, those with visual impairments and those with other disabilities, who had traveled from all over the world to compete in the tournament, but as Heather explains, the tournament was an opportunity for our athletes to increase their knowledge and skills on the sport as well.  "Although I did not come home with a medal, I came back with knowledge from other bowlers and their directors and that is a medal, in itself."

Bob, who was born in South Africa, was especially pleased that he was able to have family members out to support him during some of the games he played and although he did extremely well he jokingly added "I could have done much better if I could have had a little bit more good luck, that most essential need in any bowls tournament."  Heather and Bob both competed in singles and doubles competition and both athletes proved to be highly skilled, formidable competitors!

The trip wasn't all business, the athletes were able to go on a safari and saw elephants, lions, leopards, zebra and many more exotic animals!

Heather was selected to raise and lower the Canadian flag at the opening and closing ceremonies.  "It was a great honor to be picked to be the representative to raise the Canadian flag in the opening ceremonies and lower it in the closing.  Standing with athletes from around the world as they raised their flag and their anthem was played was a great feeling of unity among lawn bowlers.  I was proud to be part of the Canadian Lawn Bowling Team but also proud to be among lawn bowlers around the world that love the game as much as we do."

The next Canadian Nationals are to be held in Kitchener, Ontario from July 25th to 31st, 2011.  Athletes who do well at Nationals may be selected to represent Canada at the next international tournament, which will be held in England.  Bob, Heather and the rest of the ASRAB Lawn Bowlers have already begun their training for the up-coming season and will aim to represent ASRAB at the 2011 Lawn Bowls Nationals. 

ASRAB Athlete named to National Team

Tiana Knight, at Centre, who was just named to the Canadian Women's National Goalball Team.

ASRAB is proud to announce that Tiana Knight has been named to the Canadian National Women's Goalball Team.  Below is an excerpt from a news release sent out by the Canadian Blind Sports Association. 

"Based on development team rankings, Alberta's Tiana Knight has earned the opportunity to train with the National Women's Goalball Team and will join the squad at the Pajulahti Games, in Nastola Finland on January 21 - 23rd 2011.

Tiana has competed for the Alberta Sports and Recreation Association for the Blind (ASRAB) Women's Goalball Team at the last two Canadian Blind Sports National Goalball Championships.  Tiana has also been a mainstay of the ASRAB Junior Women's team for the last five Canadian Blind Sports Junior Goalball championships, including the 2009 Canadian Junior Women's Championship Team.

Internationally Knight has represented Canada as part of the Canadian Junior National Women's Goalball Team that won the bronze medal at the 2009 IBSA World Youth and Student Championships, as well as the team that competed at the same event in 2007.

Congratulations to Tiana for all her hard work and training, and for earning the chance to compete with the National Team."

2011 Canadian Blind Sports National Goalball Championships Final Wrap-Up

(Halifax, Nova Scotia - May 26^th, 2011) - The 2011 Canadian Blind Sports National Goalball Championships saw the Ontario Trillium Women's Team win their 4^th consecutive National Championship title, while the BC Men's Team won their second consecutive gold medal for the provinces 2^nd ever Championship Title.  The event 

The Ontario Trillium faced perhaps their toughest challenge of their reign as 7 women's teams entered the tournament - the most there have been since they won their first title in 2008.  The Trilliums, made up of Whitney Bogart, Amy Kneebone, Jessica Khoury, and Lara Strik with coaches Rob Christy, Jenn McMillen and former team member Annette Lisabeth managed to once again finish the tournament undefeated. They placed 1^st in the round-robin, beat BC 2 - 0 in the semi-finals, and then won the gold by beating Alberta 4 - 1 in the final, once again showing their dominance in the Canadian Goalball scene.

Staying with the women's side, Team Alberta took the biggest jump in the standings moving from 5^th place in 2010 to the silver medal in 2011.  They finished 2^nd in the round-robin and beat the Ontario Deuces 5 - 2 in the semi-final to lock up the silver medal.

In the bronze medal game BC and the Ontario Deuces were deadlocked with only minutes to go when BC scored on a late penalty shot to win the bronze medal by a score of 3 - 2, while the Ontario Deuces finish 4^th.

In the 5^th vs 6^th match-up Quebec and Saskatchewan played a highly entertaining and close game where Quebec emerged victorious by a score of 4 - 3. 

For hometown Nova Scotia, this was only the second tournament ever for most of their athletes, and they showed marked improvement throughout the event, ultimately finishing in 7^th place.

Switching to the men's side, the BC Team won the province's first ever gold medal in Goalball in 2010 and now has followed up by defending their National Championship Title in 2011.  Brendan Gaulin, Doug Ripley, John Tee, and Ahmad Zeividavi with coaches Robert Lebel and Cherie Lu went a perfect 7 - 0 to win the gold.  In the final everyone expected, the 3 Canadian National Team members from BC faced off against the 3 Canadian National Team Members from Quebec in a game that saw Quebec get frustrated by penalty trouble early on and BC staying patient yet relentless to win by a final score of 9 - 2. 

Quebec finished the round-robin in 2^nd place with a record of 3 wins 1 loss and 1 tie, and then handily defeated Alberta in the semi-final by a score of 12 - 2 to win the silver medal.

Alberta rebounded from their tough semi-final against Quebec to win the bronze medal by beating New Brunswick 8 - 1and get back on the podium after missing out last year.  Tournament newcomers New Brunswick showed they will be a team to contend with as they finished 4^th in the round-robin to earn the final semi-final berth.

The men's 5^th vs 6^th match saw both the Ontario All-Blacks and host Nova Scotia come out fired up as they played a spirited, high-scoring game that needed overtime to be decided.  The All-Blacks managed a second half comeback culminated by a goal with only 7 seconds remaining to force overtime, and then eventually won the game by a score of 6 - 5.

In the individual awards, BC's Brendan Gaulin took home his first National Championships MVP Trophy after helping lead his team to victory.  The Ontario Trillium's Amy Kneebone won her second consecutive MVP trophy after displaying both stellar defensive and offensive skills while playing centre. Nova Scotia's Oliver Pye was presented with the Spirit Award for the athlete that best exhibits the characteristics of sportsmanship, fair play, and a love for the game.

Canadian Blind Sports congratulates all of the athletes and coaches on another fine performance at the 2011 Canadian Blind Sports National Goalball Championships, and thanks all the volunteers, especially the officials as without them the event would not be possible.  Finally congratulations and thanks to Blind Sports Nova Scotia for hosting a successful event.

ASRAB Women's Athlete Competes at Canada Winter Games in Cross Country Ski Events!

This winter, ASRAB athlete, Megan Luscombe, had the opportuntiy to compete in Canada Winter Games.  The competition, which took place in Halifax, saw Megan competing in three cross country ski different races

 - the 2.5km standing free para female, the 5km standing classic para female, and the 1000m standing sprint para female.  ASRAB is extremely proud to announce that Megan placed 7th overall in two of her races, and 6th in the other race!  Megan is a long serving member of the Alberta Women's Goalball Team, way to go Megan!   

Tandom Cycling Update   

The Team of William Stanley and Doug Baron attended their first UCI Para Cycle Track World Championships in March in Italy.  The team have been training together since last summer and they were selected to the National Team after attending Track Nationals in Bromont Quebec where they won the flying 200 meter Time Trial and came 2nd in the 1000 meter Time Trial.  They were officially named to the team in December and training really got serious from that point.  The National Team spent 2 weeks in Portugal of which William and Doug attended the 2nd week and final preparations in Italy.  31 Men's Tandems were in attendance at this year's event.  The first event was the Men's Kilo which they placed 13th with a time of 1:07.312 and in the Tandem Sprint they placed 10th with a time of 11.134 Seconds not quite making the final 8 which move on to sprint rounds.  This puts William in 16th Place in the Men's UCI Ranking for 2011.  William and Doug will continue to train this spring with Track nationals again in Bromont this August.  This year we expect to return to the Podium in both the Flying 200 meter as well as the 1000 meter ITT.  

The National Cycling Centre Calgary is now hosting weekly rides for anyone interested in going for a ride on a Tandem.  Rides will start in May departing from North Glenmore Park at 7:00 PM.  Please feel contact Stephen Burke at 403-220-8008 or via email at sgburke@ucalgary.ca for more information or to sign up for the session.  The Tandem Program is growing with more interest from a number of new Visually Impaired athletes.  If anyone would like to attend a training session at the Glenmore Velodrome you are also welcome to contact Stephen regarding a time and location.   

2010 Western Canadian Invitational Goalball Tournament Results!

 ASRAB is very pleased to announce that the 2011 Western Invitational Goalball Tournament that occurred March 11/12/13 was a huge success.  The tournament saw six men's teams, six women's teams and a youth team compete in several exciting and highly entertaining games!

   

In the women's division the Canadian Women's National team took home first place - Congratulations to Amy Kneebone, Nancy Morin, Whitney Bogart, Cassie Orgeles, Jill MacSween along with coach Janice Dawson.  Second and third place finishers in the women's division were Quest and BC respectively!

 
In the Men's division team Alberta 2 captured first place - congratulations to Bill Koch, Dean Kozak, Kevin Kaminski, Trent Farebrother and coach Claire Kaminski!  Second and third place finishers in the Men's division were the Canadian National Men's team and Alberta 1 respectively!
 
ASRAB was especially proud of our three youth Goalball players - Caitlin Higgins, Meaghan Hargrave and Nolan Mattinson - who played in their first ever tournament!  The players, along with their coaches Lorna Snow, Kaley Hutchinson and Cathie Hossack played in games against the Alberta Women's Goalball team and did exceptionally well!  Congratulations! 

 

RECREATION PROGRAM!

Each month, ASRAB offers a recreation program to its members.  The goal of the program is to get our members trying all different sport and recreation activities, with the hope that one or more will interest them and they will continue to participate!  

In February, ASRAB members headed out to Weaselhead park for an afternoon of snow shoeing.  Snowshoeing has been a means of winter transportation for thousands of years and has recently been adapted to allow for outdoor winter physical activity.  Snow Shoeing, which is for the whole family, is an excellent work out with minimal impact on your body - therefore decreasing the chances or injury while increasing the benefit!

In March, a group of 10 children and youth headed to chinook bowladrome!  Bowling has been adapted for the visually impaired with the use of a guide rail.  The rail is placed to one side of the bowler to be used as a reference point for the bowler as the ball is being thrown. The trip to the bowling alley was both really fun and had as moving non-stop for 2 hours!

Finally, in April, ASRAB was lucky enough to have two of Calgary's finest yoga teachers come to the CNIB and teach a yoga class to some of our members.  Yoga is an excellent way to exercise and is relaxing at the same time!  Our incredible teachers adapted the yoga program so that each individual would benefit - regardless of their level of vision.  We hope to be able to offer more yoga programs in the near future!  Thanks to the wonderful yoga teachers for their help.

For more information on our recreation program check out the ASRAB website (www.asrab.ab.ca) or email info@asrab.ab.ca.