With less than one year to go until the 2021 Canada Summer Games, preparations are underway with Team BC selecting its Mission Staff, who will support B.C. athletes, coaches, and managers as they prepare for and compete at the games in Niagara, Ont.
Comprised of sport administrators, educators, sport performance experts, and communications specialists, the Mission Staff will provide a wide range of services from now until the games, which take place Aug. 6 to 21, 2021.
Chef de Mission, Jennifer Scott heads the leadership team, who will provide administrative, logistical, and performance preparation support.
On Scott’s team is Langley resident Danielle Williams, who will serve as the Assistant Chef de Mission.
Williams has served in various capacities in six separate games, beginning with the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax in a communications role.
“It was recommended to me as something would be up my alley and so I applied,” Williams recalled, having come from a figure skating background and a director of operations position with Skate BC.
The Mission Staff team will work for the next 12 months to ensure Team BC is ready to compete at the 2021 Canada Summer Games.
Williams said she’ll be part of monthly calls with other province Mission Teams, facilitating training camps (which she noted will be virtual to start due to COVID-19), and help give logistics and direction to coaches and athletes as the games approach.
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“I love making a difference in people’s lives,” she said, advising athletes to live in the moment and try to take in as much as they can since the experience is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
She said her role will significantly increase when the games occur, facilitating the morning wake-up, attending frequent meetings, doing interviews, putting out “daily fires,” and cheering the team on.
“This is my sixth games and ideally I would like to complete the circle and keep going to serve as Chef de Mission,” Williams noted, though she said it’s too far to plan that far ahead.
Additional to Williams, Aldergrove’s Rebecca Tamil Selven is part of the Operations and Sport Liaisons department.
The Canada Games are held every two years, alternating between winter and summer and are a key step in the development of Canada’s amateur athletes.
Team BC will send 500 athletes, coaches, support staff, and Mission Staff to the Games.
In total, 28 B.C. residents make up the 2021 Canada Summer Games Team BC Mission Staff.
Athletes will be announced in the coming months.
For more information on the Canada Summer Games, people can visit www.canadagames.ca/upcoming-games/niagara-2021-canada-summer-games.
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Email: ryan.uytdewilligen@langleyadvancetimes.com
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