'I miss my friends': Special Olympic athletes excited to return to practice

Val Nyhout grins ear to ear when asked how excited she is to hit the slopes Monday night at Boler Mountain in London, Ont.

"I miss my friends, and I miss everybody," says Nyhout, a Special Olympics athlete who is a medal-winning Alpine Skiier

Nyhout, and the rest of her teammates have been shut out of practice and competition due to the provincial COVID-19 guidelines.

They've been doing virtual training to keep active and social.

"We did finally get started back up last year in November, but then came Jan. 4 and we got shut down again," says Chris Lauzon, another London Special Olympian who competes in floor hockey on Monday nights during the winter.

"We are able to resume Feb. 7 at Clarke Road Secondary School and I can't wait," Lauzon added.

Special Olympics Ontario says all programs who have completed the Return-to-Play process may resume training sessions on Jan. 31, but will be required to maintain all safety protocols.

There will be some challenges with resuming due to some of the guidelines coaches and volunteers will have to follow, but most volunteers are willing to do it as they know how important it is for these athletes.

"It's not just the physical aspect of it, which we know is beneficial to them, but it's the social aspect and routine they really miss," says Derek Spence, the newly appointed manager of the Ontario Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics.Former Police officer Derek Spence holds a box of Tim Horton's Special Olympics Donuts. Spence is the newly appointed manager of Ontario's Law Enforcement Torch Run. (Brent Lale / CTV News)Spence is recently retired from the London Police Service after 32.5 years of service, many of those involved with Special Olympics.

"The athletes miss it, and the law enforcement members miss it, and Special Olympic volunteers miss it," says Spence. "So the sooner we get back to anywhere near normal, the better."

During the provincial shutdowns, Lauzon decided to keep his fellow athletes and coaches entertained by starting a podcast.

He teamed up with Spence for the Guardians and Gladiators podcast which can be heard every Monday on various platforms.

The two record the audio over Zoom and Spence does the editing in time for the Monday release.

"Every time we have two guests," says Lauzon. "Each time on our episodes is an athlete talking about their Special Olympic story. Our second guest is like a volunteer, somebody from the Torch Run or with Special Olympics Ontario. We're up to 14 episodes now."

Social media has blown up this weekend with pictures of the Tim Horton's Special Olympics Donut.

One-Hundred per cent of the proceeds of every Special Olympics donut purchased between Friday and Sunday goes towards funding for the athletes return to sport.

"Everything has been shut down and that includes fundraising," says Spence. "To have a campaign like this with Tim Hortons nationwide, the money they're going to raise is going to go a long way towards helping getting those sports up and running again."The Tim Horton's Special Olympics Donut. 100 per cent of the proceeds from January 28-30 sales go to Special Olympics Canada. Lauzon agrees that the organization needs the money to help restart.

"Some of the funds would go to renting outs the places like for floor hockey with us," says Lauzon. "For example, it's like paying the school board for letting us use their gyms, and other places that that we do our sports."

Nyhout says people are encouraged to purchase the donut before the end of the day January 30th and post online using the hashtag '#ChooseToInclude'.

A number of these athletes worked hard to qualify for provincial championships or national championships and those were all canceled. It's been frustrating to deal with for most of them, but the countdown is on for the return to sport.

"We're waiting for the day they can tell us we're going to have tournaments again," says Lauzon.