The City of Prince George says Special Olympics Canada will be taking a different direction with the 2030 Special Olympics Canada Summer Games.
According to the City, Special Olympics Canada is reopening the bid process in search of a community outside of B.C., due to Kelowna being awarded the 2028 Special Olympics Canada Winter Games and their intention of avoiding hosting back to back events in one province.
The City said they are waiting for additional correspondence from Special Olympics Canada to seek clarity and reasoning on what, if anything, Prince George could do better next time.
“Our local committee put together a 10/10 bid package and site tour, with a tremendous community effort that included Special Olympics athletes, coaches, community leaders, businesses, UNBC and City staff and many others,” said Director of Civic Facilities and Events Andy Beesley in an emailed statement. “Our strong belief is that we did not in fact lose the bid. The goalposts were changed after we knocked it out of the ballpark in terms of the quality of our bid package and the truly remarkable site visits we provided.”
Beesley expressed frustration and disappointment in an interview with My Prince George Now as well.
“We put in a huge amount of work, and by we, this wasn’t just the City, this was huge effort from the Special Olympics volunteers and athletes, so many Special Olympics supporters, so many community members that came together and put forward what we know was a tremendous bid package and tour.”
Beesley said there wasn’t indication from Special Olympics this would be an issue, which adds to the frustration.
“I can’t speak on behalf of Special Olympics Canada, they may have had other reasons, there might be other things that go in,” he said. “It’s a complicated thing to put on these games, we get that and we totally respect the decision, but having said all that, we were left a little bit in the dark and a little bit surprised by their decision.”
Beesley said two major positives have happened throughout the process.
“The first is that the Special Olympics community came together wonderfully to put together this bid package, so I would say Special Olympics Prince George is stronger than ever, with new blood in the volunteer base and new interest and new supporters,” he said. “The other positive part about this is we know we’re not going to win every bid, and we had half a million dollars for this tournament, had we been successful, set aside. That money’s now freed up and we’ve already moved past it and we’re looking at other opportunities.”
Beesley said the City will be putting out more bids on more tournaments, and more great stuff will be coming to the Northern Capital.
After successfully hosting the 2025 provincial games, the City of Prince George was shortlisted to host the 2030 national games last summer.
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