Cory has not trained in these sports nearly as much as he has in skiing of course, but since Special Olympics uses divisioning based on team ability, his teams will be competing against teams of similar calibre. The 4 year Special Olympics summer competition cycle starts this year with local competitions called Regional Qualifiers. Local teams and individuals who qualify then compete next year at the Provincial Summer Games, which in turn is the qualifying competition for the 2018 National Summer Games, and then onto the World Summer Games in 2019.
Both of Cory's softball and basketball teams are developmental teams that have not participated in real competition before. At the basketball Regional Qualifier last March, Cory's team lost all 3 of its games though the team improved significantly as the games progressed.
In softball, most of the athletes declined to participate, so it appeared Cory would not have the opportunity to qualify in that sport. But he was invited to join a neighbouring community's team, though it was at a higher ability level. But he managed to fit in well with his new teammates, and contributed his share to the team's 2 & 2 record at the qualifying tournament - earning a 3rd place finish where the coach awarded the team trophy to Cory.
Here's Cory hitting a single in the game against SOBC - North Shore:
And a patient at-bat here advances a teammate from 1st base to 3rd in the game versus SOBC - Burnaby...
An infield single to score a runner from 3rd in the same game....
Cory then advances to 2nd base....
And scores from 3rd base:
The team had a successful weekend and Cory had a great time. Unfortunately, some players on the team decided not to play at the last minute, and the team did not have the regulation number of players required and were automatically disqualified from qualifying for the Summer Games next year.
So Cory's last chance to qualify now is in Soccer.
This was Cory's first year in Soccer and he plays on a lower level ability team here in Delta. The team played 4 games over the Qualifying weekend in Abbotsford, where they won one game and lost 3. But they allowed only 13 goals and therefore finished ahead of another team that only won one game but allowed 22 goals.
So, rather interestingly, Cory may very well have qualified for next summer's Provincial Games in a sport he purposely chose to give himself an extra opportunity to qualify, On the last day of his last sport, and on a technicality!
I tend to get a bit more vocal when Cory is still learning the basics of his sport....
But then shows me a bit more skill than just the basics...some good ball control here to avoid a defender...
And then he takes his first ever corner kick, (you can tell it's his first time when the referee needs to tell him where to place the ball!) and even takes a moment to direct his teammates....considering he never practiced this, I am rather surprised - and impressed - by his ability to understand and take control of the situation...and in fact puts the ball in a pretty good position for his teammates...
A good pass here to a teammate with Cory taking a good shot on goal on a rebound...
And Cory even tries a nifty give and go - using the correct strategy of waiting until the defender starts moving forward - but unfortunately his teammates do not return his pass.
So now it's a matter of waiting. In Special Olympics, athletes are permitted to compete in the Regional Qualifiers in as many sports as they wish. But if they qualify in more than one sport, they must choose only one. So now it's a lot of work at Special Olympics BC to figure out who has qualified in what sports, then determine which sport each of those athletes will choose. This can have a negative effect on team sports as athletes may choose a different sport and thereby reducing the number of players on any given team, to the point that they may no longer have enough athletes to play. So it will likely be late summer before all is determined.
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