The executive director of Special Olympics Newfoundland and Labrador is reflecting on an “excellent weekend all around” following this year’s games in Gander.

Bobby Gamba says they had over 450 athletes, coaches, and other staff from 12 community clubs across the province, and an additional 200 volunteers on the ground.

In addition to sporting achievements, Gamba says there was personal growth on display.

He says they take “great pride” in seeing individual growth. For some of their athletes, that means winning a medal and qualifying for the provincial team in the national games, and for others it means meeting new friends and having fun. He says it was a great weekend in that aspect, and they are already looking forward to the next event.

Gamba says this year’s summer games were a qualifier for Team NL at next year’s national games in Alberta.

The next event in this province will be the 2027 winter games.

Gamba says his team will decompress a bit from the event that just concluded, and then they will focus on the “tight turnaround” for the winter games.