Quizzed as to what he remembers about his first trip to the BC Winter Games, Shaun Dhillon can’t help but chuckle.
Back in 2002, Dhillon was a fresh-faced 16-year-old karate athlete who headed up to Williams Lake to compete in his first major event. He failed to medal, but went on to a terrific career with the Canadian national team which saw him win four national titles and a bronze medal at the 2011 Pan American Games.
“When you’re going to the BC Games, it seems like nothing’s bigger,” Dhillon said with a smile. “It’s like the Olympics.
“I remember the fun in the team environment, the opening ceremonies, the vibe you get when you walk in there. You think you’re a big deal. You’ve got to have accreditation, you get to stay with your teammates in a school, and it’s just awesome. A great experience.”
Dhillon, now 27, retired last year from competitive karate, and he’s watching a new generation of local athletes benefit from the BC Games.
He runs karate academies in Abbotsford and Surrey with a total of 230 students between them, and five of his youngsters recently qualified for the Zone 3 Fraser Valley team.
Three of those are from Abbotsford – Sachreet Dhillon, Simi Dhillon and Manvinder Jawanda.
Sachreet and Simi Dhillon (no relation to their coach) are both 12 years old, and will compete in the under-44 kg division at the Winter Games. The fact that they might end up facing one another at some point is a prospect that doesn’t faze them.
“We’ve done it before, and it’s a full-on battle,” Simi said. “But we don’t care who wins.”
“We train together all the time – we’re partners in crime,” Sachreet added.
Dhillon’s club also produced a gold medalist at the recent Canadian championships at the Richmond Olympic Oval. Josh Dhillon, a Grade 8 student at Rick Hansen Secondary, won the under-52 weight class in the age 14-15 boys division, beating athletes from Quebec, Nova Scotia, Ontario and B.C. en route to the title.
Dhillon, like his coach (also no relation), is a BC Games alum – he won a pair of bronze medals in Vernon in 2012.
“After all that hard work, it finally paid off, and it felt awesome being No. 1 in Canada,” he said.
GYMNASTS GOING FOR GOLD
There’s also a lot of excitement over at Twisters Gymnastics Club, where eight gymnasts have made the cut for the Zone 3 team.
Tamara Skulstad, Ella Palmer and Brienna Gaspar will compete on the girls side, while Kristofer Unipan, Wyatt Lavers, Francois Barnard, Brogan Neufeld and DJ Tarbaj qualified on the boys side.
Shallon Heinzig, a member of the Twisters women’s coaching staff, was thrilled that Skulstad, Palmer and Gaspar all made the team.
“Since they were little, all three of them have always competed against each other and competed together,” she said. “They’re kind of a threesome in the gym – they train together every day, and it was nice that all three of them made it. They all work very hard.”
Gymnastics is an individual sport, but Palmer noted that there’s a spirit of co-operation with the Twisters trio.
“We all help each other,” she said. “If someone’s having troubles, you talk to them.”
MANY MEDAL HOPEFULS
The full list of BC Winter Games participants was unveiled earlier this week, and a total of 29 Abbotsford natives will compete.
In addition to those mentioned above, locals include Special Olympics basketball players Inderpal Gill and Sabrina McLean; wheelchair basketball player Benjamin Garrett; biathlete Jarod Algra; figure skater Jessica McHugh; female hockey players Brenna Hannon and McKenna Unger; judo athletes Simren Brar, Brayden Cryer, Kaiden Griffith, Melina Potvin, Rebecca Potvin, Connor Slooyer and Mitchell Wolfe; karate athletes Victoria Boada and Marcy Walters; ringette player Hannah Shewring; alpine skier Megan Kardoes; and speed skaters Annabel Johnson, Madison Karpes and Michael Warkentin.