Victoria backdrop to Invictus athlete training

Team Canada athletes gather for a group photo as they kick off their training camp at the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence, April 3, ahead of the 2017 Invictus Games in Toronto.

Peter Mallett, Staff Writer ~

Canada’s 2017 Invictus games athletes converged in Victoria last week for a training camp.

Dressed in their black track suits and red Team Canada jerseys, approximately 90 current and former ill or injured military members filed off three Canadian Armed Forces buses April 3 to attend the kickoff at the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence (PISE).

They were then joined by coaches and support staff for an official welcoming in the main auditorium.

“You are incredible athletes and human beings,” said Commodore Jeff Zwick, Commander Canadian Fleet Pacific, who spoke on behalf of RAdm Art McDonald. “Your courage and perseverance is an inspiration to us all. Our commitment to you this week is to help provide you with a first-class training experience.”

More words of encouragement came from Michael Burns, CEO of Invictus Games Toronto 2017; Canadian Olympic Committee Vice President and 2016 Invictus Coach Peter Lawless; and PISE CEO Robert Bettauer.

Athletes are training for Invictus Games Toronto 2017, to be held Sept. 23 to 30. More than 550 competitors from 17 nations will participate in 12 adaptive sports: archery, athletics, cycling, golf, powerlifting, indoor rowing, sitting volleyball, swimming, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair tennis and a (Land Rover) driving challenge.

Founded by Prince Harry, the Games have been gaining in popularity after the inaugural 2014 Games in London, England, and last year’s event in Orlando, Florida.

Canada’s 2017 athletes were housed in CFB Esquimalt’s Work Point barracks for the duration of their stay. They also used the Naden Athletic Centre gymnasium for training and fitness evaluation.

On the afternoon of April 5, Minister of National Defence Harjit Singh Sajjan made a surprise visit to meet the athletes and wish them good luck in their training for the Games.

Burns says this year’s 2017 Invictus games provides a unique opportunity to tell the story about the therapeutic value of sport and competition, since the Games fall in the same year as Canada’s 150th birthday and the 100th Anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

“It will show the country the importance and impact these games are making in the lives of our service men and women, veterans and their friends and families. These Games are also a historic opportunity for us to discuss with people in our country many of the issues that are effecting our soldiers.”

For more information about Invictus Games Toronto 2017 visit their website at: www.invictusgames2017.com