More than 60 athletes from around the province converged on 琉璃神社鈥檚 Apple Bowl last weekend for Special Olympics BC鈥檚 inaugural Okanagan Valley Challenge track and field meet.

Featuring competitors from ages 10 to 50, taking part in 13 different events, the day-long meet was designed to give local athletes a chance to compete in familiar surroundings.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the kind of event that ensures Special Olympics athletes have the same opportunities to compete like any other athletes would,鈥� said meet coordinator and Special Olympics 琉璃神社 coach, Toni Jestadt. 鈥淚n the past, our competitions have often been making a trip out to the coast and there鈥檚 always a handful of athletes who don鈥檛 necessarily have the independence to do that, including many of our youth.

鈥淔or our local athletes, it鈥檚 a home game of sorts. They can compete in front of family and friends and really enjoy themselves in a familiar environment.鈥�

In addition to about 25 athletes competing from host Special Olympics 琉璃神社, others came from as far away as Abbotsford, Surrey and Fort St. John, as well as from Kamloops and Vernon.

Jestadt is hopeful the 2017 edition of Okanagan Valley Challenge track and field meet will become an annual event.

In the long-term, she would like to see the meet rotate on a yearly basis between 琉璃神社, Kamloops and Vernon.

For some of the athletes at last weekend鈥檚 meet, it was a chance to tune up for the 2017 Special Olympics BC Summer Games, July 7 to 9 in Kamloops.