There was a strong turnout at Canada Games Plaza to welcome the Special Olympics National Committee

By Tommy Osborne

Special Olympics

Prince George rallies in an effort to host national games

Oct 8, 2025 | 4:53 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – A party at Canada Games Plaza was hosted Wednesday as part of the Special Olympics national committee tour of Prince George. In an effort to host the 2030 Special Olympics National Summer Games, a tour is being hosted of Prince George’s facilities and community to show it is prepared to host the national games.

“We always felt really good about it, even before the representatives from Special Olympics Canada came to Prince George. We felt really good about it, it was about just putting the best bid package together that we possibly could that would really make it difficult for them to say no,” said Lyn Hall, a Special Olympics committee volunteer.

“I think that we were able to show them today some real highlights of 2015 games (Canada Winter Games), of the 2022 games (BC Summer Games), of the 2025 games (Special Olympics BC Summer Games) that we just finished a couple months ago. So it has, really, I think for me, met all and more of our expectations,” Hall continued.

The message of the tour is “We’re Ready,” and for the City of Prince George, it’s not just a catchphrase, it’s a statement they fully believe in.

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“We’ve been able to say to this bid committee, the evaluators that are here: we are ready. And this is because we are, we’re not just saying that, it’s not a slogan. We’ve done enough games now that we know how to do them,” said the City of Prince George’s Director of Civic Facilities and Events Andy Beesley.

“We are ready. We’re ready to put them on. We have the experience, we have the facilities, we have the volunteers, and we have the people of Prince George,” Hall added.

Energy was high at Canada Games Plaza, with Special Olympics athletes Samuel Russell and Marinka Van Hage showing off their dance moves while a live band played.

While the Prince George hosting committee can’t say how the decision will swing, there is optimism brewing due to how the tour is going so far.

“We were standing up near the soccer fields and able to point out that there’s a university just a quick drive up the hill. There’s the aquatic centre, there’s the CN Centre. There’s all of the different fields around us and so on, and they were kind of blown away by how much we’ve got in our community in such a close proximity,” Beesley said.

Optimism is also high thanks to Prince George’s history of hosting other high profile events, especially with the success of the 2025 Special Olympics BC Summer Games still fresh in the minds of many.

“We’ve proven we have a track record, we have a track record in the great facilities we have, we have a great track record when it comes to organizational skills, and we have a great track record coming right out of our community, the citizens of our community,” Hall said.

The national committee’s tour will conclude on Thursday.

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