Brock Niagara Penguins

Congratulations to Loretta Davis who won the Para-Athlete of the Year at the 2013 Sport Niagara Awards Breakfast on June 6th, 2013. Loretta’s committment to the team on and off the court and her involvement in the promotion of disabled sport within Niagara, made her win a celebration for all who know her.

Congratulations to our very own Uwe Natho, who has volunteered hours and hours of his time to promoting and supporting the Penguins program. He is the recipent of the 2013 Breaking the Barriers Award, given on May 29th. Uwe has been involved behind the scenes with fundraising initatives, club promotion and website management for years, but recently he has been more involved on Saturdays at the wheelchair baskteball practices. A true volunteer!

Kinesiology Prof. James Mandigo recently took a pie to the face to help raise money for the Brock-Niagara Penguins.

It was far from a half-baked idea.

In fact, throwing cream pies in the faces of Brock kinesiology professors recently got students whipped into a bit of frenzy for a good cause.

Kinesiology students participated in a fundraising drive last month for the Brock Niagara Penguins, a swim, boccia and wheelchair basketball team for youth with disabilities, and as extra incentive to dig deep, they threw their names into a raffle for the chance to throw a pie in the face of a professor.

Professors James Mandigo, Jae Patterson, Craig Tokuno and Phil Sullivan, along with instructors Rebecca MacPherson and Larkin Lamarche, got decked out in plastic garbage bags to take one on the chin – and the rest of their faces – for the organization.

The icing on the cake: the event raised more than $400, which will be used to purchase equipment for the Penguins’ swimming, boccia and wheelchair basketball programs.

Congratulations to the Spinners from Kitchener-Waterloo who won the finals against Burlington Vipers. The winning ticket drawn for the NHL tickets was ticket number 317. The winner will be contacted. Thank you to all our community supporters, and all those who supported the event –  without you the tournament could not have been possible! Looking forward to next year!

2013 brings a great deal of excitement ….

Penguins have rolled out their 3rd offered sport of Paralympic Boccia for those with severe disabilities. It  started January 16th and ran for 8 weeks. Because of its success, it will be offered again in the fall starting Sept 18 and will run for 12 weeks.

Penguins swimmers will be in the pool once again twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday. The fall session starts Oct 1 and goes till Dec 12.

Wheelchair basketball will have three summers session : June 22;July 13 & August 10. The Fall session starts Sept 18 and goes till Dec 4. There will be a practice followed by House League games. 

Finally Brock Niagara Penguins now has a new display board and promotional flyer. A great way to promote the club and inform new athletes.

On  Nov 28  at the main Gym of the Niagara Children’s Centre 567 Glenridge Ave. St Catharines, 4 athletes tried there hand at Boccia.

The Pilot session was a success and  all 4 athletes want to register for Boccia come Jan 2013.

Athletes with a highly involved physical disability are invited to try this sport . Come join us. Sessions are every Wednesday  at 3:30 .

This is a partnership between the club and Niagara Children’s Centre and Brock University.

Call Karen 905 688 1890 ext 127 for information or to attend

For the 4th year, Penguins  hosted an all day tournament on March 23 for the D-League wheelchair basketball teams from Brampton,Burlington & Kitchener .

The winners this year were the Twin City Spinners who defeated the Burlington Vipers .

The Penguins gave it their best shoot. But came up short in all of their 5 games. We were proud of their effort.

The tournament was enjoyed by one and all .  Particularly though, by Gail Henry whose ticket # 317 won the raffle for the 2 Maple Leaf tickets of her choice for the 2013/2014 season. 

Then there was the Silent Auction which was sponsored by Motion Specialties.

It was a booming SUCCESS. The Penguin Fundraiser surpased its Goal and thus the Penguins are able to buy two more wheelchairs and have sufficient funds to pay for transportation costs when attending next seasons tournaments.

Thanks to all of the Penguin supporters. You make the Penguins PROUD!

The first season for the Wheelchair Basketball House League is over. Based on athlete feedback, it was a success

There were three teams:

 Team #1: Rockets;

  Team #2: Wheelchair Warriers; 

 Team #3: Rollin Bandits 

On March 9 2013, awards were handed out to recognize the following:

- MVP  : Jonathan

- most points scored : Gloria

- best offensive player : Jonathan

- most tenacious player: voting too close to declare winner

- most improved player: Wilson

- most helpful player: Loretta

- best Team spirit: Lindsay

Bottom Line, all athletes were winners as fun was had by all.