British Columbia Blind Sports And Recreation Association

The BCBSRA was organized in 1975 in order to help send BC athletes tot he 1976 National Championships and Selection Trials for the Olympics for the Physically Disabled (now called the Paralympics) in Toronto. Over time the mission has become much broader and so very many people have been helped. Today the BCBSRA helps British Columbians who are blind, visually impaired, deaf blind, or are blind/visually impaired and have additional disabilities to experience the enjoyment of achieving a healthy active lifestyle through all kinds of physical education programs, recreation, outdoor pursuits, and sports.

The funding provided by CMDRT was used to help support the Dragon Boat Program; specifically Vancouver's Eye of the Dragon team. This is a truly unique team in that its members include blind, visually impaired and sighted paddlers. Dragon boat racing is one of a very few sports in which people with vision loss can participate and compete successfully with their sighted peers, without any adaptation and no prior experience. Perhaps most importantly, the team continually promotes awareness and acceptance of persons with vision loss in the community at large. siince its formation in 1994, the team has had 170 paddlers of which 61 have been visually impaired. Competitively, today's team places in the top 10 of the highest competitive division.

In this picture, CMDRT Platinum Knight Sponsor and Foundation President, Leslie Canavan presents a cheque for $2,588. From left to right: Leslie Canavan, Yvonne Stewart, Shane Stewart, Linda Weber, Claus Weber, Jane Blaine*, Gary Cohen.
*Jane is Executive Director of BC Blind Sports and Recreation Association, Yvonne and Linda are sight impaired paddlers with Shane, Claus and Gary on the Eye of The Dragon racing team.