Alessio Cusano
North Vancouver Wolf Pack owner Dean Samson spoke about how much the Special Olympics means and what the team has been doing to support it. “They approached me at one point asking if we would donate a toque and a jersey so that they can raffle it off, and I said why don’t we do something more than that, so we started doing a game where they would share their revenue and some of their athletes started to come out and work with us at the game, they’ve been a tremendous help to us and we do all we can to support them.”
Samson expresses his appreciation for the Special Olympics people who are always at home games, helping out, selling tickets, preparing and setting up for the game before doors open, and helping after the game. That is just one thing the Wolf Pack does to help the community, in addition to many other ways they give back.
First, The Wolf Pack hosts an annual Special Olympics night, where proceeds go towards the athletes. Samson said he is very proud of the team’s strong relationship with them. The Wolf Pack just loves to give back to the Special Olympics community; as Samson said, players and staff would often attend events and provide the support they give to the team at the games back to them. Over the years, Special Olympics have had many events across all sports, and there has been lots of fun attending respective events.
The Special Olympics community is just one of the great communities that support the team. Other groups that Dean loves to see come out are minor hockey teams and local schools, which has helped the Harry Jerome Arena create a great atmosphere. He is proud to see the arena filled back up again; as he stated, in the 2019-20 season, when the Wolf Pack had 40 wins, the building was packed, so he loves seeing kids running around and fans getting loud cheering on the boys.
To conclude, there has been so much love and respect between the Wolf Pack and the Special Olympics on the North Shore. Dean loves having them in the community and helping out on game day. Special Olympics Night at Harry Jerome Arena is always a night to look forward to and for a great community.
