Nine years ago Rick Prosk started with the idea of creating a soccer team with Special Olympics B.C. and over those years, Prosk has found himself ever more entangled in the organization, doing everything from coaching to joining the executive. For the nine years and the array of services, Prosk was recently awarded the Grass Roots Coaching award from SOBC.
“I was pretty pleased about it. It’s nice to be recognized and appreciated for what you do,” Prosk said.
The award, as its name implies, is given to a coach working at the roots level of the organization.
On their website, the SOBC write the award is for a coach that “emphasizes fair play and good sportsmanship and ensures that all athletes feel included and valued. This coach recognizes the unique gifts of each athlete and has the ability to form an exceptional bond with the athletes who require a unique approach from their coach.”
Doreen O’Brien and Ellen Martz saw that in Prosk and so put in their nomination.
“Rick is a well-respected and valued member of our local (SOBC) and our community. He exhibits positive behaviour and always practices responsible coaching, achieves and maintains excellence on the field, communicates effectively with all athletes, coaches, and parents, and values teamwork as an integral component in achieving the best opportunity for athletes/teams to improve in sport and in life,” they wrote in their nomination.
Prosk’s dedication has been awarded officially now, but it’s the little, everyday awards that make the job satisfying and keep up his enthusiasm for the organization.
“There’s a lot of satisfaction working with athletes that wouldn’t have the opportunity otherwise. If it wasn’t for SOBC then we know probably 45 youth and adults in the community wouldn’t have sports opportunities. So there’s that sense of satisfaction. And the athletes are very appreciative too. Sometimes it’s hard to find that same level of satisfaction at the youth level, but the special olympics athletes are very enthusiastic about what they’re doing and that’s very catching.”
So while the enthusiasm of the athletes has encouraged Prosk to stay, it was his daughter, one of the few athletes that has stayed with the soccer team all these years, who encouraged him to become a part of the SOBC to begin with.
Prosk had spent a lot of time with his other children, coaching them through youth soccer and being a part of their lives in sport, but one of his daughter has Down’s Syndrome and couldn’t play soccer or other sports in school.
So while he wasn’t sure she would join him, it was with her in mind that he began to gather athletes for a soccer club.
“She’d always been stuck watching her brothers and her sister play. I thought after all the years of watching her siblings play and her being put off all the times she spent at the hockey rink she wouldn’t be that interested. But from the beginning she’s been pretty enthusiastic,” Prosk said.
His daughter remains one of the few athletes that has stayed with the team for all nine years.
The fewer player, five-on-five set up the SOBC uses in competition made it easier for Prosk to assemble a team. Prosk quickly gathered the needed players, including his daughter and made a place to spend time with her like he did his other children.
Now, when the team takes to the road and plays in Prince George, the roles are reversed and it’s her siblings who are watching her play, or reffing when they have the time.
The introduction to the SOBC sprung naturally to Prosk through his daughter and the sport he has been coaching for years but that was simply the beginning. The SOBC wiggles its way into your life and doesn’t let go.
“Once you get involved in Special Olympics, it’s hard to stay involved in only one thing. A lot of our volunteers might start with one sport or one position, but after a while their coaching two or three sports or in two or three positions. So I first started as a coach, then I got on as an executive member. Once you’re on the executive, then you’re in a position to influence the whole program and I think that’s what I wanted to do all along, to have some influence over how the whole program runs,” he said.
Prosk is also a coach for the curling team, he has helped in other ports when needed, assistant coaching the bowling team at one point, as well. As a member of the executive he as also had a hand on the tiller at the locals level, guiding the organization along.
The main focus of SOBC had been on just having fun, but Prosk wanted to bring the joy and pride of winning to the teams and has encouraged a more structured element to the teams, encouraging to view themselves as not just a social club, but a competitive team.
Prosk has been a big part of the SOBC and the SOBC has become a big part of his life. Now, he has a beautiful painting to put up in his house, which he says matches the decor perfectly, to remind him of why he does what he does and the effects of his dedication.
