Quality Foods Parksville Royals assistant coach Bruce Biro has been selected to help coach the Vancouver Island team at the B.C. Summer Games for the second time.
Biro, who hails from Deep Bay by way of Langley, helped coach the Zone 6 team in 2012 and will once again be lending a hand for the games in Nanaimo.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun. It was a great experience for me back in 2012,” Biro said.
“After being there once already, I have an idea of what it’s going to be like so I feel I’ll really be able to lend more knowledge to the kids on the team and be able to give them some good advice in a short time frame.”
A graduate of Kwalikum Secondary School, Biro made his way to Douglas College for his post secondary education.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education and coaching and spent four seasons with the Douglas Royals baseball team, two as a player and two as a coach.
Biro was able to continue playing baseball after spending three seasons with the Quality Foods Parksville Royals, who he’s been coaching for four of the last five seasons.
“I’ve been fortunate to be able to be around the game of baseball,” Biro said. “Being able to come back home and give back to the same team I played for has been great. It’s fun to work with these kids, they’re a talented group and they enjoy the game of baseball, so it’s a win – win.”
In 2013, Biro went on a three-month trip to Zambia, Africa, as part of his education at Douglas College.
Through their Global Leadership Program, he worked closely with the Ministry of Youth and Sport Development to help set up and design coaching clinics, run practices and help work with rural community coaches.
“It was an amazing experience and I was able to learn a lot,” Biro said.
“Coaching is all about communication. Going to a place where there was a big language barrier, I had to find ways to communicate and I feel that the experience I had there in Zambia has really helped me out coming back and continuing to coach here with the Royals.”
Currently enrolled at Vancouver Island University, Biro is working towards his teaching certification. Making his second trip to the games, Biro is looking forward to sharing his first experience.
“I hope to give them some good advice while we’re there, it’s a short amount of time so you have to make the most of it,” Biro said.
“A lot of these kids will be there for the first time so on top of wanting to do well in the games, it’s going to be a fun and new experience for them too. I’ll make sure that they know it’s alright to enjoy their time there too.”
