Editor's note: This is a copy of a letter to volunteers who helped stage the Canadian Biathlon Championships at Whistler Olympic Park. It was forwarded to The Chief for publication.
Now that I've caught up on my sleep, I want to (really!) thank all of you folks who put in time on the biathlon range this last week (or for a few of you, more than a week) to enable the delivery of an amazing National Championships.
And it wasn't easy - we dealt with slush on Friday, salt on Saturday, everything on Sunday... Tuesday we had more rain, and Wednesday even got cold (-ish...for here, and apologies to you non-South-Coasters who know what cold really is...). Those were rough conditions. And through it all, we collectively were able to open right on time every day for the zero, we got all the paper hung and the painting done (sometimes just!) and we delivered accurate, excellent and robust results quickly. These were our goals, and we met them all. We were only able to achieve this because you made the effort to get up early, drive too far in the dark, get wet and cold and scratch pencil marks on soggy paper... and you did it with a smile, and supported each other. Awesome...
I have a couple of regrets: I really wanted to get a "Range Photo" of all of us, lined up and cheering on the ramp in front of a perfect range, with straight lane dividers and flapping flags in the background...; and I wanted to be able to thank you all, at the end of the shifts, for your efforts. With the weather, chiefs' meetings, prepping for the next day's events... somehow these things got mostly missed.I'll work on these for next time.
Vicki and I were driving home on Sunday (late afternoon), kinda beat, and started talking about "why"... it's not like we are feeding the hungry, saving the children, or anything like that but I think I have two reasons "why" I'm happy that I was involved. First, and most important, I think that development of sport is valuable; it builds better communities, a better country, and better young people. We helped grow some great citizens this last week. Secondly, it is a powerful thing to be able to bring together a bunch of disparate folks (us volunteers) and pull together and deliver an excellent product - we all deserve a big pat on the back. Thanks a lot - you guys were amazing.
Kevin Haberl
Chief of Range
2013 Canadian Biathlon Championships
Squamish
