CHAMPIONS SPEAK - 2026 Hall of Fame Inductee Sheana McDermott - Builder
by Sandra Kirstein Wright
Honored
Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen
It
is my honour to introduce you to Sheana McDermott. For most of her life, Sheana has been a
volunteer in Wetaskiwin. Her volunteer
efforts started in junior high, continued in high school and progressed into
most of her adult life.
Since
its inception in 1989 and up to today, the Special Olympics Program in
Wetaskiwin owes much to Sheana’s continued efforts. Sheana was one of the founding members of
Wetaskiwin’s Special Olympics Program and has served the organization in many
capacities. For the first 28 years
Sheana was able to work in special needs education programs in Wetaskiwin
Schools and still maintain her commitment to the Wetaskiwin Special Olympics
Program. As President for the last 25 years, she is the driving force in the
organization.
Most
of Sheana’s coaching efforts have been with bowling but Sheana has also been
part of competitions in other sports in which Wetaskiwin athletes have
participated. In fact, she does whatever
is needed to provide opportunities for athletes to compete including registrations,
planning events, making all of the travel arrangements for the teams,
coordinating programs, organizing tournaments, assisting with fundraising,
volunteer management and even driving the bus,…..the list of her volunteer
efforts goes on and on.
When
you first meet Sheana, she is seems quiet, soft spoken, unassuming and a very
humble person. However, she is a quiet “dynamo”, small in stature but big in
heart! An education co-worker had this to say about Sheana: Sheana consistently maintained a positive
demeanour and alway gave her best effort.
She always endeavoured to improve the lives of children by offering her
love and attention. It seemed that both
she and the children became more vibrant whenever they were together. Sheana
has consistently prioritized others before herself. She is truly the kind of individual you would
want on your side.
According
to one of the other volunteer coaches, Sheana is a passionate and committed
community leader with strong character traits.
She is confident and organized and very supportive, respectful and
grateful to other volunteers and also to the families of the athletes. Her leadership in sports development in our
community has created a growing awareness of Special Olympics in
Wetaskiwin. As a result of her vision,
special olympic athletes have multiple opportunities to participate in sports
and recreation and be successful.
Another
long-time fellow volunteer had this to say about Sheena: Sheana’s capacity to show compassion to
everyone is beyond reproach. She sees
the possibilities in people and situations and stands for making that
happen. She has supported me and helped
me develop as a leader and how to do that without compromising your
integrity. Giving people the opportunity
to just be themselves, not right, no wrong, just humanity. Recreation and sport
is one of the cornerstones of all healthy communities and Sheana makes sure
nobody misses out
I
think you get the idea, this is one special lady that we are inducting
tonight. We all owe her a debt of
gratitude for what she has done for special needs kids in our community. Sheana
is someone we could all emulate and we thank her for her dedication and the
countless hours she has volunteered to the Wetaskiwin Special Olympics
Program. It is with great pride that we
induct her into the Wetaskiwin & County Sports Hall of Fame.
