Peace region athletes heading to BC Winter Games

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Several Peace region athletes are headed to the BC Winter Games this week.

The games kick off in Vernon, with the opening ceremonies on March 23rd.

The 895 athletes, 300 coaches and 140 officials come from 122 communities across the province to compete in 15 different sports. There are 16 Peace region residents attending the games as athletes, coaches and officials.

Rishav Sharma, head coach of the Peace Region Badminton & Recreational Club, will be coaching a few of his club members at the games.

Sharma got into badminton at a young age through his cousin’s sister.

“I used to play with my cousins and friends at home, playing with some backyard badminton. I was okay. I wasn’t that great,” Sharma said.

“So when I started playing in an actual gym with the actual flooring and lighting, I was like, ‘oh, that’s pretty good.’”

From there, he worked his way up to the national level, winning a few national championships before taking an interest in coaching and coming to Canada. He’s now been playing for over 13 years.

The games will be taking place until Sunday, March 26th.

Complete list of athletes from the Peace:

Fort St. John:

• Tim Giesbrecht, archery official
• Elizabeth Binu, badminton athlete
• Rhea Lawrence, badminton athlete
• Tanisha Mustafa, badminton athlete
• Advai Nair, badminton athlete
• Rishav Sharma, badminton head coach
• Cas What, badminton athlete
• Rebecca Robinson, karate athlete

Charlie Lake:

• Melanie Meyer, badminton athlete
• Kori Meyer, badminton athlete
• Ezra Wiebe, badminton athlete

Chetwynd:

• Chantiel Drschiwiski, karate assistant coach
• Jason Farquharson, karate official

Dawson Creek:

Tiffany Hetenyi, curling head coach

Joey Webb, curling athlete

Dax Norman, judo athlete

Montney:

• Connor Vig, badminton athlete