The Hilton London Ontario Hotel will host the 2009 Professional Darts Corporation’s (PDC) Ontario Players Championship on August 16 beginning at 12:00 noon. Players from all over Canada will compete against some of the World’s most accomplished dart players. Total prize money offered will be £22,000 (approximately $38,850 Canadian) with the winner earning £5,000 ($8,830 Canadian). The Ontario Players Championship will be preceded by the London Open warm-up tournament on Friday and Saturday open to any player wishing to test their skills against some of the World’s best players.

The Ontario Players Championship precedes the PDC US Open to be held in Atlanta, Georgia on the following weekend, making London, Ontario an attractive stop on the PDC North American Pro Tour for many of the professional darts players. This tournament is also of major importance to North American players as it affects their ranking on the North American Order of Merit (NAOoM). The top three North American players on the NAOoM in September will earn a position to compete in the £1,000,000 PDC World Championship in England this December.

Among the expected players to attend will be those who are World ranked and vying to keep or raise their position on the PDC Order of Merit. Likely top ranked players to attend include Terry Jenkins, Andy Hamilton, James Wade, Peter Manley, Colin Lloyd, Wayne Mardle and several others.  Dennis Priestley won the Ontario Players Championship in 2008 and will likely be on hand to defend his title. Top Canadian and US players expected to attend include John Part, three time World Champion and ranked fourth in the World, Shawn Brenneman, Gerry Convery, Darin Young, Bill Davis, Ray Carver, John Kuczynski, Chris White and more.

The Ontario Players Championship is open to any player residing in Canada or the United States and all Professional Darts Players Association (PDPA) members, but all entries must be received by August 11, 2009 at 8:00 PM EST.  The entry fee is $160 Canadian funds or $130 US funds, and non PDPA members may register on-line at www.bullseyenews.com.  The London Open warm-up tournament is open to any player, and entry for any of the events in the London Open is taken on site on the day. Spectators are welcome to attend.
 

London, Ontario. On Wednesday, April 22nd, London Chief of Police Murray Faulkner, one of the three Chairs representing the Games organizing committee, will be on hand to accept a cheque from the London Knights in the amount of $100,000 for the 2010 Special Olympics Canada Summer Games.

The 8th Special Olympics Canada Summer Games will be held in London, Ontario in July 2010. This marks the third time that Ontario will host Special Olympics National Games. These games are Special Olympics Canada’s qualifying event for the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games. The event will bring 1,500 athletes, coaches, and mission staff from all provinces and two territories and will use 1,000 volunteers and event officials. Special Olympics athletes of all ability levels will compete in 9 different sports: athletics, 5 pin bowling, 10 pin bowling, rhythmic gymnastics, powerlifting, soccer, softball, swimming and basketball. The venues being used consist of National level facilities that were built for the Canada Games, University of Western Ontario facilities and City of London facilities. The athlete’s village will be located at the University of Western Ontario. WHAT IS SPECIAL OLYMPICS In the early sixties, testing of children with intellectual disabilities revealed that they were only half as physically fit as their non-disabled peers. It was assumed that their low fitness levels were a direct result of their disabilities. A Toronto researcher and later a professor at University of Western Ontario, Dr. Frank Hayden, questioned this assumption. Working with a control group of children on an intense fitness program, he demonstrated that, given the opportunity, people with intellectual disabilities could become physically fit and acquire the physical skills necessary to participate in sport. His research proved that low levels of fitness and lack of motor skills development in people with intellectual disabilities were a result of nothing more than a sedentary life style. In other words, their intellectual disabilities resulted in their exclusion from the kinds of physical activity and sports experience readily available to other children. Inspired by his discoveries, Dr. Hayden began searching for ways to develop a national sports program for people with intellectual disabilities. It was a goal he eventually achieved, albeit not in Canada. His work came to the attention of Eunice Kennedy Shriver and the Kennedy Foundation in Washington, D.C., and led to the creation of Special Olympics. The first sports competitions organized under the Special Olympics banner were held at Soldier’s Field in Chicago in 1968. To ensure that Canada was represented, Dr. Hayden called an old friend, Harry “Red” Foster. The late Harry “Red” Foster was an outstanding sportsman, a famous broadcaster, a successful businessman and a humanitarian whose tireless work on behalf of intellectually disabled people had already brought him international acclaim. Inspired by his mother’s devotion to his younger brother, who was both blind and intellectually disabled, Mr. Foster began early in his career to devote much of his time, energy and wealth to addressing the problems faced by individuals with an intellectual disability and their families. Accompanying a floor hockey team from Toronto to those first Games in Chicago, “Red” was quick to see in Special Olympics a further opportunity to enhance the lives of Canadians with an intellectual disability. Upon returning to Canada he set about laying the foundation for the Special Olympics movement. The following summer – 1969 – the first Special Olympics Canada event was held in Toronto. From the modest beginning, the Special Olympics movement quickly spread across the country and grew into the national sports organization it is today. Over 31,000 athletes with an intellectual disability participate in Special Olympics programs across the country today, with over two and a half million athletes in more than 160 countries around the world.

Come and watch the FC London Team for the first time June 5th.  With a 2 game win streak under their belts, you can bet the Forest City team are ready to give it all they've got on June 5th. Single tickets and group tickets are now on sale online an through the store located on Richmond Row. For further information please visit www.fclondon.ca  TICKETS or call (519) 902-7120