Author: Monica Carsience

Valley Royals Legacy Pages Document Club History & Athletes of Distinction

Gerry and Jane Swan Founders of the Valley Royals

Thanks to the writing talent, historical articles and photographs of club founder and former coach Gerry Swan, the Valley Royals Track & Field Club is pleased to present two new pages which document the club’s history and athletes of distinction.

Many thanks to Dawn Driver for scanning & uploading photos and creating the pages for the Website. Thanks also to James Porpaczy and Monica Carsience for assisting Dawn in this process.

You will find these new historical pages under “About Us” in the Main Menu under the titles: “Legacy of the Valley Royals” and “Athletes of Distinction”. These pages are a work in progress and we welcome more historical photographs and information about athletes who have achieved high levels in Track & Field while competing for the Valley Royals. If you have information or pictures about past athletes, please email Dawn Driver at [email protected]

Legacy of the Valley Royals
Athletes of Distinction

Winter Training Resumes This Week

To be eligible to train, you must be insured so be sure to complete your Membership Registration/Renewal for 2019. To Register go to: https://valleyroyals.ca/registration/ and click the Online Registration link

Throws Group resumes this Sunday, January 6th
at 2:00PM. Meet Coach Sean for a practice at the throws cage in Clearbrook Park

Power & Speed Group resumes on Monday, January 7th with a practice at the ARC at 4:00PM. Meet Coach Chantel upstairs at the end of the track where you do your stretching. The Royals welcome Chantel to our coaching staff (for more details see Post below)

Endurance Running Group resumes on Tuesday, January 8th at 4:15PM. Meet Coach Scott at the Club Shed for a practice at Rotary Stadium.

Royals Welcome Chantel Desch as Coach of Power & Speed

Desch is a Royals Alumi and SFU Graduate

The Valley Royals Track & Field Club is pleased to announce that Chantel Desch will be leading our power/speed athletes for the duration of winter training. Chantel was trained by Coach Ziggy for 4 years, specializing in sprinting.

After graduating high school, Chantel attended Simon Fraser University and competed for their track and field team. At SFU she raced on several relay teams as well as the 400 and 200m events. During her last year at Simon Fraser, Chantel’s 4 X 100m team set a new PB breaking the school record.

Chantel graduated from SFU with a Bachelor’s degree in General Studies and her future plan is to become an elementary school teacher. Chantel is looking forward to working with all of the power/speed athletes. Practices will resume on Monday, January 7th, 4pm at ARC.

Got Fundraising Credits Left Over from 2018? Apply them to Your 2019 Membership Before Credits Expire on New Year’s Eve

It’s time to Register for the Valley Royals 2019 Season. If you have Fundraising Credits remaining from this year you can apply them to next year’s Membership if purchased Online before the credits expire at Midnight on December 31st, 2018.

Here’s How It Works:
Christa is tracking each athlete’s fundraising credits. When you Register Online, at full price, before Midnight Dec. 31st 2018 – Christa will get a notification. She will then issue a refund on your credit card for the value of the fundraising credits you have left over from 2018’s fundraising efforts.
Many thanks to everyone who has fund-raised for the club this year. We hope you get the full value of a job well done!

Coach Ziggy Retires from the Valley Royals

The Valley Royals wish to thank Coach Ziggy, Zbigniew Szegalowicz, for providing decades of excellent coaching to Valley Royals athletes as well as high-level athletes from all over the Lower Mainland.

Well-loved by all who have trained with him, Coach Ziggy is known for his fun-yet-challenging exercises which he incorporates into his training programs. 

There is no question that Coach Ziggy will be missed by the Valley Royals after such a long and stellar history with this club. Ziggy has coached a remarkable number of athletes to excellence in all of the Power & Speed and Jump events but he is best known for his athletes with national and international achievements in High Jump.

Some of the outstanding high jumpers that Ziggy has coached in recent years include: Mike Mason, Django Lovett, Joel Della Siega, Alexa Porpaczy and Eric Chatten.

Coach Ziggy has won many honours and awards over the years and this year he has been named 2018 High Performance Coach of the Year by BC Athletics. The award will be presented to Ziggy at the BC Athletics Banquet on Saturday, February 2nd, 2019. The Valley Royals are very proud of Coach Ziggy and his many accomplishments. Congratulations Ziggy!

In his resignation letter to the Board of Directors this past week Ziggy said, “For me it was a long journey and privilege to be coaching in one of the best clubs in Canada. But time is flying, I will be not returning as a resident to Abbotsford, and traveling for and back to Vancouver is very difficult. Thank you for the opportunity to be Valley Royals Power-Speed coach for many years! Warmest Regards, Coach Ziggy”. 

Ziggy’s retirement from the Royals will be effective on January 1st, 2019 and his last day coaching for the club will be this Friday, December 21st. 

Although Coach Ziggy leaves some big shoes to fill, and indeed it may take more than one coach to do the work that Ziggy has provided to this club, the Royals are now actively seeking coaches to continue the Power/Speed and Jumps programs that Ziggy has so expertly built over the years.

Applicants may submit their resume to the Valley Royals Club Administrator, Christa McAuley at [email protected]