The ƵappYouth Triathlon — held every Mother’s Day for the past 14 years — will have to cancel this year’s event if people don’t step up to volunteer on the organizing committee, according to the event’s outgoing race director.
Last year around 222 kids aged four to 15 took part in the event that saw the young athletes swim, bike and run courses that varied depending on their age group and ability.
“There are a lot of really young families in the community with really young kids, and this event is so important for these kids just starting out in their competitive race careers that you would hate to see it not occur,” longtime race director Mike Hedberg told The Ƶapp.
He said while there are five people currently on the organizing committee, there are about seven key positions that need to be filled, including: race director, assistant race director, volunteer coordinator, website manager, registrar and treasurer.
“We put an advertisement out into the local paper as well as we sent out an email to all of the past participants in the event looking for help,” Hedberg said.
He said it wasn’t unusual that several parents left positions at the same time, but it is somewhat rare so many key positions have been vacated at once.
“There have been some fairly senior members, including myself, who have been involved for many years and now our children have all moved on to different sports and a lot of us are involved in volunteering for other organizations in the community and it is time to move on. We need some new energy and new enthusiasm,” he said.
If more people don’t step forward soon, the youth triathlon will be cancelled, as registration for the event needs to begin in January.
Anyone interested in volunteering to help with the triathlon can attend a meeting at 7 p.m. tonight (Thursday Nov. 20) at Howe Sound Brewing, or email [email protected] to express interest.