Special Olympics athlete Cory Bigham for heading to nationals

Cory Bigham of Woodstock is pleased to be part of the Team Ontario Training Squad for 10-Pin Bowling, which will prepare him for Special Olympics Canada National Summer Games in mid-August 2025. (Emily Stewart Photo)

Emily Stewart, Echo Correspondent

A local bowler is getting ready to represent Woodstock, along with the rest of Ontario, in Alberta next summer as part of Special Olympics Canada’s Nationals.

Cory Bigham of Woodstock will be part of Team Ontario’s 10-pin bowling training team gearing up for the Special Olympics Canada National Summer Games. Nationals will take place in Medicine Hat, Alta., between Aug 11 and 15, 2026.

"It's very nice. I certainly felt pretty humbled there when I got selected,” he said.

"Definitely excited for him and the opportunity,” added Cory’s sister Katy Bigham. “He's been practicing this for a very, very long time so it's nice for him to get recognized and to have an opportunity to go travel. Very happy for him."

Cory’s coaches, Vicky Deschenes and Kayla Meyers, are also excited for him to head on to nationals.

“I'm very excited, he did very well in the provincials and going nationals is pretty big when you're representing Ontario for the Canada games. I'm excited for him. I think he'll do fabulous,” Deschenes said.

“We couldn't be more excited for him,” Meyers added. “I know we were preparing him to go into training camp and getting everything organized and when I read him the official letter saying that he was chosen to go the smile on his face was just like oh, it just feels so good as coaches to be able to witness that kind of opportunity for one of our athletes."

Cory’s teammates in 10-pin bowling, as well as the 5-pin bowling athletes, have been giving him lots of praise and congratulations since the announcement. Deschenes said he’s also supportive of his teammates in return and will lift them up and make them feel better if they feel disappointed with their bowling performance.

“They're a great support system, these athletes. Not one of them are for themselves. They're always for each other, which is always great to see the unselfish support you've ever seen,” she said.

When asked what he enjoys about bowling, Cory said it was the friendships he made while playing the sport.

"I make a lot of friends here at bowling and we always have lots of fun and those kinds of things,” he added.

He will be practicing for Nationals in the New Year and went to a training camp at Camp Muskoka in Bracebridge.

"The training camp went pretty well up there in Muskoka and it kind of felt like going to summer class and a gym class at the same time,” he said.

Cory encourages everyone to support him and Team Ontario by purchasing the Special Olympics Inclusion donut in late January. To arrange monetary donations to support him, send an email to Darlene Wood via darlene@woodcanada.ca.