Committed to enriching the lives of Albertans with an intellectual disability through sport.

Robert Stumbur

Robert Stumbur
Award: Male Coach of the Year

All About Robert
Three fun facts about Robert
1.He has lived his entire life in Alberta
2.He used to shoot competitively in a sport called Cowboy Action Shooting and his handle was Rocky Mountain Rob – which was based on a character from an old dime novel story.
3,He collects old books; the oldest one he has is called Pilgrim’s Progress and has an inscription dated 1876
In his time outside Special Olympics he….
Besides working as an Instructor at NAIT, he tries to stay pretty active. He walks and hikes with his dog Grace, cycle, workout, camp, kayak, snowshoe and XC ski. He is also a firm believer of lifelong learning and right now he is working towards his certification as a Life Coach.
We asked Robert  if he could travel to one place in the world and have lunch with anyone, where would he go and who would he have lunch with.
He  would go to Latvia, to a small town not far from Riga called Olaine.Robert would love to meet my grandparents and great grand parents on his father’s side. He never got a chance to know any of them or learn about his family’s heritage.
If Robert had to be any animal he would be…
This was a tough call! He has two spirit animals; the horse and the wolf. Both animals have characteristics and behaviours that he appreciates. The horse because in the wild they have such a calm demeanor yet are so      aware of the world around them. And the wolf, because it has the ability to be part of a pack or survive on its own, if it needs to.

Special Olympics Involvement
Years and areas of service
Four years ago, here was an interoffice notice that was sent out by the athletic department at his work (NAIT) and it said that Special Olympics Edmonton was looking for coaches for several sports. One of the sports was 5 Pin Bowling. He has been a Certified 5 Pin Coach since the mid 90’s so he thought, why not give this a try. Haven’t look back.Robert is now the Head Coach for the AS2 5 Pin bowling program and volunteers for pretty much anything we ask him to. He’s a gem 🙂
How Special Olympics has impacted his life..
Being involved with Special Olympics give him so much joy, especially  watching the athletes as they compete in their chosen sports. He appreciates that most of athlete just give it their all regardless of any limitation they may have. He believes this is very inspiring!
His advice for someone new who wanted to become involved with Special Olympics
If there is a sport you have a passion for, take that passion and share it with the athletes. Don’t think “I could never do that.”, you don’t need to be a pro athlete to give back to the sport, you just need to have the passion and the desire to help someone else develop the love of the sport.
A memorable Special Olympics moment for him
He can’t pick just one. But he can say that most of them have come from watching the excitement in the faces of the athletes as they achieve a new skill or level within the sport or when they have that “aha” moment and realize they really can be successful in the sport.

About this award
Robert was nominated for this award and chosen by people in his community. He had a few words to say about this,,,
I am deeply grateful, but I cannot accept the award without acknowledging all the other people who make it possible for me to do what I do. The assistant coaches, the lane volunteers, the parents and support workers who are there every week with the athletes; the staff and management at Bonnie Doon Lanes for everything they do for our programs, and they do do so very much, we cannot thank them enough; and of course the staff and management at the Special Olympics Edmonton office; they too do so very much to support the program.