“I’ve seen a ton of kids like this guy,” she said, gesturing towards a five-year-old boy playing mini-golf on an un-iced hockey rink. “He’s Hulk. He’s wearing the Hulk shirt. Underneath he’s got his costume on, so he’s got his muscles going.
“That would have been Nathan.”
With that, Jennifer O’Brien captured the essence of the Nathan O’Brien Super Hero Sports Decathlon.
Held Aug. 15-16 at Springbank’s Park for All Seasons, kids aged 5-12 took part in the first of what is planned as an annual event to remember O’Brien’s son and raise funds for less-fortunate children.
An estimated 200 kids, and hundreds more parents and friends, participated in the KidzFirst Grassroots Development Foundation fundraiser. Wearing super-hero-themed T-shirts – some dressed in full super-hero costumes – kids were playing hockey, baseball, football basketball and soccer, as well as bounding in bouncy castles and other large, inflated play structures. Rocky View Fire was on hand with fire trucks and Hockey Canada mascot ‘Deke the dog’ mingled with the youngsters. Calgary Canucks Jr. A hockey players were also spotted giving hockey tips and pointers to budding stars.
“Keep his spirit alive with his love of super heroes and sports,” explained KidzFirst Grassroots president Jeff Atkinson, as super-hero-costume-clad youngsters coursed through the Springbank recreation facility. “We started talking about putting together an annual event that would honour that. Graciously enough, Rod and Jen (O’Brien), through their foundation, they’ve been supporting KidzFirst providing us with some funding for some of the programs we run for under-privileged and less-advantaged kids. This is an avenue to raise a little more funding so we can provide more programming for those kids. This is the first-annual Nathan O’Brien Super Hero Sports Decathlon.”
Five-year-old Nathan O’Brien and his grandparents, Alvin and Kathy Liknes, left the O’Brien Calgary home last year and were never seen again. A search led authorities to a rural-Airdrie acreage. While their bodies haven’t been found, police claim enough evidence to say Nathan and his grandparents are no longer alive.
Douglas Garland has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder.
In the months following the June 2014 tragedy, the Nathan O’Brien Children’s Foundation was established to carry on Nathan’s legacy and help other children.
“We thought what better way than to put on a super-hero sports decathlon?” Jennifer O’Brien said. “It’s two of the things Nathan loved. I thought it would be perfect. With KidzFirst helping to put this on, they have all the expertise to put all of this on. They’ve just done an outstanding job.”
KidzFirst and Nathan O’Brien Foundation were still tallying the fundraising total at press time.
