(January 17, 2022) - Randy Pascal, creator and owner of SudburySports.com, and graduate of Laurentian University’s Sports Administration program (1985) is all set for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Well known in the city of Sudbury as a local sports writer and hockey official, Pascal is soon to return to Beijing, China, where he will be taking on the role of off-ice hockey official during the Winter games, February 4 - 20, 2022. In November, he was flown out to Beijing for a pre-event, where he had the opportunity to connect with other hockey officials for games, and put to practice his scorekeeping skills that have been honed since he began scorekeeping at the young age of fourteen. “The whole situation was really nice,” said Pascal about this first visit to China. “The games kind of lent themselves for me to be able to do what I do really well, so that was perfect.”
Beijing will be Pascal’s third Olympic games. In 2010, he found himself scorekeeping in Vancouver, and was invited to do the same in Pyeongchang in 2018. In Vancouver, he kept score for both the women’s bronze medal game and men’s gold medal game, where he witnessed Canada’s Sydney Crosby score “the golden goal”. In Pyeongchang, he was the scorekeeper in charge of all the women’s games. To Pascal, opportunities to be involved in the Olympics have been a dream come true. “I never thought I’d be given the chance to do one Olympics, but the chance to do three is more than I could have ever asked for.”
While scorekeeping the Winter event is a skilled job in and of itself, when Pascal received his letter of invitation to participate in Beijing’s games, he was astounded yet pleased that his offer read not only the role of scorekeeper, but also goal and assist spotter. “The goal and assist spotter position, as combined with the scorekeeper has never existed before. It’s not a normal one [position] that gets put together,” said Pascal. “So that’s pretty cool that they actually kind of created this position for me. ‘Here’s what you do. Here’s what we are gonna call it’, they said.”
Pascal proved himself as a scorekeeper ten-fold in both Vancouver and Pyeongchang, and the recognition of his speed and accuracy being able to spot goals and assists all whilst exceeding his responsibilities as scorekeeper is what helped open doors to this new opportunity.
“The whole thing has been excessively rewarding,” said Pascal about his involvement with the Olympic Games. He shared his perception that in part, “what opened the doors for me over the long run [to his participation in the Olympics] has been simply good luck.” Pascal remains humbled by his experiences in sports, and described the importance of this. “You never want to lose sight of the appreciation for it. At any point. When you’re getting those experiences [...] you have to appreciate it all and soak it all in.”
About the atmosphere at the Olympic games, Pasal looks forward to experiencing the magic again. “There’s a special-ness to it. There’s a magic to being in that moment,” he explained.
Pascal attributes much of his joy for sports to the Sudbury community, and described his perception that Sudury has been an excellent location for him to cover exciting sports stories for the past eighteen years and counting. “I find that Sudbury is the perfect size for a local sports community and what I mean by that is it’s small enough to still have all of the charm. The friendliness. It’s enjoyable. It’s fun.”
Pascal is often found at local arenas, fields, and gymnasiums, attending sporting games of all kinds. He prides himself in the relationships he’s formed with others involved in Sudbury’s sporting community, and beyond. “It’s the memories,” said Pascal. "[They] make life worth living.”
He is sure to make many more memories at the XXIV Olympic Winter Games.