Athlete numbers slowly climbing for AIG

Organizers of the third Alberta Indigenous Games have scaled back their anticipated participation numbers from previous events.

But Allan Ross, the CEO of this year’s games, which will be held July 12-16 in Edmonton, is hoping to more than double the number of competitors from previous events.

During the inaugural games, held primarily in Edmonton in 2011, officials had hoped to attract about 2,000 athletes but Ross said only about 300 took part. And then at the 2013 games, which took place mostly in St. Albert, organizers were targeting 1,500 participants but only ended up with about 400.

As for this year, Ross believes the games can attract about 1,000 athletes.

“We’re learning from our successes and our missed opportunities from previous games,” he said. “We’re learning the landscape of the province. And we’re getting to the right people to engage the interest out there.”

As of late March, Ross said organizers had heard from about 500 athletes, who were keen in competing this year.

Currently 10 sports are being offered for the games: archery, ball hockey, basketball, canoeing, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, track and field and volleyball.

Games officials were forced to cancel some sports in previous years due to low registration numbers. Ross admits there might also have to be some cancellations this time around.

“Softball and soccer were cancelled in 2013,” he said. “And those are two sports that are being red-flagged right now. We’re not sure if we will be able to run them.”

In an effort to boost participation numbers, Ross says games’ organizers have added a junior age grouping, for those aged 18-20.

There will continue to be bantam (under 14), midget (under 16) and juvenile (under 18) categories.

“We wanted to align ourselves with the North American Indigenous Games,” Ross said. “They have these same four age groups.”

AIG is open to all, regardless of their abilities.

“That’s the unique part of our games,” Ross said. “There are no playdowns and there are no tryouts.”

Another unique feature is that individuals can sign up to compete in team sports.

“We make sure there are enough coaches to form teams as they arrive,” Ross said.

Unlike previous games, all of the sports this year will be contested in one city.

“It’s tremendous (having everything in one city),” Ross said. “People don’t have to travel all over the place now.”

Organizers are also looking for volunteers to ensure all events run smoothly.

“We’re targeting 400 volunteers,” Ross said. “But we can run with less than that.”

The Alberta Indigenous Games were created in 2011 to attempt to fill a void for athletes from the province that were not able to compete in NAIG that year. Those games were supposed to be staged in Milwaukee but were cancelled.

Since their inception, AIG have been organized by Edmonton Native Ball Association Sports.

The motto for this year’s games is Coaching Youth for Life, Career and Sport.

“We have always had elite athletes come to the games,” Ross said. “But our games are more than that. It’s about empowering them with the culture as well.”

Besides the athletic competitions, there will be 13 associated special events, which will include opening and closing ceremonies, a career fair, a talent show and a pow wow.

“They’re all stand alone events,” Ross said. “And they add value to our over-all presentations.”

Photo Caption: In the 2013 Alberta Indigenous Games, Trini Minde carried the Eagle Staff for the first leg of the race that saw 12 young athletes run for about two hours from Edmonton to St. Albert to mark the beginning of the second annual AIG.