Communities plan for Games

Page 11

The North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) is returning to Canada, but not until 2008.

British Columbia officials are thrilled Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island has been named the host. The official announcement was made Oct. 22 following a NAIG council meeting in Uncasville, Conn.

"We're very excited about this, both from a community and provincial level," Minister of Skills Development and Labour Graham Bruce told Raven's Eye. "It's created quite a buzz here."

Bruce was co-chair of the Cowichan Valley bid.

Cowichan Valley beat out Regina, Sask., the only other finalist bidding for the 2008 games.

"We have a smaller community than where the games have been held in the past," said Bruce, who is also the MLA for Cowichan-Ladysmith.

"But our team just put together an excellent bid."

Cowichan Valley is made of 11 small communities, with a combined population of about 75,000.

Chief Harvey Alphonse of the Cowichan Tribes was the other co-chair of the winning bid.

"I think this is going to be a good opportunity for our youth," Alphonse said. "And there's definitely going to be spin-offs from the number of people who are going to come to the area."

The 2008 games are expected to feature more than 7,000 athletes competing in 16 sports, and they are also expected to bring in an estimated $30 million to the area's economy.

The same day Cowichan Valley was awarded its games, it was also announced that Denver and Colorado Springs would co-host the next games, in 2006.

The next games had originally been awarded to Buffalo in 2005. But the games' council retracted the hosting rights this past March when the host group, the Buffalo Sports Society, failed to provide documentation about its progress on its commitment to deliver.

After the NAIG council opted to put the 2005 games on hold for a year, it re-opened its bid submission process. But just one bid, the joint Denver/Colorado Springs bid, was submitted.

That bid was put forth by the Native American Sports Council (NASC), a group which has its headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo. The NASC's mission is to promote athletic excellence and wellness within Native American communities through sports programs.

The games have been held five times since their inception in 1990, four times in Canada, including the inaugural event in Edmonton.

So far the only time the games have been staged in the United States was in Blaine, Minn. in 1995. The 1999 games scheduled for Fargo, N.D. were cancelled.

It's no secret the games have had their best success in Canada. Mo Smith, NASC's executive director, believes his group will be successful in staging the 2006 event. But he's not interested in comparing his group's efforts to any previous games.

"I never compare apples with oranges." He added that NASC has a solid reputation in staging previous multi-sport events, so he believes the 2006 games will be a hit.

NASC is a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee and is affiliated with several olympic sports federations.

"Everyone is confident those games (in 2006) will be a success," said NAIG council president Harold Joseph.

Traditionally, the NAIG are held over a period ranging from seven to 10 days. Dates for the 2006 games have yet to be finalized, but the event will in all likelihood begin in mid-to-late July.

As for the 2008 games, Joseph, one of six NAIG council members that were part of the bid selection committee, said he was impressed with both the Regina and Cowichan Valley bids.

Though he had met political figures from both bid groups during visits to the sites earlier in the year, Joseph was a bit surprised Cowichan Valley reps also travelled to Connecticut for the final bid presentation on Oct. 22. The B.C. contingent included Bruce and Alphonse.

"They had their political people there to do their presentation," Harold Joseph said. "Regina didn't do that."

Chief Harvey Alphonse knew it was important to have the ke bidders show up in Connecticut.

"That was deliberate," he said. "We needed to be able to show and not just talk about the support we had."

The Cowichan Valley bid had tremendous support from Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities. Graham Bruce added he's pleased that another major sporting event is coming to British Columbia in 2008. The biggest, of course, will be the 2010 Winter Olympics.