Community spirit on display at summer games

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The opening ceremonies had begun with colour and pageantry. Elder Dexter Asapace had offered the opening prayer and the Cree Spirit Singers had sung the flag and honour songs. Joan Beatty, minister of Culture, Youth and Recreation, had expressed her excitement "that our young people are continuing to grow in athletics." The lance had arrived. Riel Bellegarde, who, as a college hockey player, experienced the positive influence of sports, had just begun his speech. And then the skies opened, delivering rain, hail and high winds and abruptly ending the ceremonies and threatened to do the same to the Saskatchewan First Nations Summer Games.

Hosted by Kawacatoose First Nation, the games, which ran from July 2 to 8, were called the Centennial First Nation Summer Games and were supported by Saskatchewan's centennial organization as well as by First Nation, government and corporate sponsors. But they will also be remembered as "the co-operative games" because that, in the end, defined the event.

Mother Nature refused to co-operate with event organizers, but when her opening night fury damaged playing surfaces and reduced the tent area to flowing mud, local communities stepped in.

"We called Wynyard," said games chairperson, Lyle Worm. "We needed soccer fields. Ours were totally saturated. Clint McConnell, the leisure services director, and his parks crew accepted us with open arms. Muskowekwan sent staff and brought over bleachers. Gordon's council sent all their staff for the last days. Those communities showed what Saskatchewan people are really made of."

Rain all June, said Worm, meant that venues for the games were completed at the last minute. The refurbished track survived the deluge, but the fresh soccer pitch didn't and some ball diamonds had initial problems. Amazingly, however, the only event that didn't play through to a medal round was minor ball. The umpires made that call, feeling that the water-soaked playing surfaces were too dangerous to use.

All events scheduled for July 3 were cancelled while organizers regrouped. Then early in the morning on July 5, the RCMP delivered tornado warnings and helped move everyone to designated shelters. When the rain finally ended later in the week, the sun took over, and many athletes needed treatment for heat stroke. But despite the curves thrown by the elements, the games went on.

"It seemed like crisis after crisis," Worm said. "It really wasn't. There were crises, such as the night of the storm, and the rain hurt the dollars as well as the sports." However, he said, things worked out. For example, there were fireworks for both halves of the games, and they were a complete success.

The Saskatchewan First Nation Games began in 1974, the 100th anniversary of the signing of Treaty 4. In 1980, the first winger games were held, and in 2002, the decision was made to stagger summer and winter games. The 2005 games attracted some 3,000 athletes to track and field, soccer, volleyball and golf, which was a medal sport for the first time this year.

Competition was divided into two sessions. Younger athletes, eight to 14, attended opening ceremonies on July 2 and competed from July 3 to 5. The seniors, aged 14 to 18, competed from July 6 to 8 with closing ceremonies held on the last day.

Wynyard had been slated as the golf venue and dignitaries were housed in Wynyard motels. The challenge was to move the extra competitors between Kawacatoose and Wynyard and to ensure that athletes, coaches and families got fed.

"I'm not sure there was any food left in Wynyard by Friday," speculated one local resident. And, said Lyle Worm, there certainly wasn't any water. By July 6, the community had run out, and it was hot. Between noon and 4:45 p.m., organizers had stripped the Kawacatoose store, as well as stores in Day Star, Quinton and Punnichy. Snack Man, one of the games' sponsors, had provided 30,000 bottles of water. They rushed in 10,000 more.

Whil the adults around them dealt with logistics, the games participants simply did what they came for-they competed hard, they made new friends, and they gathered up wonderful memories.

For Ashtyn Morris of George Gordon First Nation, whose team won bronze in softball, the weather wasn't a problem. "The first half was bad," she said. "We ran in the mud. But the diamonds were great and it got hot." Ashtyn became involved in sports because her mother told her to try out, just to see whether she would enjoy anything. She's been playing softball since she was nine. "Ability and hard work are the necessary combination for success," she said. At 16, she has two more years of youth competition. Her ambition? To compete in the Indigenous Games, turn pro, and then get to the Olympics in New York in 2012 through volleyball.

About 3,000 athletes from nine tribal councils and one independent reserve competed during the games. Even though some small tribal councils had to struggle to find enough athletes to put together a team for the games, the calibre of competition was excellent, Worm said.

"The athletes were comparable to the ones who competed at the Canada Summer Games in Regina. The focus has to be on the athletes. The games are for them. We can't lose that vision."