New sports added to roster for 2003 summer games

Page 17

Participants in this year's Saskatchewan First Nations Summer Games will have two new sports to compete in, with cross-country cycling and golf joining soccer, softball and track and field as part of the competitions.

The games will run from July 5 to 10, and will be hosted by Flying Dust First Nation, located about 300 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon.

The first Saskatchewan First Nation summer and winter games were held in 1975, and were organized to give First Nations children a chance to participate in organized sport. Each year, the games are hosted by First Nations from across the province.

"It's the first time for the Flying Dust to be hosting an event of this magnitude, and we take great honor and we're privileged to host it," said games manager Wes Durocher.

While Flying Dust has the facilities needed to host the summer games, what the community doesn't have is enough people.

"Flying Dust First Nation is not very big . . . we require a minimum of 300 volunteers to carry this event," said Durocher, "If we were to drop on everybody on Flying Dust we'd barely get to 200 eligible volunteers."

To help make up for the shortage of available volunteers, organizers have turned to the other member nations of the Meadow Lake Tribal Council, which include Birch Narrows Dene Nation, Waterhen Lake First Nation, Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation, Buffalo River Dene Nation, Island Lake First Nation, Canoe Lake Cree Nation, Clearwater River Dene Nation and English River First Nation.

If participation in the games meets organizers' expectations, all those volunteers will certainly be busy.

While previous summer games have drawn between 3,000 and 3,400 athletes, Durocher expects even more this year because the age range for participants has changed.

"This year, those numbers will increase because we are going with the Saskatchewan sport governing body age groups and regulations and rules."

The new age range for participation is eight to 19 years. Previously, the event was open to athletes aged seven to 17.

Durocher explained that change could mean the games have "the potential of having 4,620 athlete s. . . it's tough to say exactly how many we're going to get."

The first day of the games, July 5, has been set aside for registration. The following five days are scheduled for the competitions, along with events such as a career fair, nightly entertainment and VIP supper for the corporate donors for the games.

The nightly entertainment will feature a concert, cultural activities, a round dance, a youth dance, a MuchMusic dance party, and fireworks.

"Just entertainment to keep the kids busy in the evenings when they're done with the competitions," said Durocher.

"It's a great opportunity for a lot of the First Nation kids to get out of their community and participate in mainstream sport . . . it's lots of fun, you're gonna meet people from across Saskatchewan, develop friendships."

Durocher knows first-hand what a great experience taking part in the games can be for First Nations youth, having taken part himself in his younger days.

"I competed in both summer and winter games; it was as far back as 20-some years ago, when I first competed in the games," he said.

"It was lots of fun to get out and travel and meet other people, and go home with a medal and know that you did the best you could."

Medals are given to the top three teams or individuals, and points are given to the tribal council that the winner represented. A gold medal is worth three points, silver is worth two points, and bronze is worth one point. In the end, the tribal council with the most points wins the all-around trophy.

"But it's not about winning medals," Durocher said. "It's about getting out there, competing, having some fun, kinship, friendship. And even though you don't win, it's just as long as you had fun doing it."