Sports Briefs

Governments offer support

Aboriginal sports programs in Saskatchewan will receive more than half a million dollars in support from a pair of governments.
The three-year agreement, which was announced in early April, is actually worth $562,000.
For starters, the federal government provided $281,000 in support. This figure was then matched by the Saskatchewan government.
These figures are in addition to the almost $800,000 over three years the Canadian government had previously put up to support participation programs in Saskatchewan sports.
The latest agreement, however, is money that will be used specifically for Aboriginal sports.
Besides having various organizations offer more structured community sports programs,
it's expected some of the government funding will be utilized on programs for Aboriginal coaches and officials.
Christine Tell, Saskatchewan's Minister of Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport, is hoping that part of the money will go to Aboriginal communities, especially in the northern parts of the province, where organized sports are not as readily available as they are in southern Saskatchewan.
Helena Guergis, Canada's Secretary of State For Sport, said the support being offered comes at a crucial time, especially these days when there are numerous reports of children not being as active as they should be.

Tournament takes hit

Indications are it might take awhile for one of Canada's longest-running Aboriginal hockey tournaments to return to its glory days.
Though it was not held in 2007, the Lumber Kings Sports Club in Prince George, B.C. staged the 23rd running of its tournament from Apr. 11 to 13.
Though organizers were originally hoping to attract 48 teams in five divisions, they only ended up with 24 entrants in four classes. And the two highest calibre divisions, the men's A and men's B groupings, were not held due to a lack of interested teams.
A total of 40 squads had competed at the last tournament, in 2006.
"The forest industry has really taken a hit out here," said tournament director Harley Chingee. "It has impacted a lot of communities that have teams that usually come here."
Organizers were hoping to have 12 squads take part in the men's A division. Though there was an advertised $23,000 up for grabs to the top four finishers in this division, including $12,000 for the champions, there was not enough willing participants.
"I'm disappointed there wasn't enough teams," Chingee said, adding only six teams from across western Canada had shown some interest in taking part in this division.

Iroquois team at worlds

The Iroquois Nationals will be one of 12 clubs participating at a world lacrosse tournament this summer.
The boys' squad will compete at the International Lacrosse Federation's world under-19 championships. The event will be staged July 3-12 in Coquitlam, B.C.
The Iroquois Nationals have been placed in the event's highest calibre pool along with Canada, United States, Australia, England and Japan.
The tournament's other pool will consist of Bermuda, Finland, Germany, Scotland, South Korea and Wales.
Nine squads, including the Iroquois Nationals, competed at the last world boys' under-19 tournament held in Maryland in 2003.
The U.S. won the gold medal at that event, defeating Canada in the championship match.
Australia also took home some hardware, beating England in the bronze-medal contest.
The Iroquois Nationals will no doubt be looking to improve upon their fifth-place finish from the 2003 tournament.
Besides Ontario and Quebec, the Iroquois Nationals' roster also includes players from the states of New York, Maryland, Virginia and Arizona.
The Iroquois Nationals are expected to get an indication rather early on in the tournament as to just how good they will be. That's because they will play their opening game on July 3 versus the defending champs from the U.S.
After squaring off against Japan the following day, the Iroquois Nationals will then meet Canada on July 5.