Winter Games hit “legacy” proportion, says ED

It’s with a good feeling that the Saskatchewan First Nations Winter Games wrapped up on April 13.

“Even if we do it again next year, I don’t think we’ll ever be able to surpass our standards. We’re really satisfied with what we left. If someone else can meet that level and pass it, do whatever they need. I believe we’re really happy with what we left as a legacy,” said Neil Sasakamoose, executive director with Battlefords Agency Tribal Council.

BATC hosted the Saskatchewan First Nations Winter Games, which ran from April 8-13 and took place in Saskatoon. Initially scheduled for North Battleford, Sasakamoose said BATC was given the heads-up by North Battleford about a year and a half ago that the multipurpose facility being built might not be completed in time for the April event. As it so happened, the multiplex was not completed.

So BATC took the event to Saskatoon and was more than pleased with the response the city gave.

“They’re a well-oiled machine for event management,” said Sasakamoose. “They have a sports tourism board that we went to and (they) welcomed us with open arms and gave us the city.”

Bunk beds were set up in school gymnasiums, hotel rooms booked and a Saskatoon city church catered all meals.

The five-day event attracted just under 3,000 athletes from the 12 councils participating in six events, including the newly added three-on-three basketball. Each host community gets to introduce a new sport and Sasakamoose said basketball was chosen because of its popularity both in the inner city and on the reserves.
“It was very successful. The sport is on the rise again especially in First Nation country,” said Sasakamoose.
Other sports hosted were hockey, badminton, volleyball, curling and broomball.

All sports were streamed live on the Internet, something added new this year. Six Internet channels ran simultaneously during the course of the event (and replays are still available). Channel one, which showed the opening ceremonies and the hockey action, was the most popular with over 105,000 minutes of viewing. Hits came from as far away as Russia, Portugal, Spain, Poland, the United States and throughout Canada.

“(Internet streaming) is the way of the future,” said Sasakamoose, noting that traveling to the games can be expensive for families. “Internet access is a little more ready for First Nations in Saskatchewan. A lot of people were thankful they could watch their kids live.”

Another unique aspect of these games was the beaded medals. Athletes winning gold and silver took home beaded medals. Beaders didn’t have enough time to complete the bronze medals as each medal took six to eight hours to bead. One thousand medals were required.

The Agency Chiefs Tribal Council team earned the most points and took home nine golds, 11 silvers and five bronze. Saskatoon TC placed second with seven golds and six each in silver and bronze medals. Team Woodland was third with five gold, four silver and three bronze. Host BATC earned two gold, one silver and two bronze.

Sasakamoose said he could pick 20 different highlights for the games, but what stands out the most were the opening ceremonies on April 10 which kept nearly 2,000 athletes in their seats.

“It was really rich in the fabric of the Plains Cree,” he said. Battlefords is an area known for its traditions, singers, drummers, oral storytelling and Cree language. This was all incorporated into a two-hour ceremony that kept the kids riveted.

“The other highlight was seeing smiling young and the old First Nations people taking their picture with the Stanley Cup,” said Sasakamoose.  The travelling Hockey Hall of Fame, larger than it has ever been, spent two days at the Prairieland Exhibition Pavilion and had on display nine trophies.

Also noteworthy, he said, was the restricted-access youth dance, which saw 2,000 kids ages 12-18 on the floor and zero incidences and the well-attended round dance.

The games were marred by a brawl during a midget hockey game between BATC and File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council, but the players were dealt with “pretty firmly” by the provincial hockey body, said Sasakamoose. The only other glitch was the lack of lanyards needed for the name tags.  Organizers had prepared for 3,500 participants (athletes, coaches and chaperones). Instead 3,950 were registered.