Repulse Bay cadets prepare for battle
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Repulse Bay (Nov 29/00) - It doesn't hurt to get a few tips from the leader when preparing to defend a championship.
That is just what members of the 3055 Repulse Bay Royal Canadian Army Cadets Corp. did last week when their zone area supervisor visited the hamlet.
Warrant Officer Steve Sandahal spent a week with the Arctic Circle cadet corps as part of a routine visit.
Cadet corps in Repulse Bay, Baker Lake and Rankin Inlet make up what is referred to as Zone 3.
The zone drill champion will travel to Yellowknife for the Northern Region competition in January.
Repulse won the event last year.
Local Commanding Officer Leonie Aissaoui says Sandahal conducted a First Aid course with the cadets during his stay and gave a few tips.
"Warrant Officer Sandahal saw our two teams which will compete against each other in the upcoming drill contest," says Aissaoui.
"He watched both teams drill and then gave us some pointers on what to correct."
Numbers are down
The number of cadets in Repulse Bay has fallen to 30 this year.
Aissaoui says the decrease may be attributed to some internal bickering among course leaders last year and the fact that only a handful of cadets attended the summer cadet camp in Whitehorse.
"I think most of the decrease in our numbers is because many of our cadets were getting older and just lost interest.
Budget cuts in the program meant most of our cadets were not able to go to camp and that was kind of a let down which may have led to some of them having less interest in the program.
"Going to camp has always been a form of motivation for them to stay involved with cadets."
Aissaoui says the cadets are eagerly anticipating this year's drill competition.
"We finished in second place the first time we went to compete and the next year we came home with the trophy. We're hoping to keep the trophy in Repulse for another year."
