Yellowknife (Apr 27/05) - The Yellowknife sports community is buzzing over news that the city has won the right to host the 2008 Arctic Winter Games.

Friday was the day of reckoning for the capital and South Slave - both regions have been locked in a spirited rivalry over which was best suited for 2008 event.

That argument was laid to rest by the international committee, which hailed the Yellowknife bid as virtually flawless.

Gerry Thick, president of the Arctic Winter Games Committee, said the capital's bid was so strong it has no specific conditions attached, which, he added, is a rarity.

"The international committee was impressed with the host presentation and facilities and they were impressed with their knowledge," said Thick.

The 2008 event will mark the fifth time Yellowknife has hosted the AWG, including the honour of being the inaugural host community in 1970.

"We've done it before and we've done it well before," said Mayor Gord Van Tighem.

Van Tighem said at first he allowed himself a few minutes of initial relief when he heard the city had won the bid.

"Second there was some excitement that we could finally get to work on it. Thirdly, there was, 'oops we need to get to work on it,'" he said.

Over the next three years the soon-to-be-formed host committee will work on the logistics of hosting the Games.

But, Van Tighem said, work is not just beginning.

"We began eight to 10 months ago organizing. A lot of those activities (during the bid process) were to advise the community of the need for sponsorships and volunteers," he said.

"Now it's just a matter of translating them into reality."

A lot of ideas have been thrown around over the course of the bid process.

Those have ranged from bringing faces from the first 1970 games back in 2008, to the building of a new indoor soccer facility in the city.

Van Tighem said everything is a possibility depending on funding and sponsorship, but the main focus will be the athletic and cultural portions of the Games.

"We're looking at the basics. As we get closer we can add the bells and whistles," he said.

John Buist, president of the Aurora Minor Soccer Association, is one person who hopes an indoor soccer complex will be either a whistle or a bell.

"Most certainly. We'll be working on that in conjunction with facilities for kids," said Buist.

The soccer community has been pushing for a facility of their own for years.

The city had planned construction of one in 2009, but Buist is hopeful the AWG will push that date forward.

"It would be a fantastic boost for the Games," he said.

Where Buist is hoping the AWG will mean a new facility for the people he represents, Elaine Keenan-Bengts is thrilled she'll get to show her club's facility off.

Housed in the Multiplex, a cornerstone of the Yellowknife bid, this will be the first major competition the gymnastics club will host.

"We've got a gorgeous facility and now we can use it," said Keenan-Bengts, president of the Yellowknife Gymnastics Club.

Speed skating coach David Gilday is also excited.

He said the Olympic ice surface at the Multiplex is the perfect venue for speed skating.

"The safety of that outweighs all other considerations," he said.

Gilday said his athletes are also happier to be having the Games here at home.

Travel concerns

"The kids who I deal with said it will be much better if there is only 15 minutes travel between venues," said Gilday.

The South Slave bid meant regular air travel between Hay River and Fort Smith, as well as busing to Fort Resolution, a fact that concerned the AWG international committee, Thick said.

"Putting it into a small geographical setting makes sense from the social aspect of the games," said Gilday, who said the 2004 Games in Fort McMurray were limiting in that regard.

The decision has people in the South Slave upset. Many believe Yellowknife gets too much.

"In my opinion they have not just decided the geographical location of the games, they've decided its fate," said Patty-Kay Hamilton, coach and South Slave AWG proponent.

"There is no longer the political or public appetite to invest millions in a multisport event that benefits only Yellowknife."

However, according to many the reality is that Yellowknife is the only NWT community with the capability to host the Games.

"Edmonton is big enough to hold the Pan-American Games, so it does. Yellowknife isn't big enough, so we don't bid," said Gilday.

"I don't say that as an aspersion, we're all suited to some special event."

With plans now under way, the signing of the official hosting contract is set for early May.

"We'll aim to make it the best yet," VanTighem said.