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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The Canadian School Sports Federation (CSSF) held its annual general meeting north of 60 for the first time, from Jan. 29 to 31.

Delegates from 11 jurisdictions met to discuss a wide range of topics which included gender equity, developments in school sport and long-term athlete development.

Fraser Oliver, president of the NWT School Sports Federation, shares his thoughts on the report. - James McCarthy/NNSL photo

Morris Glimcher of Manitoba, executive director of the CSSF, said when the NWT offered to host the meeting, the federation couldn't say no.

"It's nice to come to a place where not a lot of our delegates have never been before," he said.

A couple of NWT-related issues Glimcher wanted to look at were the remoteness and travel costs for each community to attend school-related sporting events. He said it was something that needed to be worked on at both the federal and local level.

"We're aware of the problems being faced by the outlying areas and even though it won't be a big topic of discussion here, when we get a chance to meet with federal officials, one of the projects we want to propose in the future would include some kind of travel support," he said.

"What we would love, at some point, is for teams from the NWT to travel across Canada and vice versa. It's a great way to incorporate education and culture and wouldn't it be great for a basketball tournament in, say, Yellowknife with schools from six or seven provinces competing in it?"

NWT School Athletics Federation president Fraser Oliver said he wanted to show the uniqueness of the North when it came to school sports.

"A lot of provinces have division one, division two and division three all based on size and ability, and we don't have that here," he said.

"We're all about participation. Both of our groups share the same goal of getting kids to play, but ours is different in the participation side."

Oliver also said the NWT's goal at the meeting was to learn from other provinces as to how they manage their school sports.

"It's a lot of camaraderie and networking," he said.

"Policy is another big thing, such as the issue of whether girls can play on boys' teams and the other way around. Down south, the answer is 'yes' to that issue, but we're dealing with old things like that and we want to learn about how they worked to get that solved."

Richard Daitch, executive director of the NWT federation, said he was happy the CSSF lent their support to school sports in the North.

"That they chose Yellowknife for this event is a tribute to the organization's regard for the dedication and passion of sport for the teachers who coach student athletes in the NWT," he said.