IKAAHUK/SACHS HARBOUR - Kyle Donovan taught himself the one-hand reach by reading an Arctic winter sports manual when he was 13. He's the only person in Sachs Harbour who knows how to do it. Now he wants to change that.

Kyle Donovan, 21, pictured here at his graduation in 2007, has started an Arctic sports club for local youth so he can teach them techniques of the traditional tests of strength in his free time. - photo courtesy of Kyle Donovan

The 21-year-old has started up an Arctic sports club for youth so he can teach them techniques of the traditional tests of strength in his free time.

"Now we don't have anybody who does Arctic sports. So I want to get more kids and youth involved," he said. "The kids now, they don't really know how to do it and there's no one really here to teach them."

Donovan has hopes of becoming a sports coach and is well on his way toward that goal.

Next week, he'll complete his fourth training course through the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, along the road to recreation co-ordinator certification.

The course, Traditional Games and Sport Coaching, runs Nov. 15 to 20 in Inuvik.

Donovan said he's looking forward to learning from instructor Donald Kuptana the history behind each of the Arctic sports, particularly the ones in which he's competed. Donovan has represented Sachs Harbour at the 2006 Arctic Winter Games and at the 2009 Northern Games in Inuvik.

But he said it wasn't an easy road getting there.

After picking up "Arctic Sports: A Training and Resource Manual" issued by Sport North Federation,

Donovan and a small group of friends spent hours practising their chosen games.

"We did have a video that showed us how to do some of it, but I know it took me all summer just to figure out how to find my balance for one-hand reach," he laughed. "I learned it because no one else really knew how and I wanted to figure it out. It's not that hard once you get used to it. I just like it. It's my favourite event."

He said there's still no one in Sachs Harbour who has mastered the event like he has.

The one-hand reach involves reaching one hand in the air to touch a suspended target while supporting the body with the other hand. Donovan said he reached more than five feet at his personal best.

While he's competing, the strict concentration required can make him feel "nervous, mostly. But it feels really good."

He still practises for fun, and he said he'd probably still be competing if he hadn't moved to Edmonton in 2008 and enrolled in a baking course at NAIT. Once there, he quickly discovered it wasn't for him.

"I'm more into sports so coaching would probably be something I'd look forward to," he said. "I always liked it.

"When I was younger I always wanted to be the person who did all the programming and finding out what kinds of stuff the kids wanted to do and how to get it set

up."

He hopes to try out for the 2012 Arctic Winter Games in Whitehorse, but until then he'd like to help discover some new talent in the community of 100 or more.

"I already talked to some of the kids and a few of them are interested.

"We don't really have as many youth as we used to, so I'm trying to get all the youth that I can involved," he said, adding he believes youth should have a chance to exercise their potential.

"You never know. They might be really good at it and that might be what they're really into

because there's a lot of competition out there that's a lot better and for the couple of us who barely knew what we were doing, we seemed to be doing pretty well in these games."

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