INUVIK
Nominations for town council open Sept. 4, but the election process is just getting started.

From left, Mark Robertson, Gary "Gatch" Gordon, Scott Macbeth, Natasha Kulikowski, Scott Healey, Meghan Etter, Jon Amos, Kevin McLeod, Laurie Robertson, Eric Cockney, Lisa Burns, Jeremy Burns, Chris Smith and sponsor Vince Sharpe are joined by their young supporters Devin Mcleod, Jacob Robertson and Hanna Robertson, standing in front, after their win at the league championships last month. - photo courtesy of Mark Robertson

"There were a couple of other strong teams in the league and we faced them both in the finals," said Mark Robertson, a player with the team.

"There was nothing given to us."

The winning team faced Rocky's Yankees in the semis and then beat out the Aklak Air Falcons for the league title this year.

Robertson also said that although his team was pretty competitive as a whole, the main goal was always to have a good time and keep things enjoyable for everyone.

Although there are eight teams in the league, only six were able to put together a roster for the playoffs this year. About 40 players attended the wrap-up banquet, organized and emceed by Tanya Gruben Aug. 29 at the Legion.

The male Most Valuable Player award was presented to Gary Gordon of Just Call Vince, with Stacey Christie of the Aklak Air Falcons taking home the female MVP award. Audrey Nasogaluak was named the most improved player for her performance for The Wranglers.

Robertson said they handed out a few other silly awards, including the Hollywood Award for the player most likely to take any excuse to dive, and that the evening was good fun.

"It was a slightly better turnout than last year, but still not as many as one could have hoped," he told the Drum.

"But it was a lot of fun for those who came."

As for plans for next year, Robertson said he hopes to just get out there and play some more ball. He also said he hopes to see the league grow in popularity and to see more teams signing up. One team, the Ballbusters, was a new and welcome addition this year.

"I'm looking forward to having another summer of fun playing ball," he said.

"Something that made winning extra special this year was that only one or two of the 15 or 16 players on our team has won the league championship before, so that was pretty great for them."

While the playoffs were perhaps the highlight of the year for the winning team, they were by no means the only good times.

"The whole season went great," said Robertson.

"We had a dedicated team, as far as everyone showing up when they needed to, and we kept it fun for everyone."

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