Athletes warm up for AWG tryouts
Soccer, basketball bring out Fort Simpson youth
April Hudson
Northern News Services
Thursday, November 12, 2015
LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
Registration has opened for the 2016 Arctic Winter Games territorial tryouts and students from Thomas Simpson Secondary School are preparing to put their names in.
Tanisha Kelly-Harris, left, practises futsal with her peers on Oct. 3. To her right are Shaznay Waugh, Kyra Sanguez and Abigail Pascua-Matte. - April Hudson/NNSL photo
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Acting principal Neil Barry said athletes will be registering in basketball and soccer. In the past, the school has also sent athletes to participate in showshoeing, Dene games and table tennis.
"There's a lot of interest. At our basketball practise alone, there must have been 20 kids who raised their hand," Barry said. "We have quite a few very dedicated players who love their sports. We're looking forward to the tryouts."
Young people have already been practising hard for the soccer tryouts since the Arctic Winter Games will employ a newer form of soccer called futsal which has more rules and uses a smaller ball.
Teagan Zoe-Hardisty said he played futsal for the first time in October when Fort Simpson held a regional development camp and added that futsal would make the game "just a little tough" for players.
Zoe-Hardisty was one of the nine athletes picked in his group to carry on to territorial tryouts.
"I'm best as defence and forward but I need to work on my passing," he said of his goals before tryouts.
In the juvenile female catagory Akesha Hardisty-Norwegian, Shaznay Waugh and Emily Hardisty-Marcellais will all be heading to territorials for soccer as well.
"The regional development camp was good experience. futsal was a little harder because most of the time, we tried to pass to someone and we'd be hitting the walls," Waugh said. Bouncing the ball off walls is prohibited in futsal.
Waugh is working on her running and stamina and said her strength lies in her ability to pass well and communicate with her teammates.
As for Hardisty-Norwegian, she said running is something she excels at.
"I want the experience of playing at a competition," she said.
She recently went to Grande Prairie, Alta., to play in the Rock Around the Clock tournament. Her team came in second.
"I don't find it difficult to practise with other teams and athletes in the NWT. It's not hard and we talk a lot," she said.
Registration closes Nov. 23. Participants are required to have passports and registration fees.
Territorial tryouts run from Dec. 10 to 12 and Jan. 14 to 16.
