NNSL (Mar 30/98) - He never stood on a podium and collected an ulu -- yet Joe Walsh was as much a winner as any athlete at the 1998 Arctic Winter Games.

As general manager of the Games, he led 1,800 volunteers in orchestrating the event and helped turn two years of preparation into a six-day athletic, social and cultural extravaganza. Today, it's just a memory.

"I'm relieved that the Games are over and they were successful," Walsh said. "That's always a big worry."

Originally from Douglas, Ontario (about 110 kilometres from Ottawa) Walsh was born in 1941, the third of four children. Growing up on a farm was a primary source for his altruistic nature, he said.

"When you're raised on a farm, you're expected to help your neighbors," he explained. "You really don't want to ask, you're just expected to do it."

Walsh got started in the world of sports as a volunteer at the age of 16, coaching a hockey team made up with players his own age.

He had played the game up to the Senior "A" level. He also enjoyed fastball, badminton, golf and "pretty well any sport that I tried."

Following his high school graduation, he worked in an administration office in Ontario for a few years before embarking on a 15-year career as a mining administrator with Falconbridge in northern Quebec.

After moving to Chapais, Quebec, he helped construct an arena/swimming pool complex as a volunteer project in 1970.

He picked up the game of curling soon after arriving in northern Quebec and offered to teach a group to kids despite the fact that he was a novice himself.

"I couldn't teach them very much because I had just started curling myself," he said. "I'd seen kids who just didn't have anybody to show any interest in them, so I'd take it on."

In 1975, he was transferred to Giant Mine outside of Yellowknife, a move that turned out to be a blessing, according to Walsh.

"It's the best thing we could have done for our family," he said. We had two boys and a girl and they were young. It's been a great place to raise kids."

All three of his children have also worked with the mines in some capacity.

After 17 years with Giant Mine, he spent five years as a controller with Polar Developments. All the while, Walsh continued to give his spare time to sports. Although his most recent coaching stint was with the Char Kings, he and Peter Tremblay have been co-coaches of a number of minor and junior hockey teams since 1983.

"He's just like a gentle bear with the kids," Tremblay said. "He brought comfort and self-esteem to them."

Tremblay and Walsh teamed up with Dave Grundy to take a Junior "B" squad to the Canada Games in the late 80s.

"He's just a great guy. The kids loved him and the parents loved him," Tremblay said.

Walsh has also served as president of NWT Hockey for five years and president of Sport North for four years.

"I'm sold on the benefit of sports to the community," Walsh said. "Not only for kids but also for adults."

Since 1986 Walsh has witnessed NWT hockey grow from about 10 communities to close to 40 members across the territories.

"All of the sports that belong to Sport North have grown, which really opens a lot of avenues for kids to participate," Walsh said.

During his tenure, the Sport North executive expanded the scholarship program and improved the grant procedures with less money allotted for administration.

During his final term as president of Sport North in 1994, Walsh began to tackle the issue of the separation of Nunavut and the impact it would have on sport.

Although the respective territorial governments have not sorted out all the sporting issues, Sport North has a "clearer understanding of where they would like to see it," Walsh said.

Chris Bergman, the current president of Sport North describes Walsh, who he has known for 15 years, as a pre-eminent volunteer and a committed family man.

"He's just exceptional. He's always been dedicated to the youth. I don't think I've ever heard Joe say no to anybody."

It was when he started thinking about retiring in 1996, that Walsh decided to apply for the position of general manager of the Games.

"I said, 'Well geez, maybe that's how I should end my working career. It's a very stressful job but it's a lot easier to get up a four o'clock and do this than it is to do books," he recalled, adding that the biggest obstacle was to find the funding for the Games.

"That was the most daunting thing at the start," Walsh said, adding that the executive and the board went right to work on a plan of attack.

"It's just like eating an elephant, one bite at a time and you get the job done," he said in the board room where the walls are covered with page upon page of timelines and schedules.

During the final few months leading up to the Games, Walsh was sleeping as little as two hours each night due to the anticipation and anxiety.

Of course, an event of this magnitude did have a few glitches. Two days before the opening ceremonies on Sunday, a computer crash caused a immediate rise in blood pressure.

"I said, 'Oh my God, if this is the way it's going to be, it's going to be a long week," Walsh said. "But we got that problem fixed and when we had the opening ceremonies on Sunday, they went right to the minute. When it happened bang-on schedule then we said, 'Well it's going to be a success.'"

Although he was too busy to observe much of the Games, he said his crowning moment came when a prominent member of the Northern community, who had seen the past eight Games, bumped into him at the post office and told him the Yellowknife games were the best ever.

"She said it was the best organized and most fun. said Walsh. "Then all those sleepless nights were worth it." When the time comes to lock up the Arctic Winter Games office for the final time in late April, Walsh said he's going to have a hard time bidding farewell to his assistants Deb Lougheed and Cindy Were.

"That will be a big hole for sure. We've spent a lot of hours over the past two years together and became good friends," he said.

"He pretty much lived, breathed, slept Arctic Winter Games the past two years," Loughheed said. "He hasn't forgotten the real meaning of the Arctic Winter Games. He realizes it's for the kids."

Walsh said plans now include a trip to Whitehorse in 2000 to actually observe the sporting spectacular. Then, he says he'll probably be sending an application to the Olympic Committee to volunteer for the Winter Games to be held in Salt Lake City in 2002.

Walsh's generosity doesn't end with his volunteer efforts. He won the use of a 1998 Ford Contour for a two- year period for having raised the most in donations for The Run for the Cure last year. He donated the car to the Arctic Winter Games and now that they are over, the Aven Senior Centre will benefit from the vehicle.

In the immediate future, there is still some clean-up remaining and some final reports to file before the Winter Games is wrapped up.

Then there's a vacation pencilled in on Joe Walsh's calendar. At this point, he foresees a leisurely summer working on projects around his home. Then he and his wife Alida are going to hit the road in the fall and visit their families. But, ultimately, they'll wind up back in Yellowknife.

"We're going to retire here and terrorize the coffee pots around Yellowknife," Walsh said, grinning.

Beyond watching his beloved Montreal Canadiens, what he plans to do in his retirement years may not come as a surprise.

"There are so many opportunities to volunteer in Yellowknife, it's amazing," he said. "I'm sure that between the senior citizens and my involvement with the Elks, I'll be able to keep busy."