Scott Crabbe
Northern News Services

Yellowknife ( Mar 03/00) - This year's crop of westward bound Arctic athletes are ready, willing and able to show the rest of the North what the territories are made of.

Scoring goals and plenty of points provide foundations for high hopes amongst the many participants.

Good times and great people etch the memories that will last a lifetime. Competition isn't new to AWG participant and bantam right winger Nolan Rivers, as just last year he and his teammates competed in the Canada Winter Games. "It was amazing, one of the best experiences of my life, he said."

He's looking for the same memories this time around as his NWT bantam hockey team jets out at 12:30 a.m. Saturday. "It pretty well will be the same idea," he said. "The competition will be there, but it won't be as high."

When asked if there's a team to watch out for, NWT bantam league goaltender Jeff Bowden didn't hesitate to come up with a reply.

"Northern Alberta, they smoked us last time so we're going be looking for some payback."

Beyond spending most of their time between the rink and the dorms, the boys are hoping to take in some of the sights and sounds that the Games and the city has to offer.

"I'll be watching some indoor soccer and volleyball," Rivers said.

"If the week ends early I want to try and get some skiing in."

Cross-country skier Sheena Tremblay will be making her second appearance at the AWG this year after her initiation in Yellowknife two years ago. "I had a lot of fun last time, " she said.

"I'm looking forward to the competition, meeting people ... having fun."

Tremblay will be leaving with other cross-country athletes Saturday night and looking forward to her first race on Monday.

"There's one Yukon girl who's pretty fast. I hope that I can beat her." Fellow skier and accomplished biathlete Lindsay Bollivar is using the AWG Games as a warm up for future athletic endeavours.

"I'm going to be racing in the biathlon junior nationals in Quebec."

Bollivar has been competing in biathlon for the past two years, but has been skiing since she was five. "I tried (biathlon) a couple of times. Then they needed another girl on the team for the Yellowknife Arctic Winter Games. I've been doing it ever since."

Best of luck to all the athletes heading to Whitehorse.