Brent Reaney
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 12/05) - Ian Kelly was not particularly interested in being a reporter.

But attending a short journalism course as part of the first-ever leadership program at the Canadian Francophone Games may have changed his mind.

Yellowknife's Ian Kelly was busy playing reporter at the Canada Francophone Games in Winnipeg July 20-24. Here, he plays the part again for a photo in the NWT Economic Development Council office.

"When you actually get to go out and you ask people questions it has this kind of spark. It's kind of hard to explain, but it's cool," the 14-year-old said, adding that being a sports reporter might be pretty cool. The bilingual Kelly was one of five Yellowknife youth who attended the leadership segment of the games, held in Winnipeg this year, July 20-24.

Nicole Bonnell and Michaelis Hurst took in an event planning program, while Daniel Leclerc and Marc-Antoine Auger spent time working on a radio show.

Jean-Guy Duchesne brought the youth down to the games.

Initially, Duchesne said the other participants also seemed unsure about whether they would enjoy the experience.

"But as the games continued, they changed their mind and got a positive attitude," he said.

The NWT Economic Development Council helped sponsor the trip.

"The reason we got involved is because of the leadership angle," said director Andre Routhier. "It develops basic skills that will be needed no matter what they do in life."

During the journalism portion, Kelly and a partner watched sporting events, interviewed people, then wrote stories.

Approach for interviews

When approaching people for interviews, Kelly said "you kind of get nervous in the beginning, but we were always in twos, so that kind of relieved the stress a bit."

He has yet to see the final copy of his stories, but Duchesne is trying to obtain a copy.

But what was the best part of the trip? "All the new people. I met at least 75 new people," he said.