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REPULSE BAY/NUNAVUT
A territorial sports association has stepped up to put the best ending possible on a sad tale of what was either miscommunication or a rookie coach's honest mistake.

The story started out happy enough, with the Repulse Bay boy's soccer team winning the hamlet's first regional soccer banner in Rankin Inlet this past month.

But things took a turn for the worst despite the best efforts of everyone involved.

The Nunavut Soccer Association (NSA) has implemented a new procedure for selecting players to represent Nunavut at the Arctic Winter Games (AWG).

Players at the Kivalliq event were evaluated during the tournament and a list compiled of possible candidates for a selection camp in Iqaluit from Nov. 25-27.

Two Repulse players, Louis Kabvitok and Casey Akkumalik, were identified as possible candidates for the Iqaluit camp.

In a closed-door meeting conducted mostly in English at the end of the tourney, coaches were asked not to tell the players being considered.

Repulse rookie coach Bernie Malliki identified his two players in an interview with Kivalliq News the following week, wishing them luck at making the AWG team.

The two players and their families were ecstatic to read they were going to Iqaluit, but things turned ugly when news broke they weren't selected.

When NSA president and AWG coach Todd Janes heard of the problem and how badly the boys had been hurt by the incident, he decided the right thing to do was to bring them to Iqaluit.

The series of events was an emotional roller-coaster for Kabvitok's mother, Renee.

She was hurt and angry when she learned her son was not going to Iqaluit.

She was walking on air a few days later when Janes called to tell the boys they were going to Iqaluit.

"Right now, I'm the happiest mother in the world and my son is on cloud nine with the news," said Renee.

"I appreciate them deciding to bring the boys to Iqaluit, but I still don't like it when a team can win a championship banner and still not have a single player sent to the AWG selection camp."

Janes said in the past, the AWG team selection process had been directly tied to the regional and territorial tournaments, with, more often than not, the winning coach named as the AWG coach and charged with the task of selecting players to be part of the AWG roster.

He said this was often done moments after a winning team was presented with its medals and banner.

"That process was a doubleedged sword as a small number of players were elated with the news they would be on the AWG team, while the majority were disappointed not to be selected," said Janes.

"Moments earlier players were celebrating their victory and on top of the world and then, suddenly, heartbroken to learn they would not be a member of Team Nunavut.

"This year it was decided regional tournaments would be held in the Baffin, Kivalliq and Kitikmeot, and the spirit of competition would be celebrated first and foremost and the AWG selection process would be secondary."

Janes said coaches and tournament organizers worked together at each tournament to identify potential players who may be invited to the AWG selection camps.

He said the AWG coaches received a list of about 30 players, but it's not feasible to bring 30 players to a camp to select only nine.

"The coach is charged with the responsibility of consulting with tournament organizers, and then selecting five to seven players from each list to invite to the selection camp.

"Invitations to attend the AWG selection camp come only from the AWG coach.

"The NSA has established a process it feels gives all soccer players the best opportunity to represent Team Nunavut at the AWG."

Janes said he's not interested in passing blame on what happened in the Repulse situation.

He said his concern since hearing about the incident was to decide what the NSA could do to make it better for the two Repulse kids.

"I knew we had to do something to ease the pain they must have been feeling from being on top of the world and then having everything ripped out from underneath them.

"We're not bringing these kids to Iqaluit because they were mistakenly told they were coming, because the process we have is sound.

"It looks to me like a young rookie coach made a mistake and passed on some misinformation, and that's no fault of the two boys involved, so the right thing to do in this situation is to invite them to the camp, but we're not setting precedent with this decision.

"I'm actually going against my better judgment in following my heart on this, but I know when they get off the plane and I see them smile, I'll know I did the right thing."

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