CLASSIFIEDSADVERTISINGSPECIAL ISSUESSPORTSOBITUARIESNORTHERN JOBSTENDERS

ChateauNova

http://www.neas.ca/


NNSL Photo/Graphic


Canadian North

Home page text size buttonsbigger textsmall textText size Email this articleE-mail this page

Games cuts become political
Yellowknife MLAs plan on letting territorial government know how they feel about Arctic Winter Games athletes losing out in 2016

James McCarthy
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, Oct 17, 2012

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The 17th legislative assembly re-convenes this afternoon after a four-month break and the 2016 Arctic Winter Games will be part of discussions involving Yellowknife MLAs.

NNSL photo/graphic

Janis O'Keefe aims her broom during girls curling action at the 2012 Arctic Winter Games in Whitehorse this past March. Curling is one of the sports which will feel the pinch as the AWG international committee has cut back on several sports when the Games are held in Greenland in 2016. - NNSL file photo

The AWG international committee announced on Sept. 17 that five sports - curling, figure skating, dog mushing, speedskating and gymnastics - will be axed in 2016 because the host community of Nuuk, Greenland, is either too small, doesn't have the facilities or doesn't have the expertise to host them.

Nuuk last hosted the Games in 2002 as part of a joint bid with Iqaluit, but that didn't go over too well and committee president Gerry Thick said at the time a split Games would never happen again because of the cost.

"It was decided after 2002 that there wouldn't be another split Games and that all the athletes had to be in the unit where the Games were held and (that host cities) could use satellite (locations to host part of the Games if facilities were not available)," he said.

The decision has been met with criticism from those involved with the eliminated sports and that has now extended to MLAs, namely Frame Lake MLA Wendy Bisaro.

Bisaro has been a major supporter and organizer of amateur athletics in the NWT for many years and said the announcement was a major disappointment, but understands the logistical reasons.

"I appreciate where the international committee is coming from," she said. "Having been involved in organizing the 2008 Games (in Yellowknife), it was probably the biggest it had ever gotten to. It's very difficult now to find communities which are big enough and that have the capacity to host them."

However, she said an entire group of athletes are going to miss out on perhaps the biggest sporting opportunity of their lives.

"About four years worth of kids will be left with no big competition to aim for," she said. "The success we've had with Michael Gilday and Brendan Green and some of the skiers has been because they've had a major competition to work toward."

She's also afraid that coaches will have a difficult time trying to keep youths involved in their chosen sport and maintain a high level of competition.

Range Lake MLA Daryl Dolynny has seen his two sons compete at a high level, albeit not in the AWG, but he said athletes need to have some sort of motivation to continue on or it will fade away.

"When those North stars are removed from the sky, what motivates them to excel?" he asked. "If they don't find a way to offer venues for those kids, it will be a huge loss as far as I'm concerned."

Bisaro said the big loss could come if athletes switch sports just to compete at the Games, which could hurt the sports that suffer from a loss in participation.

Both Bisaro and Dolynny said they plan to voice their concerns during this current session.

"I do intend on making a statement just about my disappointment with the international committee's decisions and the possible ramifications," she said. "I'm of the thinking now that governments put in a huge amount of money but have no power over the committee."

"I'm not sure which day they'll do it, but I have it checked off as a to-do item," Dolynny added. "If it's not done in statements, it will be done in oral questions to some degree."

Meanwhile, Municipal and Community Affairs Minister Robert C. McLeod is in Fairbanks, Alaska, this week to meet with the international committee and express the GNWT's concerns about the cuts.

"We're looking to see what options are out there for those sports," McLeod said. "We're taking a couple of years away from their development and to these kids, this is their Olympics."

He also said nothing concrete is expected to come out of the meeting, but he intends to get his points across.

E-mailWe welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.