Rec centre readiness key
Arctic Winter Games committee president finds under-construction Don Stewart centre impressive but worries about when it'll be finished
Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Monday, March 27, 2017
HAY RIVER
The president of the International Committee of the Arctic Winter Games is saying he's seen some hopes realized on a recent check-up on preparations for the 2018 South Slave Arctic Winter Games.
But that doesn't mean there aren't concerns about the finish date for the recreation centre currently under construction.
The 12-member International Committee of the AWG, along with some chefs de mission of participating teams, were in Hay River on March 18 and 19, followed by a visit to Fort Smith, to view venues and accommodations.
At the beginning of the visit on March 18, Jens Brinch, president of the International Committee of the Arctic Winter Games, was asked by News/North what he hoped to see during the visit.
"We hope to see a lot of dedicated people, a lot of volunteers that have been found," he said. "We hope to see some facilities that have been developed a little more than the last time we were here. But it looks very good.
"There are a lot of nice people here. I'm sure that the whole society seems to be behind this project, and at the end of the day that is the most important thing."
One of the biggest changes since the international committee was last here in September is that the new Don Stewart Recreation Centre is now partially built.
"It's very impressive but the only worry that I have is it's going to be finished very late compared with the games starting in March," said Brinch. "I hope that it will be ready as planned so they can try if it's working before the games."
The president said that if the rec centre is completed around Christmas, there will still need to be a hockey tournament and a volleyball tournament held to see if everything is working properly.
"But I think it's very impressive and it looks to be a very fine facility and a very fine legacy for the Arctic Winter Games, because I think this has been built because of the Arctic Winter Games," he said.
"So we can be very proud that we are a part of that."
Among the visiting chefs de mission was Yellowknife's Doug Rentmeister of Team NWT.
"We have a pretty good understanding of what's here to offer," he said. "But for the most part, we want to be able to provide some insight and some guidance for the chairs moving forward so that they're not surprised or sideswiped by a thing occurring later on in this process."
Rentmeister was impressed by the amount of detail that each of the chairs in the host society put forward during the first meeting of the visit on March 18.
"They're well ahead," he said. "You can tell that there's a lot of experience in the games."
Rentmeister said the chefs de mission will take a lot of information back on the venues and any issues they see to let their coaches and mission staff know what to expect when they come to the South Slave.
Brinch said the visiting delegation consisted of about 20 people, including chefs de mission from the nine contingents from five countries.
The next visit by the international committee and chefs de mission will be in September, six months out from the games.
