Keep calm and steady on
Nunavut joins fellow delegations, international committee and host society for meetings on 2018 Arctic Winter Games
James McCarthy
Northern News Services
Monday, September 18, 2017
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
It's six months and counting until the start of the 2018 Arctic Winter Games in the South Slave region of the NWT. And there's still plenty of work to do to make sure everything is ready when the curtain rises in March.
Mariele Depeuter, left, chef de mission of Team Nunavut, and Dave Penney, the sport and recreation division's manager of sport and recreation programs, were part of the 2018 Arctic Winter Games meetings in Hay River and Fort Smith, NWT, which wrapped up on Sept. 14. - photo courtesy of Thorsten Gohl |
To that end, the 2018 AWG host society held a series of meetings over several days in Hay River to give those involved a run-down of what to expect when the Games finally begins.
The Nunavut delegation was among those in attendance, which included nine competing jurisdictions and the AWG International Committee.
Chef de mission Mariele Depeuter led the way for the territory. She said the week of meetings was constructive.
"We got to hear about their plans and it looks good," she said. "It's all a matter of fine-tuning everything now and we're all working together to make sure it comes off successfully."
The Games haven't taken place in small communities for quite some time. This will be the first time two communities have jointly hosted the Games since the Iqaluit-Nuuk joint Games in 2002. It's also the first time the Games have been in the South Slave region since 1978, when Hay River and the former community of Pine Point held the Games together.
Because of the size of the communities, the big concern is about infrastructure, which will get taxed to its absolute maximum. Every square inch of space is being allocated in the towns of Hay River and Fort Smith and it will be a challenge.
Depeuter said she knows it will be a challenge, but it's nothing that can't be overcome with some creative thinking.
"The split between the communities makes it tough, but we understand the challenges," she said. "We've had lots of discussions about that and we know things will be tight. The host society has some options on what to do and we're confident they'll have it ready."
Depeuter and the other chefs de mission got a tour of the venues in both communities. The tour included a viewing of the brand new arena in Hay River, which is scheduled to be ready in time for the start of the Games.
Depeuter was impressed with that she saw.
"No matter what happens with everything else, the sports will always take precedence and I like what I saw," she said. "The new arena is an impressive facility."
One of the concerns Depeuter and several of the other delegations brought up was transportation. Athletes will have to go back and forth between both communities, which is expected to be by chartered bus.
Depeuter said that concern has been dealt with, even though it may be a bit bumpy.
"We got the confirmation that things will go smoothly with that," she said. "There will be hiccups along the way, like with anything, but nothing that can't be solved if it needs to be."
No matter what happens, Depeuter said organizing the Games is a lot of work done by a lot of people and the two communities should be proud of what they've put together so far.
See the next edition of Nunavut News/North for a follow-up from Greg Rowe, president of the host society.
