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Iqaluit
January 9, 2004
Soccer showdown in Iqaluit
Nunavut soccer fans can get their fill this weekend in Iqaluit, as youth from
around the territory compete to play in the Arctic Winter Games.
Young athletes will converge in the Inuksuk High School gym for the territorial
soccer playoffs beginning Jan. 9 in hopes of making Nunavut's all-star soccer
team. More than 150 students from the territory's three regions will compete
to play in the Arctic Winter Games Feb. 28 to March 6 in Fort McMurray, Alta.
Tournament organizers hope the new selection process, as well as newly added
training camps, will boost Nunavut's soccer prospects in this year's games.
Previously, the territorial tournament's top team would go on to the pan-Arctic
games, but as of last year, the coach of the winning team picks who makes the
cut. Only four players can come from the coach's region.
Romeyn Stevenson, president of the Nunavut Soccer Association, described Nunavut's
handful of winning matches in last year's games as a success, considering competition
from teams like Alaska and Greenland.
"But we're hoping to have a better showing this year," Stevenson
said. "The Arctic Winter Games are here [in Canada] this year, so everyone's
excited about that."
The territorial finals are scheduled for 11 a.m. on Jan. 11.
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