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Nunavik fields 32 "guest"contenders for AWG

Athletes will join 120 Nunavut competitors in flight to Fort McMurray

JANE GEORGE

CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE
Nunavik is planning to show strong performances at the Arctic sports component of the Arctic Winter Games. (PHOTO COURTESY OF THE KRG)

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Athletes selected to represent Nunavik will once again be considered guests at the upcoming Arctic Winter Games because the region is not eligible yet to send a full team.

But organizers in Nunavik are trying to capitalize on the lessons of past games to ensure the small team makes another strong showing this year.

Nunavik got a head start on its preparation for the AWG, scheduled for Feb. 28 to March 6 in Fort McMurray, Alta., using last August's Eastern Arctic Summer Games in Kangiqsualujjuaq to gauge the potential of the region's athletes.

"From there, we evaluated who would be able to represent our team," said Frankie Gordon, director of the Kativik Regional Government's Recreation Department and the chef de mission for the AWG's "Team Nunavik-Quebec."

Regional trials to select athletes for the AWG were held last November in Puvirnituq - a full three months ahead of 2002.

"We did it early, because last time we did it in February, and this way would give us more time for evaluating and training," Gordon said.

Nunavik will send 32 athletes to Fort McMurray where they will compete in Inuit sports and Dene games as well as in a new category.

"We're entering the snowshoe biathalon, two junior females and two junior males. It [the competition] will be different for the athletes," Gordon said.

During the biathlon, participants shoot as they go through a snowshoe course.

"Our junior guys might be our strongest competitors in the high-kick, and, of course, we're going to have good performances in the Dene games and we'll have defending gold medalists in the stick-pole... and half of our team that won the log push. It's going to be a good group," Gordon said.

During this pre-AWG preparation time, coaches have been evaluating athletes, drafting strong contenders and working on training plans and profiles of participants, so Gordon said they will be able to achieve the best results possible.

Only a few years ago, Nunavik's participation in the AWG was more a dream than reality.

That's because the region's athletes hadn't attended any games since 1976, and Nunavik's sports infrastructure - except for hockey - were almost non-existent.

Then, in 1998, a delegation from Nunavik went to Yellowknife to observe how the AWG worked and see what Nunavik would have to do to participate again.

In 2000, 20 athletes from Nunavik travelled to the Whitehorse AWG as guest competitors - and they came home with 13 medals. In 2002, 32 athletes went to the games in Iqaluit and Nuuk, and won 20 medals, nine in the Inuit games and 11 in the Dene games.

This year's athletes, and about 15 cultural participants, coaches and VIPs, will travel to Fort McMurray on a First Air charter, landing en route in Iqaluit to pick up more than 120 Nunavut team members.

This time, before departure, the Team Nunavut athletes will gather well ahead of the scheduled departure from Kuujjuaq - to avoid problems if bad weather strikes during the week leading up to the games.

"Last time, some arrived at 10:30 the night before the flights," Gordon said.

Based on his visits to the game sites in Alberta, Gordon said athletes will find good facilities in Fort McMurray.

"They're really good and I believe there are more facilities than in Whitehorse," he said.

Some sports will also take place in Fort Chipewyan, a small isolated Cree community a 30-minute flight from Fort McMurray. It's a nice, old-fashioned community, said Gordon, with a fort as well as the oldest church in Alberta.

"They're welcoming and it was really fun to be there," he said.

At the games, athletes will be expected to maintain good behaviour and observe a code of conduct.

"We're looking at a buddy system, a younger one [matched up] with an older one. So one can say 'no, you shouldn't go there.'"

The team outfits the athletes will wear resemble those from the last games- and, here again, Gordon said the team is drawing on its past experiences, so the outfits will be less expensive and more practical.

"They look a bit like last time, but we're looking at the weather this time. The first time, in 2000, they were way too warm for Whitehorse. In 2002, we made sure we had snowpants, and this time it won't be as cold as Nuuk and Iqaluit. They'll be similar, so we want hoods that can be taken off. We're going to have buttons on them, in case it gets too warm," Gordon said.

The blue and white theme as well as the logo - an owl inside the map of Nunavik- will remain unchanged, athough the back of the jackets will likely simply read "Team Nunavik-Quebec" this time. Gordon said for headgear the team members will probably wear headbands, earmuffs and caps in the place of traditional nassait.

"Even in the mid-winter, our youth wear caps," Gordon said.

Several tradeable items such as caps, t-shirts and pins are also in the works.

As the countdown to the AWG continues, Gordon has been concentrating on fund-raising. This time to cover expenses, Nunavik can't rely on the $207,397 from Quebec's youth fund (Fonds Jeunesse Québec), which the organization received in 2002 as a "one-shot deal" to encourage regional participation in the games.

Gordon has asked all municipalities in Nunavik to support the AWG.

"We requested $2000 from each municipality to support the games. We got six out of the 14. We wrote second and third letters, and we'll be calling those which haven't contributed yet," he said. "That's something new."

Makivik Corporation, First Air, Air Inuit and Quebec are also assisting with goods, services, and cash. The total cost for the region's participation in the AWG is about $200,000.

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