Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Approximately 350 athletes from across the NWT competed in nine separate sports Jan. 27-29 in an effort to earn the right to represent Team NWT at the Arctic Winter Games, which are being held in Whitehorse March 4-10.

Brandon Tuckey of Fort Smith gets a body lock on Yellowknife's Simon McKeon during a wrestling clinic and territorial meet in Yellowknife on Jan. 28. - Derek Neary/NNSL photo

Yellowknife was home to curling, badminton, speedskating, snowboarding and wrestling events during the second round of territorial trials. Inuvik held the Arctic sport trials, snowshoeing races took place in Fort McPherson, Dene games were organized in Dettah and table tennis players gathered in Hay River.

A group of five snowboarders travelled from Fort Liard to test their skills in slalom, dual slalom, rail and jump jam competitions. Weather in Yellowknife took a dive Jan. 28 and snowboarders took breaks to sip hot chocolate in the portable shelter as temperatures hovered around -30 C.

"This place is supposed to be warm," said James Duntra as he huddled with his teammates in the slightly heated shelter.

Although the Inuvik boys curling team was defeated by Yellowknife, the opposing team's coach had nothing but praise for the visiting team.

"Inuvik is the up and coming boys team in the NWT. The games were much closer then the scores indicated," said coach Maureen Miller of Yellowknife.

Four out of the possible 16 speedskating positions plus three of the four alternate openings were allotted to skaters from NWT communities outside of the capital.

Kaed Blake competed in the juvenile boys division and succeeded in becoming the first speeedskater from Hay River to be named to Team NWT.

Speedskater Madison Pilling of Fort Simpson, who has been training in Prince George, B.C., this season, secured her position by finishing second in the junior female division.

"Nobody knew who would be on the team until the last photo finish," said Shane Clarke, coach of the Yellowknife speedskating club.

Meanwhile in Fort McPherson, volunteers filled the arena with snow and snowshoe athletes raced indoors to avoid the cold weather. Organizer and coach Liz Wright said she was very proud to announce the snowshoeing team and believes they will "be excellent ambassadors for the NWT."

In Inuvik, junior badminton player Adrian Kagyut defeated Hay River rival Sean Aitken in three sets during their first match.

Both Aitken and Kagyut were members of the 2010 AWG team and played their way onto the team again this year.

"He's one of the toughest opponents," said Kagyut.

Sports officials saw a higher level of competition for spots on Team NWT this year.

"The calibre of athletes is improving and we are seeing competition at a high level," Sport North executive director Doug Rentmeister said. "I could see the difficulty our coaches had to pick team members for Team NWT.

"Our coaches throughout the NWT are doing an excellent job and I commend them on their dedication and thank them for their commitment."

Team NWT won 107 ulus at the 2010 AWG, including 31 gold, 28 silver and 48 bronze. Overall the territory placed third. Team Alaska was first and Northern Alberta placed second.

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