Sask Winter Games Hosted in Two Northern Communities for First Time

The Saskatchewan Winter Games are underway, and for the first time in the Games’ history, host duties are being shared.

Flying Dust First Nation and the City of Meadow Lake are hosting the once-every-four-years Winter Games, taking place from February 15-21. In the 54 years of Saskatchewan Games, it’s the first time they’ve been hosted in dual locations.

“We were really intrigued by the partnership between the City of Meadow Lake and Flying Dust First Nation. We’ve never had a partnership of that kind,” said Greg Perreaux, executive director of the Saskatchewan Games.

“Winter is a bit trickier for us to find venues, so when Meadow Lake and Flying Dust approached us with this opportunity, we thought it would be a great way to showcase the community and ensure we’re being more inclusive in our hosting opportunities.”

This summer, 1,850 seat arena – the Meadow Lake Co-op Centre – opened in the eastern part of town. Only 3 kilometres away is Pineridge Ford Place Arena, located in Flying Dust First Nation, making for a highly accessible location to host the games, said Perreaux.

“It’s important to continue that tradition of hosting in smaller centres. Bringing the games to smaller communities provides opportunities for those communities to showcases their facilities.”

This year’s games will include over 1,100 athletes, aged from 9 to 16, as well as over 1,000 volunteers.

The 16 sports for the young athletes are: artistic swimming, badminton, biathlon, bowling-Special Olympics, bowling-5 pin, cross country and para-nordic skiing, curling, figure skating, futsal (indoor soccer), gymnastics, judo, ringette, speed skating, table tennis, target shooting, weightlifting and wrestling.

Teams and athletes are grouped into 9 provincial districts, wear distinct district colours, and much like international athletic events, and build team unity within the areas they represent.

“(The Olympics) is exactly what we try to model it off of,” said Perreaux.

“It’s an opportunity to be involved in a multi-sports games, to have all these different events and be part of a bigger team. We really try to build that camaraderie.”

The host communities themselves have been welcoming with the sudden influx of visitors, said Perreaux. With hundreds of people needing accommodation every night, locals have been opening their doors and inviting people to stay in their homes. While others have been taking the opportunity to stay in cabins in the beautiful Meadow Lake area, said Perreaux.

With the Games putting a spotlight on sports that young people may not have access to, Perreaux said he hopes young people are inspired to engage in new that betters themselves, both in athletics and their personal lives.

“We’re really trying to build the leaders of the future, and engage athletes in this way. We want to show them there’s many ways to give back, whether it’s coaching, officiating, or helping out in the community. Those are the things that install leadership into the community,” said Perreaux.

“We see kids get excited about some of these new sports and opportunities. Hopefully there’s an opportunity for future programming if there’s interest form those kids.”