Organizers of the 2018 Arctic Winter Games want the territory’s biggest sports events to be held in the South Slave over the next two years.
The Arctic Winter Games host society wants to stage as many territorial championships as possible in Hay River and Fort Smith in the build-up to the 2018 Games.
“It’s to help build organizational capacity and get any logistical kinks worked out,” host society member Jessica Cox told Moose FM.
“It’s always the little things that can cause headaches, right? So if we host territorials and a large group of people comes in, it’s making sure there are enough bathroom facilities to accommodate everybody comfortably.
“We have grand plans – we have our bid for 2018, which was very detailed – but the little things can be hard to anticipate. The more experience you have organizing and hosting large events, the fewer inconveniences, in theory, will come up.”
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Cox addressed leaders of the territory’s sports organizations at Sport North’s annual general meeting last weekend, urging them to assign events to the South Slave.
Earlier this year, Hay River and Fort Smith’s joint bid defeated a rival campaign from Inuvik to secure the 2018 Arctic Winter Games.
Preparations are now slowly getting under way, starting with the formation of the host society and some necessary work to set out its structure and by-laws.
“These are big, but not very exciting, pieces of the picture,” admitted Cox.
“There are no pretences that it’s going to be easy, but we have great people involved in both Fort Smith and Hay River – driving forces in both communities – who are prepared to do what it takes to get it done.
“Hopefully we’ll be hosting some territorials for 2016 in Fort Smith and Hay River, and that’ll be an opportunity for athletes and coaches to see the facilities, see what they can expect, and maybe get a leg up on the competition for 2018.”
The South Slave’s Arctic Winter Games are currently tentatively planned for March 17-24, 2018. Before that, the next edition of the Games will be held in Nuuk, Greenland, early next year.
