We know, we know...you’re saying “2013 is a long time from now Gents, it’s only September 2011...isn’t it a bit early to be gearing up for the Canada Games?” Simple answer: NO! It is never too early to start planning and efforts are already underway to train, select and field another great team of triathletes in Sherbrooke PQ, August 2-17 2013.
Let’s take a quick step back with an overview of the Games themselves before we get too far ahead shall we?
“February 1967, in Québec City, the dream was finally realized. For the first time in Canada’s history, 1,800 athletes from 10 provinces and two territories gathered to compete in 15 sports. Under the Games motto ‘Unity through Sport’, these first Canada Winter Games paved the way to what is now Canada’s largest multi-sport competition for young athletes.
Held every two years, alternating between summer and winter, the Canada Games are a key event in the development of Canada’s young athletes. As the best in their age group, these young competitors come to the Games having trained long and hard to be among those chosen to represent their respective province or territory and compete for the Canada Games Flag and Centennial Cup. With the Canada Games poised as a key step in the development of Canada’s future stars, Canada Games athletes are Canada’s next generation national, international and Olympic champions.
The Canada Games and their lasting legacies continue to be the catalyst for the growth of sport and recreation across the country.
Since 1967, over 100,000 athletes have participated in the Games with hundreds of thousands having engaged in try-outs and qualifying events. Over 100,000 coaches, officials and volunteers have been directly involved in the planning and staging of the Games. Cumulatively, $300 million has been invested in the Canada Games; about half of it in capital projects in the various host communities. From the Saint John Canada Games Aquatic Centre (1985) to the Hillside Stadium and Aquatic Centre in Kamloops, B.C. (1993); from the Corner Brook Canada Games Centre and Annex (1999) to the TD Waterhouse Stadium in London, Ontario (2001), a legacy of sports facilities has been built in over 21 communities across Canada.
Over 300 new and existing sports venues have benefited from capital improvements because of the opportunity to host a Canada Games. From arenas to pools, fields to courts, close to 500 venues in total have been upgraded to national standards through the Canada Games resulting in the availability of quality venues to host other provincial, national or international events.
The Canada Games, a celebration of youth, sport, culture and community, are the product of ongoing collaboration between the Government of Canada, provincial/territorial governments, host municipalities, the private sector and the Canada Games Council.”
Here are a few pics for you highlighting the teamwork, training, fun and success experienced by Team NB in the 2009 Games, supported by Coach Jon Tracy and Team Manager Paul Lavoie:
Let’s chat briefly now about Tri NB’s push towards 2013, share a few details about some of our upcoming plans, and how YOU can get involved.
As all are aware, a key aspect of Tri NB’s Mission is “promoting youth participation for longevity of the sport and identifying high performance athletes.” This plays directly into our focus on CG as the development of youth, and enhancing the skills of our athletes, are critical to long term success for our sport and ultimately for our CG initiatives and programs.
As mentioned recently in a blog post by Provincial Coach Jon Tracy, 2011 has seen some fantastic progress from our NB juniors and we are looking forward to growing our training programs to support them further as they look towards PQ. Enhancing our junior races / series and providing additional opportunities for youth to develop is also a top priority. In the coming weeks and months, our website will be updated to provide further details on “everything junior / KOS / Canada Games”. The structure has already been built, now it’s time to add in the appropriate information, roadmaps, training tools / resources and more to assist YOU in getting involved with us and supporting our athletes.
The Canada Games are a major milestone for us as an organization and as a Province, something not to be taken lightly. Tri NB has earmarked substantial funding to grow our youth and CG Team. The planning and time spent taking a team to PQ will require many hours of prep, admin, and more to be successful. As time marches on, we will be actively seeking out individuals to join our CG Team in the way of volunteers, high performance athletes, committee members, recruiting key staff to manage the Team and more. Stay tuned for further updates in the near future.
Along with this we will be hosting team selection clinics, training / testing sessions and workshops and other events aimed at supporting our Team and providing them with the tools they need to be successful at the CG level of competition. Full details will be shared with each of you and we are committed to keeping you “in the loop” via our website, newsletters, blog, Facebook, twitter and more. Constant communication will be crucial in order for all of us to work together and execute our game plans to perfection!
We have a lot of work to do but with a dedicated Board and the support of our membership, the sky is the limit for what we can accomplish working as ONE TEAM. All of us at Tri NB are excited and encouraged with the level of talent we have in our Province and are looking forward to watching our athletes step up onto the podium in PQ come 2013! Stay tuned for more announcements and updates on our progress with CG preparation.
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