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Hundreds of youth athletes have arrived in Lloydminster for the Saskatchewan Summer Games, which held its opening ceremony on Sunday night.
Greg Perreaux, Executive Direction of the Saskatchewan Games Council said Lloydminster is more than ready to host after its games were cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic.
“We were able to give them an opportunity to try this event again,” he said. “It’s been about six years in the making for Lloydminster so it’s really cool that they finally get to execute on the games.”
Like the Olympics, the Winter and Summer Games happen every four years, alternating every two.
There are roughly 1,800 youth athletes aged 11 to 18 and 300 coaches along with dozens of staff and officials participating in 130 events within 14 sports throughout the week.
“You’ll have your typical summer sports like softball, baseball, soccer, basketball, volleyball and you’ll have some of the other ones that are less participated in like archery, canoe and kayaking,” Perreaux said.
“Beach volleyball is new this time around,” he added. “There’s quite a big beach volleyball community here in Lloydminster so they were quite excited to be able to add that and we were able to do some upgrades to their facility.
“We also have an opportunity for Special Olympics athletes who will be participating in the sport of bocce ball. So there’s a wide range of sports that are available.”
A group of athletes and two mascots at one of the torch relay stops. (Saskatchewan Summer Games/submitted)
Perreaux said safety is a top priority as the games begin, with heat and smoke warnings hanging over the city.
“The hosts have done a really good job ensuring that there’s shade available for athletes. There will be plenty of water available on site. At each venue, there’s also medical staff that’ll be around in case there are any dehydration issues or any other injuries that happen.”
The local high school has been transformed into an athletes’ village.
“We have 500 bunk beds that we provide to the host organizations,” he said. “So basically all the classrooms in the high school have been transformed into dorms. There will be anywhere from eight to 12 bunks in a room. It’ll be like an athletes’ village at the Olympics where the athletes will all stay together. They’ll be split by gender in the high school. There will be some opportunities for some recreation events there as well. It’s quite a hub of activity.”
He said the village will also host the coach and administration staff.
“There will be a lot of offices in there as well for transportation and results and all those kinds of things,” Perreaux said. “It’s really the centre, the pulse of the games. It’s quite neat to see how it transforms in such a short time.”
While the trek to Lloydminster might be far for some families, Perreaux said there is another option.
“All the competition is being live-streamed through Home Team Live,” he said. “So there will be links on our SaskGames.ca website where people can access that. The stream is free for everyone so if you can’t make it to Lloydminster to see it in person, there’s an opportunity to follow it at home.”