Pearl Lorentzen
Lakeside Leader
Once again, Slave Lake will host Arctic Sports and Dene Games tryouts for Team Alberta North for the Arctic Winter Games. Except for a hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic, this happens every two years.
Tim Horsman from Slave Lake is the contact for Arctic Sports recruitment for Team Alberta North. He’s also going to be at the Games’ in charge of the Alberta snowshoeing and Dene Games teams.
“I got involved in 2004, last minute to coach the Arctic Sports,” says Horsman.
Dene Games and Arctic Sports are traditional games and sports.
These are not games that people play all the time or which have leagues, says Horsman. This makes tryouts cheaper.
Team Alberta North mostly recruits teenagers, but both Dene Games and Arctic Sports have some open athletes, which can be 22.
“The Arctic Sports are not easy,” says Horsman. “We have a minimum standard, which is the starting height (for kicks).”
Youth in gymnastics often do well, he adds.
“Our male categories tend to be lower,” he says. “The open categories are tougher to recruit.”
For Arctic Sports, the categories are open male (born in 2000 or later), open female (born in 2000 or later), male (born in 2005 or later), and female (born in 2005 or later).
At the games, each athlete competes in all sports that are age and gender appropriate. Some sports (Airplane, One Hand Reach, Head Pull and Knuckle Hop) are only done by the open male. One (Arm Pull) is done by the other three.
All four categories of athletes compete in the remaining sports: One Foot Kick, Two Foot High Kick, Knee Jump, Alaskan High Kick, Sledge Jump,and Triple Jump.
As for Dene Games, athletes are chosen based on their performance in the three individual games: Snowsnake, Stick Pull, and Finger Pull, says Horsman.
There are four athletes (and alternates) chosen at the tryouts, because the team games (Pole Push and Hand Games), can only be run with four people. At tryouts, they receive an introduction to the team games.
The Dene Games categories are different than those for Arctic Sports. They are open male (born in 2000 or later), both male and female junior (born in 2004 or later), and juvenile female (born in 2006 or later).
“We’ve (Team Alberta North) done quite well in the past,” says Horsman. “We’ve held our own in these over the years.”
These include “a couple of really good local athletes,” he adds.
The registration deadline is November 18. Athletes try out on November 25 and 26. People need to be there for both days. On Friday night, they fill out forms, read the code of conduct, and are oriented. On Saturday, at 8 a.m. the tryouts start. It wraps on at 5 p.m. or earlier. If not enough athletes are chosen at tryouts, Team Alberta North does some head hunting.
The Arctic Winter Games are in Wood Buffalo (Fort McMurray) on January 26 to February 4, 2023.
To register for tryouts, contact Michelle Deering at 780-422-0779 or michelle.deering@gov.ab.ca.
