The Bulkley Valley has quite a crew headed to this year’s version of the BC Summer Games: 26 young athletes are headed to what might be one of the biggest events of their lives so far.
The Games will be held in Cowichan and area from July 19 to 22. Over 3,000 young emerging talents from all over B.C. have been selected by their various regions to participate in a wide variety of sports.
The 18 sports in the games have been selected because they are considered to be core sports and fit well into the long-term athlete development model. They help a focus of excellence as well as skills that the athletes can carry with them for their entire lives.
The sports tend to have slightly lower age categories. For example, in athletics (track and field) the age class is 14-15, while girls rugby is under 17.
According to the games information, their purpose is, “To provide an opportunity for the development of athletes, coaches, and officials in preparation for higher levels of competition in a multi-sport event which promotes interest and participation in sport and sporting activities, individual achievement and community development.”
For many of these young athletes it is their first experience in such an event and helps them to understand that even though they might come from a small community, they have the ability to progress to the higher level if they have the desire and they put in the necessary effort.
For the purpose of the games, the province is divided into regions from which representative teams are selected. The local area is part of the North West region.
Following are the local participants and their sports:
Athletics– Tynisha Braker (Smithers adult supervisor), Ngaere Murphy (Smithers adult supervisor) Amber Anderson (Smithers), Gabe Barker (Smithers), Greg Baxter (Smithers), Alexis Dykens (Smithers), Caleb Huntley-Smale (Telkwa), Brady Lachance (Smithers), Sage Murphy (Smithers), Adriana Scott (Smithers), Logan Unruh (Smithers);
Basketball 5 on 5– Kaleigh Ness (Smithers);
Rugby girls– Emse Illes (Telkwa), Nicole Northrup (Smithers), Tieasha Pierre (Smithers);
Sailing– Dylan Parker (Smithers), Blaise Sakac (Smithers);
Soccer– Daniel Lecourt (Smithers), Jesse Monn (Smithers), Noah Remillard (Smithers);
Softball– Savannah Carroll (Telkwa), Janessa Garcia (Smithers), Kaleigh George (Smithers), Autumn McRae (Smithers), Ava Jade Michell (Smithers), Madison Richter (Smithers), Shakira Snakey-Moore (South Hazelton);
Triathlon– Conor Murphy (Telkwa).
