The NWT’s annual track and field championships begin in Hay River on Wednesday with more than 1,000 students registered to compete.
That figure is up by more than 100 on the number of athletes who registered for last year’s championships, which were the first to take place since 2019 after years of pandemic and disaster-related cancellations.
Greg Skauge is the department head of physical education at Yellowknife’s École Sir John Franklin High School. He said school sports have been “trending,” especially coming out of the past few years of fire evacuations and floods.
“It’s kind-of a highlight trip of the year,” Skauge told Cabin Radio during a phone interview.
“Most of the major tournaments of the year happen here in town. So for them to get this opportunity to travel, and for so many of them to travel, they’re looking forward to the fun experience.”
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Sir John Franklin will send 64 high school students this year, 12 to 15 more than last year, Skauge said.
Adam Clinton and Annabella Churchill are graduating students at Sir John Franklin who will take part in Track and Field this year.
“Last year I went and you could definitely tell that there weren’t as many people there as there used to be, just because a lot of kids had never really experienced it,” said Clinton, referring to the event’s four-year hiatus.
“But this year I know there’s a lot more people going, and it’s kind-of starting to pick back up.”
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Churchill, a competitive gymnast, said she is excited to test her skills in a new event at this year’s Track and Field – the triple jump.
“I think my favourite [category] is jumping, and then specifically long jump, only it is pretty different than anything I normally do,” said Churchill. “I use my body in ways I don’t normally, and it’s just kind-of fun to see how far you can jump.”
Skauge said he is glad the students have a chance to spend time outside the classroom in the warming weather.
“It’s always great when they get a chance to compete against other kids their own age and also from around the Territories,” said Skauge.
“They get a better gauge of really what kind of athlete they are. I think that whether they’re going down to get the experience or they’re going down to challenge whether they are the best in the territory, in both cases, the kids seem to have a really excited, fun feel about them right now.”
Track and Field kicks off on Wednesday at 1pm with the first event being the 19U/20+ girls’ long jump.
