Poised and ready for Canada Games
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This article was published 27/07/2017 (2456 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
With the 2017 Canada Summer Games kicking off Saturday in Winnipeg, several local athletes from the southeast are as ready as they ever will be for competitions at the 50th anniversary Canada Games.
The first edition of the Canada Games were held in Quebec City in 1967 as they hosted the Winter Games. Alternating every two years between Winter and Summer Games since that inaugural event 50 years ago, the nations eyes will be focussed on Winnipeg over the next two weeks for the 2017 Canada Summer Games.
In all, more than 4,000 participants and 20,000 visitors will converge on Winnipeg for these Games. In addition about 6,000 volunteers have signed up for the event. Host Team Manitoba, a contingent of 330 strong, will include a half dozen participants from the southeast.
Among them are two baseball players, Zach Giesbrecht from Landmark and La Broquerie’s Yanykk Nadeau. Mitchell’s Nick Friesen is a member of the men’s volleyball team while Carson Thompson from Blumenort is competing in mountain biking.
The women’s softball team includes Gill Woodward Ile des Chenes and Oakbank’s Taylor Boughton in women’s volleyball.
And Grunthal’s Caleb Friesen will represent Manitoba in Special Olympics athletics.
Athletes moved into the athlete’s village at the University of Manitoba on Thursday and all will be participating in the Opening Ceremonies Friday at BELL MTS Place. Hundreds of the just arrived athletes from across the country could be spotted at the Winnipeg Blue Bomber game Thursday night, just a short walk from the athletes village.
Officially, the Games run from July 28 to August 13 at venues across the city along with rowing at Kenora and sailing at Gimli.
Winnipeg facilities being utilized for the Games include: athletics at the U of M Stadium; baseball at Whittier Park, Koskie Field and Shaw Park; basketball at the U of W and Canada Games Sport for Life Centre; mountain bike at Bison Butte at Fort Whyte; soccer at Ralph Cantafio Soccer Complex; softball at John Blumberg; triathlon at Birds Hill Provincial Park; beach volleyball at Sargent Park Beach Volleyball Centre; CanoeKayak at Manitoba Canoe and Kayak Centre; road cycling at Birds Hill; criterium at Red River Exhibition Park; golf at Southwood Golf & Country Club; diving and swimming at Pan Am Pool; open water swimming at Birds Hill; tennis at Winnipeg Lawn Tennis Club; volleyball at U of M and Canada Games Sport for Life Centre; and wrestling at Axworthy Health & RecPlex.
Phase one of the Games, which run from July 29 to Aug. 4, will include athletics, baseball, basketball, mountain bike, diving, rowing, sailing, soccer, softball, triathlon and beach volleyball.
Phase two of the Games, which run from Aug. 7 to 13, will include canoe/kayak, road cycling, criterium, golf, soccer, swimming, softball, open water swimming, tennis, volleyball and wrestling.
For athletes like Giesbrecht and Nadeau, the participation in these Games has been a work in progress that has been underway for more than a year, with tryouts, team selections, team-building, practices, workouts, exhibition games, hitting the road for tournaments to locales such as Fargo and Minneapolis, leading up the Games which are now ready to get underway.
For Giesbrecht, competing in the Canada Games in baseball is part of his development in the sport in what he hopes will lead to an opportunity in post-secondary baseball south of border when he graduates from Landmark Collegiate next year.
Over the years, coming from a highly athletic family, he has also competed in volleyball, basketball, hockey and football, but he says as he gets older he sees himself committing more and more to baseball.
If you want to catch Manitoba’s baseball team in action over the next week there will be several opportunities to watch the top 18U baseball players in the country.
Team Manitoba will open competition at the Games vs. Nova Scotia this Saturday as they take on Nova Scotia at 7:00 p.m. at Elmwood’s Koskie Field. They then play two games Sunday at Whittier Park as they face Newfoundland at 1:00 p.m. and New Brunswick at 7:00 p.m. Team Manitoba will then complete the round robin Monday at 7:00 p.m. vs. P.E.I. at Shaw Park and finally Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. vs. Ontario at Elmwood.
Semi-finals and finals will be at Shaw Park with the gold medal game Aug. 4 at 7:00 p.m.
Friesen and the men’s volleyball team will begin play during phase two as they kick-off action on Monday Aug. 7.
Meanwhile, Thompson will be competing in the mountain bike competitions for Team Manitoba at the Bison Butte Mountain Bike Course near Fort Whyte. Among the events he will be competing in is the cross country on Sunday, the relay on Tuesday and the sprint next Thursday.
The Canada Games Festival, which is free and open to the public, will be at The Forks throughout the Games. It will act as a central hub for all spectators, athletes and volunteers and includes daily entertainment on the main stage including some of the top entertainers in the country.