Humboldt's bid for the 2016 Saskatchewan Summer Games has ended in disappointment. On Nov. 26 the Saskatchewan Games Council announced that Estevan had won the right to host the 2016 Games, beating out Humboldt, Swift Current and Melfort.
"The community's existing sport facilities coupled with planned upgrades and new construction will provide a legacy of sport development opportunities in the community," Larry Lafrentz, the Games Council's Site Evaluation chairman, said in a release.
Humboldt city council launched their bid in September, hoping to bring the summer games to the area for the first time ever. (Humboldt hosted the winter games in 2002).
"We were happy with our site evaluation and confident that we were a top contender," said Mike Ulriksen, events and conference manager for the city. "I was kind of surprised Estevan won, to be honest. I hadn't heard too much about their bid."
"We put a lot of work into it so it's disappointing not to win but there is a value in going through the process. We've learned what we need to do going forward," Ulriksen added.
Infrastructure improvements that needed to be made included an upgrade to the track at Glenn Hall Park, along with improvements to soccer fields, ball diamonds and canoe/kayak facilities. The exact reasons as to why Humboldt didn't get the bid weren't immediately clear, as Ulriksen said he hadn't spoken to members of the Saskatchewan Games Council yet.
Ulriksen said the combined Uniplex-high school complex and Glenn Hall Park and the new public school facilities were impressive to representatives of the Saskatchewan Games Council.
"Ninety per cent of our activities would have been held at one of those two locations, so they were happy with that," he said. There was also an issue of timing, though Ulriksen said he was confident the city would have finished all infrastructure projects in time for the July 2016 Games. There was also a positive response from members of the community.
"People were excited from what I heard," Ulriksen said. "They were excited about the facility upgrades and about bringing so many people to town."
According to the Saskatchewan Games Council, the 2016 Games are expected to include over 2,000 athletes, managers and coaches in 16 different sports. The event will also require the help of nearly 1,500 volunteers.
Compared to the process in awarding the 2012 Games to Meadow Lake, this round was much more competitive.
"Meadow Lake basically had to be asked to host in 2012," Ulriksen said. "This time there were eight communities that stepped up right away."
Despite the disappointment of missing out on the Games, Ulriksen sounded a positive tone when looking to the future. The next Summer Games up for bid will be held in 2020.
"We don't want to shut the door to anything," he said. "There are major benefits to hosting an event like that. It's something we'd look at sooner rather than later."
