"Pioneers of sport."
That's the theme for the 2014 Saskatchewan Senior Fitness Association (SSFA) +55 Games.
Kind of fitting it'll be here in Humboldt, the hometown of iconic hockey goaltender Glenn Hall, track superstar Brianne Theisen-Eaton, bobsledder Lyndon Rush and a bevy of other notable professional athletes.
The Games are put on every two years as part of the association's mission to "promote active living, wellness and participation among our province's seniors." In the off-season, tournaments are held in the province's nine districts to determine qualifiers for the following year's provincial and then national games.
The 2012 provincial games were held in Saskatoon and it was in the spring of that year that the local +55 Games committee was formed, after it was announced that Humboldt had won their bid as host city for the 2014 provincial games.
"The [SSFA] had visited our senior centre in 2011 to promote the organization and talk about the Games," said Marguerite Cunningham, co-chair of the committee. "Darrell [Lessmeister, director of community and leisure services] asked me and a bunch of senior board members if we'd be interesting in being the next host city."
About five members of the board were encouraged by it, Cunningham said.
Since then, a few of those members are no longer on the board but the +55 Games committee was formed to include, along with Cunningham, co-chair Agnes Pratchler, vice chairperson Larry Sunderland, special event and registration coordinators Cori Norman and Samantha Handke, special event manager for community and leisure services Mike Ulrikson, committee member at large Carol Hoffos, and Lessmeister.
And it's a stronghold.
The committee has already held a few meetings and it seems the planning is more than well underway.
The Games will be held in Humboldt July 8-10, with the opening and closing ceremonies and lighting of the torch at the Uniplex, complete with speeches from politicians, dignitaries and the president of the SSFA.
Certain events like curling will be held earlier in the year when the ice surface is still intact and other events that the city is not equipped to host, like tennis, will be held in nearby regions like Saskatoon.
But the bulk of the 22 different sports will be in Humboldt, and the turnout is expected to be great.
The committee is currently in the midst of reserving two large tour buses for family members and non-participants attending the Games who "need something to do" said Cunningham.
Plans are for two different tours to select from, one being historically themed, the other cultural.
Guest VIPs, like MLAs, MPs and other distinguished visitors, will have transportation to and from the events; the committee is currently looking into local dealerships to provide a van.
In the meantime, the group is working on putting a local, unique stamp on the Games, like having Humboldt's three elementary schools craft murals and placemats to be featured at the tournament, and are looking for local companies or businesses who'd like to sponsor certain events at the Games.
As for right now, the committee definitely has its ducks in a row but needs help from the community for other things, aside from sponsors.
And that's volunteers.
The committee estimates that they'll need about 125 volunteers to help out during the three-day event, especially given the popularity of the Games, although they won't know final numbers until the deadline for registration on April 1.
"Volunteers, that's our big need," said Cunningham. "We need as much help from the surrounding community as we can possibly get."
The committee is also looking for people to help coordinate the actual events themselves, which include:
Shuffle board
Tennis and lawn bowling
Floor curling
Cowboy poetry
8 ball pool
Botchie ball
Contract bridge
Crib
Curling
Darts
18 hole golf
Kaiser
Scrabble
Snooker
Pickle ball
Slo pitch
Banked shuffleboard
Speed swimming
Table tennis
Track 'n' field
Whist
The committee will have a booth set up at tomorrow night's city-wide registration at the Uniplex's Jubilee Hall. There will be a sign-up sheet for those wishing to volunteer or help organize one of the sporting events.
For more information or if you're unable to attend the registration night but would like to help out the committee, contact the City of Humboldt's community and leisure services department at 306-682-2597.
