In just four days, Estevan will host the 2016 Saskatchewan Summer Games.
And Team Prairie Central took the time to get their athletes ready and excited for the games at their pep rally in Lanigan on Jul. 14.
From Jul. 24-30, 9 districts will send athletes to compete in 13 sports, including baseball, basketball, swimming, tennis, volleyball, and soccer just to name a few.
This year, Team Prairie Central will send over 200 athletes, 24 from Humboldt and 56 from the surrounding area, as well as coaches and managers to the games.
Stephanie Cuddington with Prairie Central was very excited to be leading the Prairie Central team.
The pep rally is almost bigger than the games, says Cuddington.
“You bring the team together and they get their outfits and you talk about the games and you’ve done all the prep work for the night because it’s huge.”
Cuddington says that whether the athletes bring home medals, finish with personal bests, or just make tons of new memories and have a good time, the district is proud of them nonetheless.
For some athletes, this is as far as they will go in their sport while some may go onto bigger and better things, says Cuddington. For most athletes, this is their Olympics.
“I believe in the games. I believe in what it does for the athletes, what it does for the coaches...and the pulling together of community spirit.”
Cuddington was an athlete herself and has a lot of great memories of meeting new people and people supporting and cheering for her.
Brian Smith with the Estevan organizing committee says they are really excited to give athletes this opportunity.
These games are three years in the making and for some athletes, this is a brand new experience.
“Some of them have had previous Games experience but a lot of them, they’ve never done this before. So this is going to be a big, memorable event for them.”
For some athletes this will also mean getting the full team experience by staying in the athletes village with fellow teammates instead of parents.
Smith says that they have had a great volunteer base so getting the city ready for the games was easy. With the games coming, Estevan did fundraise to get a new athletic track for the games.
Smith knows the athletes are ready to have some fun. It is not all about competing, says Smith.
Included in the games will be an opening and closing ceremonies with a torch relay, dances, cultural events, and games and activities in the athletes village.
Smith says he hopes athletes walk away from the games knowing they did their best and had a great time at the competition.
Good luck to all the Prairie Central and fellow Lakeland local athletes who held their pep rally on Jul. 15 in Prince Albert.
