2003 Western Canada Summer Games

In August 2003, 60,000 spectators descended on Selkirk to watch the 2003 Western Canada Summer Games. It was the largest event ever hosted within the Interlake. Throughout the planning years and during the 10 days of the event, friendships were formed among volunteers and athletes.

In 1975 the Western Canada Summer Games was established. It was a sporting event for youth in western Canada that occurred every four years. The purpose was to get young athletes ready for national and international sporting competitions. The last Games were held in 2019 and have been suspended until further notice.

In 2003 the Games were held in Manitoba, jointly hosted by Selkirk, Beausejour, Gimli, and Stonewall. The journey to the event was a long one. The budget for the Games was 3.5 million dollars, with 500,000$ donated as in-kind contributions, another 500,000$ donated by corporate sponsors, 2.15 million dollars from three levels of government, and 100,000$ donated by the Lord Selkirk School Division. But in February 2002 the Games still needed another 245,000$. After deliberation the City of Selkirk donated the missing amount (significantly more than the other municipalities) with the condition that 13 out of 18 sporting events be in Selkirk.

Later on, the games were almost cancelled again when not enough people had signed up to be volunteers. Luckily by the time the Games happened there were 3000 volunteers.

The event ran from August 1^st to 10^th. Four provinces (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba) and three territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut) competed, with 2000 coaches and young athletes (13-23 years old). It was Nunavut’s debut in the Games.

The 18 sporting events at the Games were: Archery, Artistic Gymnastics, Rhythmic Gymnastics, Athletics, Badminton, Baseball, Basketball, Cycling (mountain bike and road race), Judo, Paddling (canoe and kayak), Sailing, Soccer, Softball, Synchronized Swimming, Table Tennis, Tennis, Volleyball, and Wrestling.

The event began with opening ceremonies at the Selkirk Stadium, located next to the Lord Selkirk Regional Comprehensive Secondary School. Doris Jones, an archer from Selkirk, brought in the Manitoba Flag. There were cultural performances at the ceremony such as hoop dancing, the Scandinavian Canadian Choir, and Troyanda Ukrainian Dancers. All the events over the ten days were free to attend.

Local talent from Selkirk included Marlee Bragg and Kayla Nielson, who both competed in Athletics. Doris Jones, only 14-year-old, won gold in Archery.

Some of the local events included Cycling, Archery at Selkirk Park and Soccer at Selkirk Recreation Complex. The Athletics events occurred at the Selkirk Stadium Track, built next to the Lord Selkirk Regional Comprehensive Secondary School specially for the event. Tennis, Badminton, and Wrestling all occurred at the high school.

For events outside of Selkirk transportation was provided for the athletes by school busses from the Lord Selkirk School Division.

The high school was also the athlete’s village where the athletes slept and ate their meals. The Games occurred in two phases. For the first 5 days 1000 athletes competed and stayed at the high school. Then for the second 5 days the other 1000 athletes stayed at the school and competed.

Over the 10 days there was live entertainment every evening, with about 2000-3000 people attending each night. The Games boosted the local economy through the influx of tourists. The Games also generated 265,000$ extra dollars which was turned over to Selkirk to establish the Games Legacy Fund. This Fund helps to provide funding for youth sport programs in Selkirk, Beausejour, Gimli, Stonewall, and the Lord Selkirk School Division involving the 18 sports from the 2003 Western Canada Summer Games.

Despite the difficulties of organizing the Games they were successful, with many new visitors to the area, good sporting conduct, and excitement. As a leader from Team Nunavut, Frank Tootoo, said “Seeing the kids interact with kids from other provinces was the best part.”