City officials with North Battleford are over the moon about the announcement last Thursday at the NationsWEST Field House that North Battleford has been awarded the 2018 Saskatchewan Winter Games.
The temptation will be to brag about the Winter Games in every major civic speech for the next two years. But I suggest some humility should be in order. The reality is the hard work is still to come.
The groundwork begins to ensure these games are a success in North Battleford. People know the facilities are there and the volunteers will be there as well.
The challenge is to ensure all events are well run and a good experience for the athletes and the fans and, above all else, to make sure the games don’t run a deficit.
This task won’t be as daunting as it seems, because the Battlefords is going to have plenty of practice in hosting major events over the next couple of years leading up to the games.
Just this week the community hosts the Provincial Snowmobile Festival. Another good trial run will happen this summer when the Battlefords hosts the provincial 55+ games for three days in July.
It’s kind of hard to believe, but the Saskatchewan Winter Games may not even have the most prestigious sporting event announced for the Battlefords last week.
That honour could go to the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling, which announced a few days before that its Saskatchewan event for the coming season, the Canadian Open, will be in North Battleford in January 2017.
The competition is international, with male and female curlers from places like Scotland, Sweden, Norway and the United States all competing.
These are household names. To give you an idea of what we are talking about, here are some of the names who competed at the event this past December in Yorkton: Brad Gushue! Steve Laycock! Kevin Koe! Jennifer Jones! Rachel Homan! John Epping!
To give you an idea of the reach these Pinty’s Grand Slam events have, these are shown on Sportsnet right across Canada. Over the past few years I would travel home on plane rides from Las Vegas during the afternoons, and it seemed like half the TVs would be tuned to one of these Grand Slam curling events.
Think about that. Next January, half the people on WestJet will be watching curling from the North Battleford Civic Centre on in-flight TV.
And think of the people who are going to be watching from home, or in bars or from TVs located at their local curling venues. Curling is ridiculously popular in Canada and especially Saskatchewan. This whole province will be tuned in to the Battlefords next year.
I remember flipping channels and finding the Canadian Open curling coverage on Sportsnet last December.
My immediate thought when I saw it was “why is this in Yorkton? If Yorkton is good enough for the Grand Slam of Curling, why shouldn’t we have it in the Battlefords? Why not us?”
No doubt folks at Twin Rivers Curling Club were asking the same question. Now, they’ve done something about it. They must feel pleased and excited today.
Honestly, it must really bug the heck out of local sports people whenever they hear of high-profile sporting events going to places like Yorkton, Swift Current, Kindersley or even Lloydminster.
A while ago Lloydminster hosted Hockey Day in Canada. I was one of the people who went there for it and it really was a major undertaking, with displays and outdoor games set up, and autograph signings by hockey players. It really was a celebration of grassroots hockey.
Now, here is the question I have. Why the heck can’t Hockey Day in Canada be held in the Battlefords? This is a hotbed of hockey activity, not only at the junior A level but with midget and senior teams as well. This would be the perfect place to celebrate the grassroots of hockey on TV.
In fact the rights holders over at Rogers now have Ron MacLean travelling the country doing Hometown Hockey pre-game telecasts from communities across Canada every week. This year, they were down in Swift Current. Surely, the Battlefords would be a perfect venue for something like that.
Anyway, what’s done is done. Lloydminster ended up with Hockey Day in Canada and this year they are hosting the RBC Cup.
They really have had more than their fair share of major sporting events, so for the Battlefords to finally one-up Lloydminster and gain the Saskatchewan Winter Games is huge.
It’s our turn now, and honestly, we’re overdue.
My hope is this is just the start. The folks at the recently revamped Destination Battlefords organization have identified event attraction as a major priority. They spearheaded the Winter Games bid, and their executive director, Ryan Bater, has made it clear they want to put the Battlefords on the big-event map in a big way.
I want to see these folks over there, in partnership with others in the community, go after Hockey Day in Canada and other events that would be a good fit for a community our size.
Here’s an idea for a potential major sporting event that we could have right here in North Battleford later this year. We may not be able to host the 2016 RBC Cup, but there is one other Cup event that is not yet spoken for.
That’s right, folks: we should go after the SJHL’s Canalta Cup finals and host them in North Battleford in 2016!
It would be exciting for the community, and it is sure to attract major and positive media coverage to the Civic Centre. The Battlefords and the Canalta Cup! It sounds good.
Wait a minute. You’re saying we don’t have to put a committee together? We don’t need a site tour? If the Battlefords North Stars keep winning and advance to the league finals, the Canalta Cup finals are here automatically – we don’t need to submit a bid for it?
Wow, that’s easier than I thought.
