Nunavik pilot program building stronger racers ahead of AWG

Nunavimmiut cross-country skiers navigate a course outside of Kuujjuaq during the regional trials held there last weekend. (PHOTO BY CONOR GODDARD/KRG)

Arnaituk Caron and Mary Pootoo of Salluit pose before competition at regional trials in Kuujjuaq Nov. 28, ahead of the 2016 Arctic Winter Games. Both are taking part in an intensive training program at home in Salluit to prepare them for the competition. (PHOTO BY SARAH ROGERS)

KUUJJUAQ — Whenever this group of about a dozen youth go jogging through their hometown of Salluit, they seem to draw a lot of attention.

People look out their windows; some shout encouragement.

“Sometimes kids come out and run with us,” said 16-year Arnaituk Caron.

Caron is one of 13 young people in the Hudson Strait community who are part of a new intensive cross-country ski and snowshoe program that’s building strong racers and maybe even stronger role models.

Ahead of the 2016 Arctic Winter Games next March, the Kativik Regional Government decided to invest in the region’s cross-country ski program, by hiring coaches to work with young athletes in three communities: Kuujjuaq, Salluit and Kangiqsualujjuaq.

The hope is that, by then, those skiers will have built up the endurance and skills to compete alongside more experienced teams, said Nancianne Grey, who heads the KRG’s recreation department.

“They are a powerhouse,” she told KRG councillors last week at their council meeting in Kuujjuaq.

“We’re going to surprise everyone, especially the Russians.”

A month into the program, students were in Kuujjuaq Nov. 28 and Nov. 29 for regional trials. The top performers from the event will eventually be selected to compete as part of Team Nunavik-Québec at the March games.

Sixteen-year-old Mary Pootoo, also from Salluit, laces up her snowshoes to compete in the 100-metre sprint Nov.28.

Pootoo was already active; she’s been running and snowshoeing for more than a year.

But with a new coach in town, she’s training more often than ever — every day after school plus one day on the weekend.

“It’s fun and it’s healthy,” she said. “And we have a good trainer. He’s helping us a lot.”

Ski coach Félix Guay-Vachon, originally from Quebec’s Gaspé region, arrived in Salluit last month as part of the KRG-led program.

“They’re very strong, very competitive and really good shape,” he said of the group.

“My goal is to bring in the technical skills.”

At the same time, Guay-Vachon can see the interest from younger kids, who “think of these athletes like role models.”

Some of the athletes have even quit smoking since the training routine began, he added.

Of the 27 skiers in Salluit, Kuujjuaq and Kangisualujjuaq taking part in the program, only 16 will be selected to compete in the Arctic Winter Games next year.

But both Pootoo and Caron said they’d keep up with the sport, regardless of whether they make it to the AWG.

With cross-country ski coaches like Guay-Vachon based in Nunavik until March 2016, he said the goal is to spark a community interest in both cross-country skiing and snowshoeing that will stay long after they’re gone.