“We have everything we need here”

KUUJJUARAAPIK – Running down the main street in Kuujjuaraapik stands an impressive row of sports facilities: an outside hockey-rollerblade rink, indoor swimming pool and triple gymnasium building with a super-sized gym, fully-equipped training room and boxing ring.

Carefully maintained, the community's sports facilities rival the best-equipped physical education complexes in the South.

"We have everything we need here," says one man who often uses the gym.

And thanks to community support and the ingenuity of André Morin, the long-time sports facilities director, the 1,500 residents of Kuujjuaraapik and the neighbouring Cree community of Whapmagoostui use the state-of-the-art sports facilities free of charge, 12 months a year.

"The only thing you have to bring are sports shoes," Morin says.

A variety of sports, such as floor hockey and badminton, are offered year-round. During the summer, there's also golf on a nine-hole course and special activities for kids.

Morin employees four people in the winter and 10 student workers in the summer.

Throughout the year, specialized trainers also come in to help residents with weight programs, boxing and karate.

Within 10 years, Morin would like to see even more sports facilities and a more stable list of programs established in Kuujjuraapik.

He's already planning for basketball courts, a gym expansion and renovation, a transit lodge to house visiting team members and even a soccer playing field covered with synthetic turf.

For the past 28 years Morin has worked closely with the municipality of Kuujjuaraapik to build up its recreation facilities.

This long-term partnership is one reason the sports culture in Kuujjuaraapik has been able to grow and flourish, Morin says.

"There was nothing when I came here," he says.

In 1981, the only gym in town was an unused portion of the airport's aging hangar.

Kuujjuraapik's $3.2 million gym, which opened in 1993, was one of the first that Makivik Corp. built in Nunavik.

Most communities opted for hockey arenas, but Morin and the Kuujjuaraapik's community leaders opted for a gym that would complement the Cree community's indoor hockey arena.

At Morin's invitation, hockey legend Guy Lafleur came to Kuujjuraapik in 1993 to open the 110-foot by 240-foot triple gym.

Although the gym belongs to Inuit side of the community, it didn't take long before Crees began to head across town to use the gym. Today, Inuit use the Cree arena for hockey and Cree and Inuit play together on many sports teams there and at the gym.

Not surprisingly, Kuujjuraapik's sports facilities are often used for regional tournaments, trials and competitions. And Kuujjuaraapik athletes excel in many sports.

Morin's son Scott Tooktoo, 21, plays hockey for a college in the United States. This summer, he's at a hockey camp in Sweden.

In July, a six-week course for aspiring lifeguards starts up at Kuujjuaraapik's indoor swimming pool.

But even residents who aren't looking for a professional sports career or a job in recreation appreciate the sports facilities.

And they like Morin.

As a small girl says good-bye to Morin, she calls him "Dad."