Photo: Nunavut’s first artificial turf soccer field

Top soccer teams from around Nunavut played their heart out this past weekend on Kugluktuk’s new artificial green turf. The territorial tournament brought together the top three teams for boys and girls, with the two winning teams in both categories playing two-game matches on Sunday. After the combined scores of the two matches were tallied up, the Kivalliq boys and the Kitikmeot girls were the winners, with the Kitikmeot girls’ team winning in an overtime shoot-out to win 4-2 over the Kivalliq team. The $170,000 turf? Awesome to play on, according to players and coaches. But now that the regional soccer tournament is over, it’s time for Kugluktuk to make way for ice hockey. The arena’s turf will be rolled up into 16 sections and stored for use next year.(PHOTO BY VANESSA MOSEK)