Nunavut’s largest team ever heading to Canada Summer Games
More than 60 representatives will head to the Niagara region in August
A referee raises the arm of Sandy Saviakjuk of Coral Harbour, one of three wrestlers from Nunavut at the 2013 Canada Summer Games. The 2022 Games will be held in the Niagara Region from August 6 to 22, where Nunavut’s largest team ever will compete in wrestling, beach volleyball and indoor volleyball. (Photo courtesy of Team Nunavut)
Nunavut will send its largest delegation ever to the Canada Summer Games after the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the event by one year.
Community and Government Services Minister David Joanasie announced Monday that up to 65 representatives, including athletes, coaches, youth ambassadors and support staff, will attend the games in the Niagara region of Ontario from August 6 to 22.
The Canada Games, which host summer and winter editions, are considered to be the highest level of competition available for amateur athletes in Canada. The last summer games took place in 2017 in Winnipeg.
Joanaise said this year’s delegation from Nunavut will include the new team additions of beach volleyball and indoor volleyball. Team Nunavut only sent a wrestling team to the previous Canada Summer Games.
Joanasie said the debut of volleyball teams “reflects the development in the Nunavut sport sector.”
The Canada Summer Games were originally scheduled for August 2021, but organizers decided to hold off on the event due to ongoing concerns around COVID-19.
“After two years of limited competition and travel opportunities due to the public health measures in place, I have no doubt this will be a very exciting debut of Team Nunavut and encourage all Nunavummiut to follow along and cheer on our athletes from afar,” Joanasie said.
The sport and recreation division of the Department of Community and Government Services co-ordinates Team Nunavut’s participation in major games programs like the Arctic Winter Games, Canada Games, North American Indigenous Games, and the Western Canada Summer Games.
Where in God’s green earth do they play beach volleyball in Nunavut? Joanessie and Sport Nunavut do realize that the sport is played by a team of two outdoors in sand right? Not exactly the same as 5 folks punting a volleyball around inside a gym. I see an embarrassment on the horizon!
Why not Apex beach?
Shame on you for calling us embarrassing, I for one is very proud of our athletes and I am sure they will absolutely stand up do their best. This reminds me of the movie Cool Runnings 🙂
I am proud of the athletes as well but have issues with Sport Nunavut. Asking athletes to compete at a very high level in a sport they have never tried before is not a recipe for success. I was a semi-professional beach volleyball player for many years and the sport is as different from indoor volleyball as grass hockey is to ice hockey! They will be facing teams that have the opportunity to play competitively year round and getting repeatedly humiliated is not fun!
good luck and have fun!
Sports and Sportmanship
It is more about participating over winning!!! I’m sure many Olympians lost a lot of events before achieving their highest results!! Let them try at the very least, that in itself is success!!! Just ask the former members of the Iqaluit women’s broomball team!!!!