Manitoba’s top young winter athletes have gathered in Thompson for a weeklong competition.

The Manitoba Winter Games began Sunday. They’re the province’s largest winter multi-sport event, taking place every four years on an Olympic timetable. They’re also the first such Games to be held in eight years. The 2022 event in Niverville was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Athletes are split into six teams — north, east, south and west, with two from Winnipeg. Between athletes, coaches, officials and family members, organizers are planning for more than 1,000 people to come to Thompson this week.

The events are split into two clusters. The first, featuring alpine skiing, archery, male and female curling, gymnastics, male hockey and ringette, runs from March 2-4. The second, featuring badminton, cross-country skiing, mixed doubles curling, figure skating, futsal, female hockey, speed skating and wrestling, will happen March 5-7.

“I’m excited to bring people to our community to showcase the north. A lot of these people have never been to Thompson before,” said co-executive director Cristy Andres, whose son Brock is suiting up for Team North in the male hockey event.

“We have some beautiful facilities here and some amazing people that are going to welcome our guests into the community. I’m just excited.”

Event executive director Todd Harwood has a past with the Manitoba Games. He took part as an athlete in 1994, when Thompson hosted the Games for the first time, and represented Team North in badminton. He has worked with Team North at other events since and was an organizer during the 2018 event, which Thompson also hosted.

“I’ve kind of been a Games junkie,” Harwood said.

“There is an energy of being part of the Games — not just from the kids. I think, obviously, the kids drive the energy, but … I get excited about it. It’s hard to explain. I think you have to come and experience it.”

New sport set to kick off

Futsal, a fast-paced form of indoor soccer, is making its debut in the Games. The futsal Team North athletes from Thompson are eager to play in their hometown.

“In my high school soccer team, we played players from a different city, far away, and it was a pretty fun experience. I got to play against people. I got to learn what to do. And I want to play other people from other places. It’s going to be fun,” Khai Nguyen, one of the Team North players, said.

“I feel like I’m going to meet some new people, and it’s going to be pretty fun. It’s probably the most packed I’ve ever seen Thompson in a while,” teammate Landon Able said.

Futsal coach Nuno Pereira said this is his first involvement with the event and that he is proud to take part.

“I’m very honoured to be part of a first, and I know that the kids that we chose for the team, they’re very excited to be the first as well,” he said.

The logistics behind the event are complicated. Most of the athletes will be staying at schools, where some classrooms have been transformed into athlete dormitories. Hundreds of volunteers are needed to host the event smoothly.

“How do we pull it off? A lot of planning, a lot of support from the community,” Harold Smith, the event’s co-chair of athlete services and logistics, said.

“We’ve got a tremendous number of volunteers who have stepped up and are going to be here to help us convert those schools into dorms for the athletes and the coaches.”

The push for volunteers came down to the final days before the opening ceremonies. Organizers said they were still in need of people to help out even a week before the event started, but enough came forward. Smith said most people or local businesses were eager to help out when asked.

“The last couple of weeks in particular, when we found that we needed something, whether we talked to an individual, talked to a local business, all they came back with was, ‘What do you need? How can I help you?'” Smith said.

Harwood said the goal of the event is both to provide young athletes with a place to compete at their best and to show people from across the province what northern Manitoba has to offer.

“From my experience in 2018, we had so many people come here, and we were able to change hearts and minds about Thompson,” he said.

“People come to see our facilities. They’re top-notch, and you’re treated like gold when you’re here.”