Three way partnership leads to increased participation of Indigenous athletes at BC Winter Games
BC Games Society – The BC Games Society (BCGS), Indigenous Sport, Physical Activity and Recreation Council (ISPARC) and BC Archery Association (BCAA) have come together to expand pathways for Indigenous athletes at the Kamloops 2018 BC Winter Games.
The goal of this partnership is to create increased advancement opportunities for Indigenous athletes to compete at the BC Winter Games to potentially move forward to compete at the North American Indigenous Games and the Canada Winter Games.
“We are proud to partner with ISPARC on this initiative to provide more opportunities for Indigenous athletes to compete at the BC Games. This agreement with Archery is what we hope will be a step towards creating more opportunities with other sports in our BC Winter and BC Summer Games,” said Kelly Mann, President and CEO of the BC Games Society.
In collaboration with ISPARC, BCAA will create an additional eight spots for Indigenous athletes to compete in the sport of archery at the BC Winter Games. ISPARC will assist with the identification and targeting of potential athletes.
“This is an historical step for all of us. The Aboriginal Long-term Participant Development Pathway promotes the need for a more inclusive, welcoming sport system, one that provides increased competitive opportunities for Indigenous athletes. So, we are extremely excited to be partnering to create a unique experience for Indigenous athletes and coaches at the upcoming BC Winter Games. We see this partnership as a model for how we would work together and grow the opportunities for Indigenous athletes and coaches at future BC Games.” said Rick Brant, Executive Director of ISPARC.
All athletes will participate in an archery zone qualification event and will compete in a selected archery equipment category (i.e. barebow, recurve (Olympic style), and compound).
“We are looking forward to further developing the partnership between ISPARC and BCAA and are grateful for the support provided by the BC Winter Games to provide enhanced sport opportunities for the Indigenous community,” added Linda Price, BC Archery Association Provincial Advisor for 2018 BC Winter Games, Athlete Development VP.
Selection events will take place throughout the province in the next month with final teams chosen by mid December.
The BC Winter Games take place February 22-25, 2018 and will include up to 2182 participants from across BC competing in 19 sports. The sport competitions will take place at 11 facilities in Kamloops, Stake Lake, and Sun Peaks Resort.
For more information about the BC Winter Games please visit BCGAMES.ORG.
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Provincial Contact:
Lia Threlfall
Communications Manager
BC Games Society
250-387-4688 (office)
250-812-3887 (mobile)
Bernard Manuel
Provincial Coordinator, Performance Sport
Indigenous Sport, Physical Activity & Recreation Council
Linda Price
Provincial Advisor – 2018 BC Winter Games
BC Archery Association