The Rocky View Weekly's sports section was a little more robust than usual in this week's issue, thanks largely to the recent participation of local athletes at the 2023 Canada Winter Games.
The two-week, multi-sporting extravaganza was held in Prince Edward Island (and a few sports in New Brunswick) from Feb. 18 to March 5, and featured 3,600 of Canada's top U20-aged athletes in a variety of winter sports.
Among those competing were a decent number from our coverage areas, including Rocky View County, Airdrie, and Cochrane. Our cohort of local athletes represented the region well, with a few even nabbing places on the podium in their respective sports (see our sports section stories on pages 11, 12, and 15).
The Canada Winter Games are special, considering they are only held every four years. That means for most athletes, they are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Athletes from RVC had a much farther distance to travel this year than they did when Red Deer hosted the Winter Games back in 2019. This year's iteration was held on both Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. The opportunity to see another part of Canada is another, less-thought-about aspect of qualifying for the Winter Games.
The Canada Games are about more than just the spirit of inter-provincial competition. As every athlete we interviewed can attest to, the event is also a highly social environment, with plenty of friend-making and people-meeting going on in between competitions at the Athletes' Village. Pin-trading is almost as competitive as the sports themselves.
On behalf of the Rocky View Weekly, we'd like to congratulate the local athletes who competed to the best of their abilities on Canada's east coast. Well done, everyone!
