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By Sam Laskaris
Windspeaker Contributor
TORONTO
It’s almost showtime.
After more than two years of planning, organizers are pretty much ready to kick off the 2017 North American Indigenous Games (NAIG).
The multi-sport event will commence on Sunday with the Games’ opening ceremonies, which will be held at the Aviva Centre, located at Toronto’s York University.
The Games, which will continue until July 23, will be staged throughout Toronto and various other nearby communities.
About 5,000 athletes and coaches will be participating in the Games, featuring competitors ages 19 and under.
NAIG CEO Marcia Trudeau-Bomberry said organizers have been working overtime recently putting together final touches.
“We’ve been putting in a lot of long hours and long days lately,” she said.
The Games’ organizing committee includes 15 full-time staff members. Several interns and summer students have also been brought on board to assist with various duties.
The NAIG Council awarded Toronto this year’s Games back in June of 2015.
This will mark the ninth time that the Games have been held. The inaugural NAIG were staged in 1990 in Edmonton.
There has been no set number of years between Games. At times there has been just two years between Games while another time it took six years.
The last NAIG was in Regina in 2014.
The Games have primarily been held in Canada. They have only been held south of the border twice. That was back in 1995 in the Minnesota city of Blaine and then again in 2006 in Denver.
Representatives from 26 contingents are eligible to take part in the Games. This includes reps from all 13 Canadian provinces or territories as well as 13 American states.
All of the eligible Canadian contingents will be represented at this year’s Games. And nine of the American states will be sending athletes.
Participating states are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Maine, Minnesota, New York, Washington and Wisconsin.
Though the start of the Games is a mere days away, organizers cannot start relaxing quite yet.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done,” Trudeau-Bomberry said during a Wednesday evening interview.
“Some of the delegations are starting to arrive.”
Athletes will be competing in a total of 14 sports. They are archery, athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, canoeing/kayaking, golf, lacrosse, rifle shooting, soccer, softball, swimming, volleyball and wrestling.
Since all of the events are open to the public and there is no admission charge, Trudeau-Bomberry said it is impossible to speculate how many people will show up to watch.
“We hope there will be a good turnout in the communities we’ll be having the different sports in,” she said.
The only Games’ event that does have an admission fee will be the opening ceremonies. Tickets cost $50 per person for those members of the public who wish to attend.
Renowned Indigenous artist Santee Smith, a choreographer/dancer/singer, will be leading the opening ceremony program.
A week-long cultural festival will also be held in conjunction with the Games. This festival will be held in two locations; York University and Hamilton’s McMaster University.
Among those who will be performing are Midnight Shine, Tanya Tagaq, Digging Roots and Crystal Shawanda.
The Games will be utilizing a number of the venues which were also used during the 2015 Pan American Games.
Trudeau-Bomberry is confident the events will be well received.
For example, she expects lacrosse matches to be very well attended. The lacrosse competition will be held at three venues.
One site will be the popular Iroquois Lacrosse Arena, a year-round lacrosse facility in Hagersville which is the home of various successful Six Nations clubs.
Games will also be held at the Gaylord Powless Arena in Ohsweken and the Harry Howell Arena in Hamilton.
Though boys’ lacrosse has been included in the NAIG before, this will mark the first time girls’ lacrosse has been included in the Games.
Trudeau-Bomberry said various Games’ officials, including herself, will be on hand at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena on Monday as the girls’ lacrosse competition begins.
“That will be something we will be at,” Trudeau-Bomberry said of Games’ organizers. “I’ll be there to recognize the significance of that.”
Five Canadian provinces are entering squads in the girls’ lacrosse competition, which will feature an under-19 category. Entrants are British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan and the Quebec-based club called Eastern Door and the North.
Trudeau-Bomberry is also eager to see other competitions draw big crowds.
“All of the sports are pretty popular,” she said. “I’m hoping we get a good turnout.”