Organizers and a dedicated group of volunteers are once again ready for the NWT Track and Field Championships, set for June 6 to June 8 in Hay River.
JJ Hirst, one of two co-ordinators for the championships, said last week that close to 300 volunteers had come forward to help, and he expects that number to increase as the event begins and the excitement grows.
"People have interest in it, whether as a participant or you have children in it or you're involved yourself," said Hirst. "There's real interest in the community. If you've been here for a while, you've probably had something to do with track and field. And people like to be a part of it."
Tim Borchuk, the other co-ordinator for the championships, said everyone has their own reasons for volunteering.
"Myself, it's part of the community and I'm part of this community, too," he said. "It's something that we've been doing for 28 years and it's something that I want to see continue."
Borchuk has been a co-ordinator for about 20 years, while Hirst has been a volunteer for about last 15 years, after having competed in the first championships in Hay River in 1991.
The co-ordinators had been a bit concerned that the Arctic Winter Games in March might have had an impact on the number of volunteers this year for the NWT Track and Field Championships.
"Absolutely," said Borchuk. "Arctic Winter Games, that's a big feat to pull off. It's not one or two days. It's a full week of volunteering, so you always worry about that."
In fact, he noted he and Hirst also volunteered for the Arctic Winter Games.
"So thank God we've been doing this for so long that people know it's coming and they prepare for it," he said of the NWT Track and Field Championships.
Borchuk said he and Hirst start planning for the championships early in the year.
"JJ and I sit down in February and we talk about what we need to do this year as far as large projects or small projects, about the problems that we ran into last year and we try to solve them for this year," he said.
Borchuk believes they actually have the easiest jobs, because committees look after various aspects of the event and the leadership of those committees have been involved for many years.
"If they run into problems, they just come and see us," said Borchuk.
"We just check in with them and they have their own job and they take care of it," said Hirst. "They make sure it happens. So we just assist. If you need anything, what can we do to help? Other than that, everyone takes care of themselves."
That's not to say the two co-ordinators don't stay busy, aside from waiting to solve problems.
On June 2, Borchuk and Hirst were laying out the field at Diamond Jenness Secondary School for the championships. That only seems appropriate since Borchuk is vice-principal of the school and Hirst is a teacher there.
"We take a little bit of ownership on it," said Borchuk. "Like laying out the field and making sure it all starts up good. This is the easiest part. It's all the organizing that goes on behind the scenes – the awards, the volunteers, accommodations, food. Those are the big jobs."
One of the volunteers is Mark Horton, who was helping with the field set-up on June 2.
"This is definitely an important, long-standing event," he said of the championships. "It definitely brings a lot of people together. Obviously a lot of volunteers."
Horton noted that his daughter Skylar Horton participated as an athlete in the NWT Track and Field Championships and just finished five years of competing at the University of Calgary in long jump and triple jump.
"This event I think helped a lot of kids get their start," he said. "It's a big deal. It's a large event, a territorial championship. Our daughter and a lot of other athletes got their start here."
Teams from over 30 schools are expected at the championships this year, about the same as last year.
In all, over 1,150 athletes are expected to participate from all over the NWT.