The Western Canada Summer Games is no longer in the shadows of the Canada Summer Games and that was obvious late last month.
More than 70 young players from around the territory converged on the capital for NWT Soccer's Western Canada Summer Games selection camp, which wrapped up on July 3. It was nearly a full week's worth of work for those looking to nail down a spot on either the boys and girls teams that will head to Swift Current, Sask., next summer for the Games.
AJ Camsell of Behchoko stops one from point blank range during the opening day of NWT Soccer's Western Canada Summer Games selection camp in Yellowknife on June 30.
One of those players was AJ Camsell of Behchoko, who was looking to become one of the goalkeepers on the boys team.
He said day one on June 30 was a tough one.
“I faced some pretty hard shots out there,” he said. “I like the hard shots right off the bat because it gets you into the action quick.”
Head coaches Isaac Ayiku for the boys and Gina Michel for the girls put the players through the wringer over the course of the entire camp with no let-up at all.
Camsell said he liked that.
“That's what they said they were going to do,” he said. “They were going to keep us moving.”
Camsell played in the Arctic Winter Games this past March in Hay River with the juvenile boys team as the starting goalkeeper. That, however, was indoor futsal, and the Western Canada Summer Games will be outdoor soccer but there's one thing he was planning to bring from his AWG time to the camp.
“Play hard and respect your teammates,” he said.
Like Camsell, some of those who tried out have had experience playing at the Arctic Winter Games but even though some were good enough to make those AWG teams, Ayiku said there are no free passes to Swift Current and it's a clean slate with no favourites or any sort of preconceived notions.
“We toss everything from the past out the window,” he said. “It's been a while since we've seen any of these players and some we don't know a lot about so the main thing is a year has gone by since their last big tryout and a lot can happen in their development in a year. The best thing we decided upon was just let them go out and everyone starts fresh.”
It's all about trusting what you've got because it's a tryout, he added.
“Whoever performs and shows they can play the game will be worthy to be picked,” he said. “I, or any of the other coaches for that matter, don't play the game of having players selected before the camp. What you've done in the past doesn't matter here.”
In past years, the Western Canada Summer Games served as a developmental tool for the Canada Summer Games but that's all changed now. The Western Games are a stand-alone event and there's a two-year cycle in place to help get the teams ready for 2019.
“The Westerns are a major games now,” said Ayiku. “The Canada Games program is no longer affiliated with the Western Canada Summer Games so it's not so much using players from this to help with Canada Games. We treat Westerns as a separate program now and it's separate from the Canada Games selection.”
Because next year will be year two of the preparation, the plan is to take the boys to a tournament in Ventura, California where they'll get a different style of training and development in time for the Western Games.
Even though it was a long layoff from the winter, Ayiku said he liked what he saw from his players and they're willing to fight for their spots.
“There's a lot of real good skilled players out there and it's exciting,” he said.