Time to spike it
The next big scholastic sports tournament in the NWT is about to get underway.
Junior Spike It! kicks off tomorrow afternoon at Weledeh and St. Pat's Gymnasiums seeing the first games of the tournament at 4 p.m. The round-robin will finish up on Friday with the playoffs set to begin on Saturday morning. The finals for all six divisions – Grades 6, 7 and 8 boys and girls – are scheduled to begin on Saturday afternoon.
St. Pat's, Weledeh, St. Joe's, Range Lake North, William McDonald, Allain St. Cyr and Mildred Hall will all be in action this weekend as will K'alemi Dene School from Ndilo. They'll be joined by teams from Hay River, Fort Good Hope, Behchoko and Lutsel K'e.
The Grade 6 and 7 divisions will be using a new ball called the Volley-Lite, a lighter ball designed to minimize the impact of a full-sized volleyball.
Recreation in session
It's the biggest time of the year for the NWT Recreation and Parks Association.
It all began yesterday as the association opened its annual conference at the Explorer Hotel that will run through to Friday. Several guest speakers and workshops are planned over the course of the conference with more than 100 people in the recreation field expected to attend, according to the association. The week includes the association's annual general meeting on Thursday, which starts at 10:45 a.m.
The NWTRPA Awards are also happening on Thursday with a start time of 6 p.m. A total of five awards will be handed out, including the Award of Excellence, Innovation Award, Active Elder, the Scott McAdam Youth Leadership Award and the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association Award of Merit.
Rivermen hit the road
The Yukon Rivermen bantam hockey outfit is set to take part in their first set of games this coming weekend in Kelowna, B.C.
The Rivermen will be playing a total of four games against teams from the East Kootenay and Central Okanagan regions starting Friday and going through to Sunday. It's part of a new initiative through BC Hockey, which introduced a zone program with the Okanagan Mainline Amateur Hockey Association last season and was expanded to include Yukon as a zone.
Half of the Rivermen roster is made up of players from Yellowknife and includes Shawn Talbot and R.J. Carr as assistant coaches.