Let the Games begin!
Following months of preparation, 116 athletes Team Yukon athletes will compete at the 2017 Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg July 28 to Aug. 13.
Dawson City’s Jack Amos will be Team Yukon’s flag-bearer at the opening ceremony tonight. The 16-year-old athletics competitor will compete in the 1,500- and 5,000-metre events on the track.
Amos won two gold in track at the Jack Brow Memorial Track and Field Meet earlier this month in Kelowna, B.C. and gold in the 3,000-metre at the Alberta Indoor Track and Field Championships in March. He also captured three medals for Yukon in snowshoeing at the 2016 Arctic Winter Games and won the midget male title at the 2016 B.C. Cross Country Championships.
“There were a few people’s names put forward and we thought Jack would ultimately be the best candidate based on all his accomplishments this year,” said Yukon Chef de Mission Trevor Twardochleb. “The fact that Athletics (Yukon) nominated him speaks volumes on his leadership. The fact that he’s also from Dawson City and shows a real commitment to his sport and to giving back to his sport … and he seems like just a nice young man, I think it’ll be a big honour for him and for us for him to carry in our flag.”
Highlighting the depth of Yukon talent are five Yukon athletes who will compete both weeks of the Games in two different sports.
Jayden Demchuk, Peyton Twardochleb and Alice Frost-Hanberg will compete in soccer the first week and volleyball the second. As if two sports were not enough, Frost-Hanberg won a bronze in canoe racing at the North American Indigenous Games last week in Toronto.
Jetta Bilsky will compete in basketball and volleyball, and James Russell in athletics and soccer.
“They’re all very prepared, they’ve been working extremely hard this whole summer,” said Team Yukon assistant Chef de Mission Tracey Bilsky. “We have a few two-sport athletes…. The fact that we have athletes who can train for two different sports for Canada Games shows some major commitment.”
Unlike the 2013 Games, Yukon will not be represented in tennis and golf, but will be in beach volleyball for the first time. Max Clarke and Benjamin Grundmanis, who played beach volleyball at the 2015 Western Canada Summer Games, will hit the sand next week.
“These are the same two, which is fantastic because they have that experience from westerns,” said Tracey, who is also executive director of Sport Yukon. “They’re two years older, and stronger, and we were thrilled that they want to represent us again.”
Yukon was represented in canoe/kayak for the first time at the 2013 Games in Sherbrooke, Que., by two paddlers. This time there are seven.
“That shows the growth of that association,” said Tracey. “Flatwater Yukon (coach) Dan Girouard has done a fantastic job recruiting kids. He’s really built that program. They have lots of athletes and it’s nice to see them showcased at the Canada Games.
“They don’t compete the first week, they compete the second, but they’re going down tomorrow (Friday) so they can train in Winnipeg to be ready.”
Team Yukon also includes 19 coaches, nine managers, six mission staff, two technical support staff, one athlete assistant, one Chef de Mission and one assistant Chef de Mission, as well as a photographer and communications person.
There are 116 athletes on Team Yukon, but there’ll be 117 Yukoners competing in Winnipeg, at last count. Whitehorse’s Tomas Jirousek, who has rowed for McGill University for the past couple seasons, will row for Team Quebec in the first week of the Games. He was asked to tryout for the team after being spotted at a regatta while rowing for McGill.
Yukon didn’t win a single medal at the 2013 Games in Sherbrooke, but won four at the 2009 Games in P.E.I. with two bronze and two gold — the territory’s first-ever gold at the Summer Games — won by swimmer Alexandra Gabor.
Contact Tom Patrick at tomp@yukon-news.com
Athletics
Jack Amos
Jamie Duke
Camille Galloway
Alysha Gullison
Kieran Halliday
Brahm Hyde
Dominic Korn
Kate Londero
Darby McIntyre
Joe Parker
James Russell
Hannah Shier
Kuduat Shorty-Henyu
Coach — Kristen Johnston
Coach — Lisa-Marie Vowk
Coach — Don White
Manager — Aidan Bradley
Athlete assistant — Jerome McIntyre
Basketball (female)
McKenzie Amundson-Briggs
Jetta Bilsky
Maren Bilsky
Landyn Blisner
Sheridan Curteanu
Sammy Demchuk
Emily Johnson
Dylan Massie
Dannica Nelson
Maggie O’Conner Brook
Krysha Rubio
Nila Stinson
Coach — Tyler Bradford
Coach —Diedre Davidson
Manager — Claire Abbott
Basketball (male)
Ralph Hermosa
Ryan Hindson
Joshua Kearney
Will Klassen
Dave Mindanao
Ian New
Wyatt Peterson
Josh Rumbaoa
Chris Sabio
Patrick Tesoro
Grayson Turner
Chad Williams
Coach —Tim Brady
Coach —Mark Hureau
Manager — Zachary Giczi
Canoe/kayak
Savannah Cash
Emily Crist
Julianne Girouard
Maeve McManus
Rogan Parry
Cole Wilkie-Hobus
Danica Wilkie-Hobus
Coach — Dan Girouard
Manager — Kim Hobus
Technical support —Fearghus Vincent
Road cycling
David Jackson
Coach —Trena Irving
Technical support —Dean Eyre
Soccer (female)
Reena Coyne
Jayden Demchuk
Maggie Fekete
Alice Frost-Hanberg
Malorie Hanson
Jamie Joe-Hudson
Tyra Jones
Jenika Lindley
Taliya Lindley
Mary Londero
Samantha Ng
Abby Rich
Bayly Scoffin
Jasmine Sealy
Dana Sellars
Peyton Twardochleb
Charlotte van Randen
Kamryn Williamson
Coach — Jake Hanson
Coach — Carmen Lindsay
Manager — Sarah Hanson
Soccer (male)
Cody Amaral
Marek Boulerice
Skyler Bryant
Ewan Campbell
Jake Charlton
Alvaro Diaz Vega
Rhys Faragher
Ewan Halliday
Matthias Hoenisch
Sahcho Jack
Ben Kishchuk
Simon Kishchuk
Carl Knickle
Felix Maltais
Tyler Milton
James Russell
Ethan Vanderkley
Dawson Weir
Coach — Edgar Musonda
Coach — Marten Sealy
Manager — Paul Kishchuk
Swimming
Thomas Bakica
Emma Boyd
Cassidy Cairns
Kassua Dreyer
Aidan Harvey
Hannah Kingscote
Rennes Lindsay
Brooklyn Massie
Alex Petriw
Ella Shepherd
Coach — Malwina Bukszowana
Manager — Douglas Petriw
Volleyball (female)
Jetta Bilsky
Thea Carey
Jayden Demchuk
Alice Frost-Hanberg
Skye Hanson
Sarah Hardie
Katelyn Holway
Mykhaila McInroy
Kendra Peters
Peyton Twardochleb
Katie Vowk
Caelon Workman
Coach — Melissa Laluk
Coach — Caroline Holway
Manager — Grainne Workman
Volleyball (male)
Leo Bardubitzki
Griffin Bisson
Brendan Cabardo-Atkin
Seth Carey
CeeJay Dumadag
Austin Hayduck
Quinn Howard
Austin Shaw
Arcel Siosan
Manas Toews
Zach Zimmermann
Coach — D’Arcy Hill
Coach — Marc Senecal
Manager — Mike Toews
Beach volleyball
Max Clarke
Benjamin Grundmanis
Coach — Matthew Taylor
Mission Staff
Samantha Burgis
Marie Cairns
Diana Dryburgh
Helen Anne Girouard
Sarah Lewis
Jenny Pope
Sue Richards
Lisa-Marie Vowk
Chef de Mission — Trevor Twardochleb
Assistant Chef de Mission — Tracey Bilsky