Considering his resume, Whitehorse’s Kieran Halliday was an obvious candidate to lead Team Yukon into the opening ceremonies of the Canada Summer Games in Sherbrooke, Que., this Friday.
It was announced the 17-year-old will be the Yukon team’s flag-bearer during a pep rally at the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre last Friday evening.
“I was really surprised,” said Halliday. “I feel really honoured. It feels great to be representing the team like that.
“I’m really looking forward to having a strong year this year. I’ve been training really hard, so I hopefully I can win a match. That would be fantastic.
“I really want to do my best and represent the Yukon well.”
Experience, versatility and sportsmanship are just a few reasons for his selection.
Sherbrooke will be Halliday’s second Canada Summer Games. Halliday competed in tennis at the 2009 Games in P.E.I., where he produced the very first victory for Team Yukon at the Games.
Halliday is one of just two Yukon athletes who will compete both weeks in Sherbrooke. He will compete in tennis in week one and athletics in week two in Sherbrooke. On the hard court he will play in singles and doubles and on the track he will race in the steeplechase.
“I don’t think the roster is set in stone yet, but I might be doing the 4x400(-metre) relay,” said Halliday.
Not only are the upcoming Games his second Canada Games, they will be his fifth major Games.
The Team Yukon veteran competed in tennis at the 2011 Western Canada Games in Kamloops, B.C.
He also competed in two Arctic Winter Games. He won four gold ulus in snowshoeing at the 2010 Arctics in Grande Prairie, Alta. and three gold ulus in snowshoe biathlon at the 2012 Arctics in Whitehorse. In other words, he has never lost a race at the Arctic Games.
“The Arctics – winning all those gold medals was great,” said Halliday. “It’s nice to give Yukon something back.
“For the Canada Games, it’s nice to be in that high level of competition because not many kids get to go to these things. Being the Yukon, you have lots of opportunity to compete at that super high level. It’s been great. I’ve learned a lot from it.
“I’ve met a lot of great people who I still talk to today.”
The only other multi-sport team member is Whitehorse’s Max Clarke who is on the men’s volleyball team in week one and is on the athletics team for javelin and discus in week two.
The Yukon’s flag-bearer for the closing ceremonies on August 17 will be determined during the two weeks of competition.
Competition begins this Saturday. Week one will include swimming, mountain biking female soccer, male and female volleyball, and tennis.
Team Yukon will compete in 11 sports during the Games, with 97 athletes, 17 coaches, 12 managers and 12 mission staffers.
“There are a lot of younger kids this year, so I hope I can be a good role model for them,” added Halliday.
Team Yukon roster
Athletics
Logan Boehmer
Sam Bonar
Aidan Bradley
Sara Burke-Forsythe
Max Clarke
Kieran Halliday
Karter Kazakoff
Katie Londero
Emily Oettli
Brittany Pearson-Smith
Scott Peterson
Odette Rivard
Anna Rivard
Logan Roots
Brody Smith
Don White (head coach)
Christine Kirk (assistant coach)
Sam Lindsey (manager)
Canoe/Kayak
Andrew Crist
Jason Zrum
Zakaria Mahmoudi (head coach)
Daniel Girouard (manager)
Alfred Berard (technical support)
Golf
Trever Harris
James McGrath
Parker Olson
Jeff Wiggins (head coach)
Gord Zealand (manager)
Female volleyball
Corey Baxter
Julianna Campbell
Heather Clarke
Robyn Fortune
Courtney Greenway
Kelcie Henney
Daria Jordan
Kiana Palamar
Kat Robinson
Anna Smith
Cayley Sparks
Patti Wallingham
Derick Bilodeau (head coach)
Roslyn Tait (assistant coach)
Bonnie Palamar (manager)
Male volleyball
Rob Borud
Max Clarke
Justin Dragoman
Mason Gray
Stephen Grundmanis
Michael Hunter
Jon Koltun
Cody Park
Kieran Small
Albert Spycher
Lowell Tait
Kyle Wallace
Russel Tait (head coach)
Janna Tait (assistant coach)
Tory Wiebe (manager)
Mountain biking
Massey Baker
Veronica Huggard
Andrew Savard
Spencer Skerget
Anthony Delorenzo (head coach)
Ziggy Reimer (manager)
Road cycling
Shea Hoffman
Melanie Tait
Trena Irving (head coach)
Phil Hoffman (manager)
Female soccer
Stephanie Avery
Samantha Burgis
Jenelle Cousins
Emily Dorosz
Camile Galloway
Anna Janowicz
Jaylene Kelly
Megan Lanigan
Lauren Leslie
Carolyn Miller
Hannah Milner
Brittany Milner
Moya Painter
Morgan Paul
Cheyenne Ryan
Chloe Turner-Davis
Emily Wilson
Samantha Wintemute
Charly Kelly (head coach)
River Walton (assistant coach)
Leslie Gomm (manager)
Male soccer
Michael Amirault
Brendyn Gendron
Owen Hedstrom-Langford
Brendan Irish
Colin Kabanak
Dominic Korn
Malcolm Muir
Belgie Nunez-Zuniga
Tristan Olynyk
Axel Riemer
Jonathon Runions
Timber Schroff
Andrew Scoffin
Marten Sealy
Kieran Stacey
Christopher Torgerson
Mike Wintemute
Callum Wood-Ryan
Victor Lavanderos (head coach)
Arnold Hedstrom (assistant coach)
Teresa Banks (manager)
Swimming
Haley Braga
Emily Crist
Taylor Harvey
Ben Janzen
Cassis Lindsay
Dannica Nelson
Isabel Parkkari
Stephanie Dixon (head coach)
Kathy Zrum (assistant coach)
Shereen Hill (AACP)
Spencer Edelman (manager)
Tennis
Gentianne Graham
Aline Halliday
Kieran Halliday
Ewan Halliday
Khang Pham
Alex Roberts
Jan Polivka (head coach)
Stacy Lewis (manager)
Mission staff
Trevor Twardochleb (Chef de Mission)
Marg White (assistant Chef/female volleyball/athletics)
Louis Bouchard (male volleyball/golf)
Kandice Braga (swimming)
Kathy Zrum (canoe/kayak)
Anne Copland (tennis)
Charly Kelly (photography)
Kim King (female soccer)
Sarah Koltun (step student-SARB)
Johnny Nunan (male soccer)
Jesse Reams (road cycling)
Sue Richards (mountain biking)
Contact Tom Patrick at tomp@yukon-news.com