AWG hockey partnership reportedly worth $800K
Adding hockey to the 2016 Arctic Winter Games in Greenland comes at a price.
Adding hockey to the 2016 Arctic Winter Games in Greenland comes at a price.
Partnering with Iqaluit as a hockey host will cost Greenland $800,000 Cdn, Arctic Winter Games general manager Maliina Abelsen told the Star via email yesterday.
“But that is a lot less than an ice hockey arena,” Abelsen said.
News of the hockey partnership broke last week. Bantam and female hockey were added to the biennial multi-sport tournament after the sport was one of six originally left off the Games’ schedule for 2016.
“Back in 2010, when Greenland signed the agreement ... Greenland planned to build an ice hockey arena,” Abelsen explained.
“But after some investigations, it appeared that it was much more expensive than previously assumed, also taking into consideration that we do not have any ice hockey athletes at the moment.”
Participating hockey teams will reportedly be involved in both the opening and closing ceremonies in Nuuk, Greenland, but will spend the majority of their time in Iqaluit.
Word of the new arrangement came as a surprise to Yukon Amateur Hockey Association (YAHA) treasurer and local coach Martin Lawrie.
“It’s an awesome experience for a hockey player to have an involvement in that multi-sport environment ... (but) does it continue to fit the development model for hockey?” Lawrie wondered.
Timing conflicts with the B.C. provincial championships, and AWG-mandated rule tweaks that see periods reduced to 15 minutes are concerns, Lawrie said.
“The other piece, that’s probably more of a personal thing for me, is the amount of money to provide the experience to those 18 boys or 18 girls,” he said. “I look at it and think, ‘Man, what could we actually provide for these athletes for that money?’”
Lawrie said YAHA was not in on any discussions regarding the recent Arctic Winter Games decision.
“I would have thought that we would have played some role in this,” he said. “Not having played any part of it is concerning for sure.
“For me, this one came out of nowhere.”
Comments (2)
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Martin on Sep 16, 2014 at 3:08 pm
It is sad when adults feel the need to disrespect children. I believe the "chosen ones" you are referring to are the Mustang players...the boys and girls that commit to early morning practices, doing bottle drives on the weekends to raise money to travel, enrolling themselves into off ice training programs to help them be the best they can be.
The opportunity to try out for one of these teams is open to anyone that is the right age, the same opportunity that all these kids have to make and play for Team Yukon at either the AWGs or CWGs.
You should remember the origins of the AWGs . The kids north of 60 were having trouble competing at the CWGs...and the beliefs was that they were not prepared to play on a stage that big. The AWGs were created to be a stepping stone for these athletes, an opportunity to experience a multisport event at a smaller scale before being put on the big CWGs stage. Understanding this, we should be looking to send the best athletes we can to AWGs in each of the sports...which may or may not include the players that attend Provincials in any sport.
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Blueline on Sep 15, 2014 at 9:05 pm
The 'chosen ones' can go to Provincials and the outsiders who never get to travel can go to AWG. To me it make perfect sense. But yeah, 20 minute periods are a requirement.