In a move which many feel is long overdue, the Canada Games Council recently voted to make snowboarding a demonstration sport at the 2007 Canada Winter Games, which will be held in Whitehorse.

At the board meeting in Montreal last month, the council decided in principal to include snowboarding at the Games, pending discussions with the host society and the sport governing body for snowboarding.

'If all goes well, we will have some level of competition at the Games,' said 2007 Host Society President Piers MacDonald. 'We expect to determine what nature of snowboarding event it will be over the next couple months.'

MacDonald said the other provinces and territories must agree to bring athletes and Sport Canada must agree to pay the travel cost for those athletes.

There's no question the popularity of snowboarding is continually growing around the world, and in 1998 it even became an Olympic sport. It was a popular event at the 2004 Arctic Winter Games, so it only seems natural the Canada Games would pick up the torch sooner or later.

'This is certainly the first time for snowboarding (at the Games) and some would argue it's about time, given the mass numbers of young people participating in the sport,' said MacDonald. 'It has been on the table for many years, it's just never been decided on.'

For him, the decision was an easy one because of the marketing possibilities and the popularity of the sport among local athletes.

'If we didn't have snowboarding in the 2007 Canada Winter Games, it would seem counterintuitive,' he stated. 'People would wonder why no snowboarding. It would be like not having hockey.

'We're very happy to have it going as far as we do.'

Sue DeForest, last year's head coach of the local Fresh Tracks Snowboard Club and coach for the Yukon snowboarding team at AWG, agreed the decision is overdue.

'It's awesome,' she said. 'It means more development on the hill, more possibilities for Yukon athletes to train and more possibilities for them to compete Outside.

'Snowboarding is still a fairly new sport. Across Canada we're trying to develop coaching programs. It's pretty much established but as it catches on, it's going to improve the sport.'

DeForest said the Yukon has a lot of excellent snowboarding athletes and a lot of them are going elsewhere, such as B.C. and Alberta, to enjoy the sport. She hopes if the sport is included in the Canada Games, the facilities on Mount Sima will improve and more athletes will stay here.

The coach also believes with the right training and dedication, there are Yukon boarders who could compete very well in 2007.

'Having the right attitude is important,' she said.

MacDonald pointed out he's already had discussions on snowboarding with representatives for the 2010 Canada Winter Games and they were wondering why the sport hadn't been included before, as it's already an Olympic sport. They were also hopeful Whitehorse would get the ball rolling.

The host society president said it would make the transition between the two Games much easier if it's started now. So all that's left is the financial and sport discussions and approval from the federal government.

'(The next steps is deciding) what elements we're going to pursue and what it will mean specifically, in terms of what costs involved for the teams and the travel,' he said. 'Once we get the financial and sport implications tied down, we should be able to come to an agreement fairly quickly.'