MLA Jim Kenyon presented a cheque for $20,000 to the Yukon Aboriginal Sport Circle on Friday, to support their upcoming Sport and Recreation Leadership Summit in November.

The event will be held in Whitehorse Nov. 26 to 28 at the Westmark Whitehorse.

The cheque, presented to the Sport Circle's chair Brian MacDonald, outgoing executive director Dean Mastrangelo and incoming executive director Greg Egdelow will go towards the costs of the conference including programming and promotion.

"The fact that the government believes that sport and recreation is an investment instead of an expense is important,” said Edgelow. The former Olympian says that getting youth involved and active in sport can help the government later on by saving on social programs. "I believe an event like this can help save money in the end.”

Edgelow says the event is not only an investment in youth, but in those people that work in the community to support them, including coaches and other leaders.

"It's great,” he said.

Edgelow says the summit is the first of its kind. "It's the first ever in the Yukon,” he said.

The conference will be for leaders and volunteers in the sport and recreation field.

It will have a variety of speakers and 18 seminars.

"What we're trying to do is have some what of a tool kit with the seminars on becoming more effective leaders,” said Edgelow. The conference will also help create a better understanding of physical, social and psychological issues related to sport.

There will be two keynote speakers at the event. Steve Podborski is a former Olympic medallist – he won bronze for downhill skiing at the 1980 games – and now an assistant chef for Team Canada at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.

Podborski was the first North American male to medal in downhill skiing at the Olympic Games. He remains the first and only non-European male to win the World Cup Downhill title. He will be giving his keynote speech called, "Success,Teamwork and Mastery.”

Podborski will open the conference with his keynote speech at 7:30 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 27.

The second speaker will be Richard Louv who penned the book, "The last child in the woods: Saving our children from nature deficit disorder.”

The book discusses children's disconnection from nature and the side effects, such as obesity and sedentary behavior.

"He'll talk about strategies for leaders in sport and recreation to get kids engaged in the outdoors,” said Edgelow. "It's an interesting concept.”

Topics for the seminars cover a wide variety of topics including sport psychology, long term athlete development, women in sport, aboriginal sport development, hot legal topics, stress management, diabetes prevention, youth and child protection in sports, parent-athlete coaching models, good policies and good governance, homophobia in sport, grant proposal writing and risk management in sport and recreation.

The conference will be an excellent chance for sport and recreation leaders to network and share ideas.

The first day of the conference, Nov. 26, will be a registration day with a presentation and a networking social later in the evening.

Edgelow says the conference is open to anyone who wants to attend but those who will benefit most will be those involved in the sports and recreation field, such as volunteers, coaches, event staff, team managers, first nations leaders, educators, event organizers, parent volunteers and officials.

"It's really quite open,” said Edgelow.

The conference has been organized in a partnership with the Aboriginal Sport Circle, Recreation and Parks Association of the Yukon, Sport Yukon, Air North, the Community Development Fund, the Yukon Lotteries Commission and the Yukon Territorial Government.

Edgelow says they have relied on the partnerships to bring the event to Whitehorse, and wouldn't have been able to do it without them.

The cost to participate in the conference is $99 for those registering before Oct. 31, and $109 for those after the early bird deadline.

The price to attend includes the entire two day summit, including the chance to attend six of 18 professionally delivered workshops of your choice, the Thursday social event, two breakfasts, two lunches and refreshments throughout.

To register for the conference packages are available starting Oct. 1, at www.yasc.ca. For more information call the Yukon Aboriginal Sport Circle office at 668 2840 or email them at aboriginalsport@sportyukon.com.