2018 Arctic Winter Games on track, but facing volunteer, housing challenges

With the 2018 Arctic Winter Games in the N.W.T.'s South Slave region just eight months away, the president of the host society says that preparations remain on track and on schedule, despite challenges with recruiting volunteers and finding accommodations.

The games are scheduled to be held March 18 to 24, 2018, in the communities of Hay River and Fort Smith, which have a combined population of just over 6,000. Holding the games in multiple towns with such a small population hasn't been attempted since 1978, when they were held jointly between Hay River and the now-defunct mining town of Pine Point.

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The unique nature of the 2018 games has made for "a little more work than... anticipated," according to Greg Rowe, who's heading up the host society. 

"Dealing with two municipalities, and just the different communities," he said. "It does create more work.

"There's some points in the planning where you're going: 'oh, man, this is a big thing.' But then you see the volunteers, and they say they're going to do this, they're going to do that... it really warms your heart, and you get excited."

250 volunteers out of 2,000

That volunteer number will need to swell significantly in the next eight months. The host society has estimated that it will take 2,000 volunteers to pull off a successful games. Currently, the amount of sign-ups stand between 250 and 300, according to Rowe.

"We haven't been overly aggressive at it," he said. "We've run a couple campaigns to get people signed up, and we'll continue to do that."

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Rowe said the host society has been in contact with the Arctic Winter Games International Committee and been assured that their volunteer numbers aren't yet cause for concern. However, his office is planning to ramp up recruitment, starting with a wave of initiatives when the International Committee makes their six-month-out visit in September.

"We're fairly optimistic that we'll get the numbers," he said, pointing to commitments from the N.W.T.'s Youth Ambassadors program, indications from the Nunavut and Greenland delegations that they may send volunteers, and a potential partnership with Joint Task Force North and the Canadian Rangers.

However, reaching a number that equals nearly a third of the towns' population will be a challenge regardless. Rowe said the committee is encouraging local volunteers to invite friends and family members who have been involved with the games in the past to volunteer, putting them up in their homes — Rowe himself has a number of family members who will be travelling to Hay River to help out.

"It would do two things," he said. "It would get us more volunteers, but it would also get them a place to stay."

'That is going to be our biggest deficiency'

Finding ways to house volunteers will be key for Rowe and the organizing committee, if only to keep as much space as possible open for visitors. Rowe admitted that while organizers have space for participants, VIPs, media, and officials, housing spectators "is going to be our biggest deficiency," due to the communities' small size.

To combat this, the organizing committee is working with local chambers of commerce to organize bed and breakfast-style lodging, as well as speaking with other South Slave communities, including Fort Resolution and Enterprise. 

However, Rowe acknowledges that there is only so much that can be done.

"If we have accommodations for two, three, four hundred, that's all we'll be able to house," he said. "It is a problem. But there's not much we can do about it... and I think as far as developing lists and working with the communities for who's got bedrooms, who's got billeting, we're not the first host community to have to do that."

'It really is a long lasting legacy'

Despite all the challenges, Rowe remains optimistic about the 2018 games, saying that legacy projects have already been completed. He pointed to the Fort Smith snow park, which opened last winter, as well as highway upgrades expected to be completed this summer, and the construction of Hay River's new recreation complex, which is on schedule to be finished in mid-December.

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Rowe was able to walk through the building last week, and said to go through it was "surreal."

"I'd never anticipated a building and infrastructure like what we're going to get," he said. "It's going to be one of the best facilities north of Edmonton for a community this size.

"It really is a long lasting legacy."

Currently, the organizing committee is "running with a bit of a skeleton crew," he said, but has plans to ramp up after the International Committee visits in September. 

"Right now, we're feeling pretty good about ourselves," said Rowe. "We've been ticking off the boxes and stuff, but after [September], there's a real commitment necessary to really execute."