ARCTIC WINTER GAMES POLICIES

CHEF DE MISSION FINAL REPORT

2010 WINTER GAMES

Team , Chef de Mission

Section I

Evaluation of Performance of the Host Society

Registration and Accreditation

- Was pre-Games registration convenient and functional? o Online registration worked very well, few complaints by participants o Kimik functions, from the registration site, are very helpful o On-line registration began too late - Did the accreditation system at the Games work well? o We appreciated receiving the accreditation tags and lanyards days in advance of teams arriving in order to organize and package per team. o We were missing quite a few tags, but the process to replace those was clear, and the volunteers were fantastic. o For those athletes who were replacements, or who registered really late, accrediting them at the airport was convenient. - Provide comments or recommendations o Begin the registration process, host initiated, at least 4 months out from start of the Games. A quick and easy registration process, that teams can send out to their participants, is preferable. o Continue to hand out completed accreditation tags to the Chefs days in advance of teams arriving.

Welcome/Arrival Services

- Was the arrival of your team handled in a timely manner with a minimum of confusion o Baggage tags had to be duct taped onto all participant luggage to ensure they did not rip off during transport. o Nice that the mascot was there upon athlete arrival, as well as media. o The solution to separate non-participant luggage upon arrival changed a couple of times, at no fault to the host. The airport made those changes, and the GM was responsive on cell phone so that I could explain the changes to the process. o The athletes were whisked away in buses per school, with their luggage, immediately upon arrival and we received no lost luggage complaints. Excellent job! o Thank you to the Host for providing cube vans and volunteers to transport boxes of supplies to the Mission offices. o Athletes were welcomed to their accommodation units with smiles, backpacks, and sleeping bags. Again, all went well. - Provide comments or recommendations o Use baggage tags of good quality, so extra work is not created for contingents, and host volunteers. o Continue to hand out backpacks and sleeping bags at the accommodation venues. o Transporting participants on buses labeled per accommodation unit worked very well.

Opening Ceremony

- Did the Opening Ceremony do a good job of kicking off the week? o It is always a great feeling for all, to experience the formal protocol of the ceremony, flag raising, lighting of the flame, so it truly does feel like we’re off and running once those elements happen. However, due to the participant experience in the holding area, it did dampen spirits with a negative twist for the next day or so. Refer to comments below. - Were they well organized and choreographed? Provide comments or recommendations. o It was clear a lot of work was put into the planning of the ceremony, and local talent was well represented. o Organizing the participants by holding them in an adjoining venue, or on buses, is a practice that people are tiring of. You’ll see veteran AWG athletes and coaches dreading ceremonies for this reason alone. From what I’ve seen and experienced, pre shows do not make up for the time spent standing in a stifling hot area, in walk out uniforms, with 1800 other people. Our recommendation to future hosts is to transport and organize athletes in a manner where they are taken directly from their accommodation venue, and walk directly, or within 15 minutes, into the ceremony venue. I’ve seen it done, I know it can work, it takes faith in the transportation folks, but with the size of the communities these Games are held, one can assume the buses will not be held up. Simply, consider the athletes first in the planning of marshalling. o The marshalling of athletes was systematic, however, athletes slowed down as soon as they entered the ceremony, which, for many reasons, is always the case. It is good to have assertive marshalling volunteers, who set out the expectations to the kids before hand, move them along very quickly at key junctions, and not allow the kids to choose their own seats within their section. If you are sixth in line, you sit in seat six. o Thanks to the Host for providing seats to all participants. That’s not an easy task, but very much appreciated. o The athletes commented that they would have liked to see the entire show, although, it’s understandable that their entrance is a pinnacle, and has to be included as part of the choreography and storyboard. If they weren’t kept in a holding area for so long, I’m not certain there would have been complaints about missing so much of the main show.

Team Accommodations

- Were accommodations sufficiently spacious or too crowded? o The accommodations were very well planned, and there was sufficient room in each classroom. The air mattresses worked out well, and are SO much easier on the host volunteers. Although I heard a lot of complaints about the beds deflating throughout the night, those would probably be the same people to complain about uncomfortable bunk beds. It was good to have some bunks in those rooms with taller participants in them. - Were they well-located or too spread out? o They were well located. - Were there sufficient washrooms and shower facilities? o I know…I know…you all proved me wrong. There were sufficient numbers of showers in the accommodation venues, and the ability to shower at the competition venues was appreciated. - Was cleaning during the Games adequate for the maintenance of hygiene? o Yes - Was security in the accommodations area functional and effective? o Not for the first three days of the Games. I was very concerned about mixed gender access to the showers, but to my knowledge, no incidents occurred. This is one of the most crucial volunteer positions in the accommodation venues, and if suitable volunteers are not able to hold these posts, then consideration should be made to hire security companies to handle security in accommodation venues. - Provide comments or recommendations. o With the sheer number of participants in these Games now, it is becoming impossible to house athletes in less than two villages. Therefore, logistics of food service, entertainment, transportation, etc, are an invitation for criticism by participants and Chefs, and are difficult to manage. had fantastic facilities, and managed their accommodation units very well. o Continue to offer a few bunk beds to contingents to place in the rooms where their larger participants are housed. o Either hire a security company to secure the accommodation units, or anticipate what type of volunteers, and back up volunteers, you will need. o Dog mushers have stated, yet again, that all contingents would like to be housed together. This makes sense, as they have very different schedules (feeding dogs at wee hours during the night and morning) as well as cultural similarities. There will continue to be issues with the participants being housed at a separate location from their dogs. If at all possible, house ALL dog mushers at the same venue as their dogs. o Cultural participants were housed together, mixing contingents, which is what they prefer. They appreciated this. o Please enforce no smoking outside the doors of the accommodation units.

Food Service/Village Dining

- were the hours of operation/serving sufficient and convenient? o The hours of service were very good. The hosts planned well for late night matches and games, and teams were not left on their own to find food after an evening hockey game (for example). o We did hear complaints throughout the week that grazing was shut down at Comp High, or not open when it was posted to be open. This caused some considerable stress to those athletes and coaches who were banking on getting a quick bite before leaving for their game. - Was the quality of food adequate? o At St.Joes, the food was excellent. At the Comp, the food tended to be greasy, and a lower level of healthy options were served at that venue, which was odd, as the contractor for both was the same. - Was enough food available to meet your team’s needs and appetites? o Bottled water and juice were not readily available at either venue. Water bottles should probably be included with the welcome package if a limited amount of bottled water will be available. - Did the box lunch program work well? o What can we say…Francois put a lot of effort into this project. I believe some more advanced planning could have reduced the stress this caused, but there’s not much to say now. Once the system started to work, it worked well, and the mission staff were all happy with the Chef de Food and his openness to dealing with special requests and allergy requirements.

- Provide comments or recommendations. o I would suggest, through advance planning, that food from the main cafeteria be transported to the venues where sport schedules prohibit athletes from returning back to the main cafeterias for lunch. Limit access to sport venue grazing through accreditation tags, and sport schedules. Again, all this should be done well in advance.

Awards Ceremonies

- Provide comments or recommendations on awards ceremonies both at sport venues and the main awards venue. o We definitely agree with all athletes and coaches, and spectators, who are confused why the awards are awarded 1-2-3, versus 3-2-1. It is anti-climatic, for certain. We suggest awarding bronze, silver, then gold. o We agree with awarding medals at the sport venue, after the game is complete. If the bronze medal is to be presented with the silver and gold, access must be granted for those participants and supporters who watched the bronze being won. The other option is to award the bronze medal after the 3-4 game. o Continue to award ulus at the sport venues, following competition, versus a central medal awarding location.

Information Technology/Communications/Computer and Network Services

- Evaluate how the Games’ IT system and staff, communications system and computer and network services performance and provide any comments or recommendations. o In the mission centre, consider two high speed networked printers for newsletters, etc. o With Kimik, it would be great to have a “how to” document on what reports can be produced from the database, suggested short cuts, etc.

Mission Offices, Services and Accommodations

- Were the mission offices located in a place that facilitated the work of the mission staff, and were the offices conveniently reached by coaches? o Location was fine. With the use of cell phones, we are finding that coach access is not as crucial as it once was. - Were offices sufficiently spacious and adequately furnished? o Ours was fantastic! - Were the supplies provided adequate for the mission staff to do its work? o Definitely. We also appreciated the coffee and snacks that were there for Mission staff, in a beautiful lounge, as time for full meals is at a minimum. - Provide comments or recommendations. o Sharon and her volunteers were fantastic. They went over and above, and I commend her for that. The access to students went well, and if offered again, I think we could find them more substantial things to do.

Cultural Program and Facilities

- Did your cultural delegation feel that they were an integral part of the Games? o Yes, they did. - Did they have enough performance opportunities? Too many? o They felt they performed a good amount, but opportunities to perform in front of other participants can still be improved. - Did your Unit members attend entertainment events? What is your impression of their experience? o We attended the Gala, which was very well done, in a beautiful facility. We were extremely proud of our cultural participants. - Provide comments or re commendations related to the Cultural program only. See Entertainment Program section below for other comments. o Once again, none of our contingent attended any visual art displays. Thought may be given to displaying lower value pieces, showing contingent landscape or culture, at a more accessible venue, like competition venues, or accommodation/food venues.

Forms and Publications

- Evaluate the effectiveness of forms provided by the Host Society and any publications of the Host Society; including Ulu News, directories, sport schedules/programs, results, posters, etc. o The publications were helpful, especially the smaller sized telephone directory, however, they came quite late. o The venue map was really easy to read, and helpful for all. However, if venues are not marked on the map (those out of town), directions to the venue, listed right on the map itself, would be helpful. This coming from someone who got lost going from the rifle range to the x- country ski venue. o Standard template for sport schedules Media

- Describe the media coverage you saw in the host community, both print and electronic. o I did not read the newspapers while in Grande Prairie. o I heard radio pieces on various stations, which was great. - Provide comments or recommendations o Media there to meet and greet the participants arriving was a nice touch. o We had a complaint of media asking questions of an athlete who was being loaded into an ambulance. Obviously, this is not appropriate, and volunteers should be given the education and leeway to control media in certain situations. o We will continue to educate our participants on appropriateness of comments to media, who may be looking for a controversial story.

Medical Services/Polyclinic

- Was the medical staff helpful? Did they provide quality care? o We had reports of coaches having a hard time finding medical care at the sport venues. - Was the location of the polyclinic convenient and the hours it was open sufficient? o The location and access of the polyclinic were very good. The staff were helpful and friendly.

- Provide comments or recommendations o Ensure medical volunteers at the sport venues are well trained, and have access to the proper medical supplies. o Ice to be available at sport venues and accommodation venues o Overall, ambulance calls were over and above what was needed. There was one incidence where an athlete with a twisted ankle was “given a lift” to the hospital, by the ambulance staff, because their mission staff was already at the polyclinic with another athlete. Although we had insurance, it is commonly purchased 2 nd tier insurance, which means we are still billed for ambulance transport . A recommendation is to offer volunteer driven vans or mini-vans, for non-emergent trips to the polyclinic or hospital for x-rays. o I wanted to share a testimonial from one of my mission staff who spend a significant amount of time at the Polyclinic. - I can not heap enough praise on the Poly Clinic and its staff. They were absolutely amazing and I would be pleased to elaborate if you want me to! The nurses, therapists and doctors were welcoming, friendly, helpful, kind and cheerful and their expertise was admirable from our lay point of view! I had two broken bones, one sub-luxated hip joint and 3 severe sprains and several lighter injuries. We got a lot of use especially out of their wonderful physiotherapists where the boys knew their favorites by name and I had to find out their schedule to make sure we got the “right” one! When that was not possible we realized that the one we met instead was just as good and personable and we added that one to our list of favorites! I missed a lot of the semi-final games and all of the bronze medal games because of injuries!

This service was invaluable to my athletes and something we should strive for to copy. The polyclinic was conveniently located and the registration procedure went very smoothly: we had to go into room A, where the personal information was already computerized (hence the pre registration at home in the Yukon). Players had to show their accreditation badge. (For second visits and/or follow up visits it was not necessary that I, or another adult, accompanied the player, but as I transported them and often had a second player in tow, I ended up being there almost all the time). In that same room we moved on to another computer where another lady recorded the specifics of the injury and we were told where to go next. Usually a volunteer showed us where the next room was, but I knew my way around really soon because I showed up every day! In room B we were met by a nurse and led to a curtained off bed for the player. The doctor would come and examine the injury and decide on treatment. If an x-ray was necessary it could be done right there at the College in a portable unit, but only until 5:00 pm. (For x-rays after 5:00 pm it was necessary to drive to the hospital, which was rather cumbersome, time consuming and far less personal!). X-rays appeared on the doctor’s computer immediately, as soon as we returned to see the doctor again, he had already seen the image. Casting was also done right there unless it was after 5:00, when it had to be done at the hospital. For other injuries there were Physiotherapists, Masseurs etc. on duty. We would receive colour coded paper slips, for example blue for physio, yellow for massage and if it appeared that more than one visit was necessary, we were given two slips at a time (one for right now and one for the next day) and that way we could skip room A the next day and go straight to the basement for physiotherapy!

We were treated like friends and we were met with great kindness and enthusiasm, which is as important as the excellent professionalism and expertise.

Results

- Were accurate results produced and disseminated in a timely manner? o In the upcoming review of Dene Games, (and this refers to Arctic Games as well) consideration should be given to public display of results, as the competition is taking place. It is unacceptable that coaches and athletes have to hover over an officials’ shoulder to determine the height their next competitor has to kick. o Our Team Yukon photographer, who has considerable experience in Arctic and Dene Games, was asked to draft the draws for Dene Games, at the last minute. We have no problem lending a hand, but when asked two hours before the competition is to begin. It is situations and lack of planning like this, that lowers the credibility of Arctic and Dene sport at the AWGs. - Provide comments or recommendations. o The technical package for Dene Games should include not one example draw, but a variety of draws for a variety of participant numbers. If this is too onerous, then the sport organizers should be prepared to draft the draws up the evening before. o Is it possible to upload game sheets to the database for more detail in results.

Security

- Did the security arm of the Games work effectively? o Once they realized volunteers may not be as conscientious about showing up for their shifts, and may not be assertive enough, they began to take action. The second half of the Games was much better. - Were the security people helpful? o They were very friendly and helpful, but low in numbers and age. - Did you note any security lapses that affected members of your team? o Yes. The security was a big issue for the first few days of the Games. I am referring only to the accommodation venues, so please refer to that section of this report for further comments. - Provide comments or recommendations.

Social Program

- Were there sufficient opportunities for your young people to socialize with their peers from other delegations? o There were few gathering places, and not a lot to do at the accommodation venues. Idleness causes trouble. o Computer labs were expected, but not delivered on until days into the Games. - Were social functions well run and well supervised? Provide comments or recommendations. o We were not told about a dance that took place at St.Joes the final night of the Games. Chefs MUST be made aware of these types of organized activities, as supervision was needed. The fact that we did not know about that dance caused us a considerable amount of problems on the last day of the Games. o A recommendation, if dances are to be split into two nights, is to split by sport, not by age. We found teams did not want to split up, and prefer to attend as a group. o A movie room or area for big screen movies would have been appreciated. o If venues at all possible, leaving the gymnasium in accommodation venues for recreation of participants, that would be great.

Transportation at the Games

- Provide comments or recommendations on the internal Games transportation system. o Not knowing the transportation plan in advance caused me to house the curlers at a school that was significantly further away from their venue than the other school, b/c I didn’t know what direction the bus loops were going to travel. It would be appreciated to know the plan in advance of allocating heads to beds. o No complaints about transportation from any team member. This was a first! I realize it helps that the soccer and hockey teams were walking distance to their accommodation units, but regardless, transportation did a fantastic job! Website

- Did the Host Society’s Website and web presence function in a way that was helpful to you, your team, and parents from your area? - Provide comments or recommendations o The website provided the information needed.

Closing Ceremony

- Did the Closing Ceremony provide a fitting ending to the week? o Yes, it did. The action photos from the week, mixed with photos of the jurisdiction landscape was great. However, it was playing while the athletes were marching in, and most people missed this part. - Were they of an appropriate length? o Yes, it was far shorter in length than the opening, which was a bonus. - Did they keep the spirit of the Games going? o Yes, although when the flag is handed to the next host, that person shouldn’t be hidden behind the performers. This may have been a glitch. o Adding requirements like ensuring everyone has tattoos on before they march in can be taxing for mission staff, especially when the direction comes the day of the ceremony. I question the value of details such as this. - Provide comments or recommendations. o We recommend keeping the ceremony to an hour, marshalling everyone in together (which saves a significant amount of time), moving the athletes straight in from the buses, and making it a vibrant, celebratory atmosphere. o Gathering points, with signage per contingent, would make it easier for those departing immediately from the ceremony.

Send off and Departure

- Was your team’s departure handled smoothly with a minimum of confusion and hassle? o The departure process was stressful to determine. The planning for departure was much too late, and it caused undo stress for all involved. In the end, jurisdictions took care of their own loading and check in, which was different than the plan that morning. It highlights the importance of developing this process well in advance. Bussing participants directly onto the tarmac is brilliant. o The ability to take our other two plane loads of participants back to the residences to sleep until departure was SUCH a great touch. They did not have to pack up their carry ons before the ceremony, and were comfortable in their beds right up to getting on a bus, and bussing directly to the stairway of the plane. The process was slick, and after an exhausting week, was a fantastic way to depart. - Provide comments or recommendations o Allow busses to transport participants directly onto the tarmac if possible (I realize the need for charter flight, no security requirements, etc). o Direct athletes to deflate their mattresses before departure, as GP did, as it’s a time saver for clean up volunteers. o A departure plan is imperative to develop pre-Games, with time for Chefs to comment on.

Miscellaneous

- Provide any other comments or recommendations that will improve the operation of future . o Officials recruitment was harder than it should have been. The officials chair recognized this later on in her process, so feedback from her would be valuable. From our perspective, if you let contingents know how many officials you need in each sport, then we can determine our best officials to send, their availability, their contacts, their flights, etc.

Section II

Comments and Recommendations Pertaining to your Unit

General Unit Management

- Provide a brief description of how the Unit was managed. o General management for Team Yukon is charged to Sport Yukon, based on an agreement through the Sport and Recreation Branch of the Yukon Government. The Executive Director of Sport Yukon acts as the Chef de Mission, and the Sport Consultant for the Yukon Government served as the Assistant Chef de Mission. o The Games Committee is responsible for all the decisions regarding Major Games, including the selection of mission staff o Applications for mission staff were accepted from the general public, after public notice, based on a series of criteria. These applications must be endorsed by a Sport Governing Body. We had a varied group of mission staff this year, some with experience, some without, but ended up being one of the most capable and enjoyable groups in recent history. The mission staff were selected 4 months prior to the Games, and met once a month prior to the Games. o Each of the mission staff were given certain sport responsibilities, and were asked to work closely with, and communicate effectively with their assigned sport governing bodies, who handle all specifics of the sport trials and team final selection. The mission staff acted as liaisons between the sports and the Chef de Mission throughout the preparation, to ensure that everyone had all the information they required. We tried to put as much information on the website www.sportyukon.com to effectively communicate with everyone. o At the Games, the Chef de Mission and Assistant Chef attend the 7 a.m. Chef’s meetings and then passed along the appropriate information to the Mission Staff at a meeting immediately following. o It is important to note that the chairperson of our Discipline Committee is the Assistant Chef. This person is ultimately responsible for dealing with any major infractions that occur within Team Yukon, with the help of the Chef de Mission, and the assigned Mission staff. We had a few discipline incidents during the week, and all were dealt with effectively and efficiently with this structure. o Our team handbook and conduct and discipline code are available online if you wish to download a copy. www.sportyukon.com/majorgames/arcticwintergames/

- Include any recommendations on changes to previous methods of operation that worked well. o Continue to:  Appoint YTG Sport Consultant as Assistant Chef  Assistant Chef to Chair the Discipline Committee  Delegate certain mission staff to construct team newsletter or contract someone to take on this task o Select mission staff earlier, and continue to engage mission staff from outlying communities. o Consider taking an athletic therapist or medical liaison to alleviate the massive amount of time mission staff and coaches spend on medical issues. o Continue to take a mental trainer with us to the Games, as many of our teams work with one throughout the year. o Increase the number of mission staff members for the larger contingents. o Contract a professional photographer to take all team pictures and Games action photos o Send a core mission staff team to the Games 3-4 days prior to team arrival, to ensure organization upon arrival. o Provide a Games feedback questionnaire for participants to fill out on the transportation back from the Games.

Mission Staff – Team Yukon AWG 2010 o Tracey Bilsky Chef de Mission o Trevor Twardochleb Assistant Chef de Mission o Megan Freese /Newsletter/Staff o Bill Stonehouse Table Tennis/Snowshoeing o Cheryl vanBlaricom / o Aaron Jenson X-country ski/ ski & snowshoe o Vickie Dawe Hockey o Bunne Palamar / o Kim King / o Walter Brennan Dog Mushing/Culture o Hanne Hoefs Indoor Soccer o Charly Kelly Photographer o Oddette Poirier Alpine/Freestyle/Snowboard o Samantha John Arctic/Dene Games

Intra-team Communications

- Describe the system of communications within the team at the Games and provide any comments or recommendations o 8 a.m. Mission staff meetings, following the 7 a.m. Chef meetings. From there, mission staff would head out to the teams and coaches with newsletters in hand to distribute, as well as communicate important information learned at the 8 a.m. meeting. Many of our coaches use their personal cell phones at the Games, which is the most common way to contact them. Texting became an efficient way to communicate as well. o Continue to use the Chef de Mission to Coach information chain. o Continue to use cell phones versus radios o It would be great if cell phones were pre-programmed with contact numbers of team mission staff, as well as all contingent mission offices, Chef de Mission numbers, and key volunteer numbers.

Cultural Delegation Selection - Describe the selection system used by your contingent. Provide comments or recommendations. o The Government of Yukon Arts Branch selects our cultural representatives. The Sport Yukon Executive Director is included in the selection process. This year Team Yukon sent four incredible dancers from Extremely Moving Dance Company, who had just returned from performing at the 2010 Olympic Games. o Continue to have the YTG Arts Branch select our cultural representatives. o Maintain the emphasis of culture as an integral part of Team Yukon. o Technical package shows a big improvement in delivery of cultural programming.

Finance - Describe how the Unit raised the funds necessary to finance its involvement in the Games. o Funding is a combination of monies from the Yukon Territorial Government-Sport and Recreation Branch, Games participant fees and sponsors. The participants were required to pay a Games participation fee of $350.00 for athletes & artists, and $250 for coaches, chaperones, and Mission staff. This fee helps to cover all the costs associated with Team Yukon’s participation in the Arctic Winter Games. Participants were also provided the opportunity to sell tickets in an Arctic Winter Games raffle, which allocated $1.40 for each $2.00 ticket sold to the seller to offset their participation fee. Approximately $25,000 was allocated to participants as a result of ticket sales. Participants in the trials were charged a trials registration fee, which varied from $10 - $50, depending on the sport, and their trial costs. o Recommend to secure additional sponsorships to assist with the costs for the administration and management of Team Yukon o Continue to use the raffle as a means of offsetting the participation cost to the athletes, coaches, chaperones, and Mission staff. o Consider asking each sport governing body to collect their athletes’ participation fees and avoid the problem of Sport Yukon trying to collect them. - Complete the charts provided at the end of this section o done

Forms, Publications, Team Booklets/Manuals/Handbooks - Provide one copy of each form, publication, or manual developed and used by this Unit. o The forms and publications utilized by Team Yukon included the following, and are accessible on our website at www.sportyukon.com  Guidelines for Hosting and Conducting Yukon Trials  Team Handbook (Code of Conduct)  Sport Trials Schedules  Sport Schedules  Final Rosters  Newsletters

Insurance - Describe the insurance obtained for the Games and provide recommendations. o We continue to purchase extended medical insurance for Team Yukon members through Travel Underwriters – AON Reed Stenhouse. The policy cost around $3000. - Recommendation – to continue to purchase extended medical coverage for all members of Team Yukon

Media - Describe the media coverage provided by media located within your Unit for the Games, and describe how you promoted it. Provide comments or recommendations. o The Chef de Mission was designated as the media liaison and had specific responsibilities for the website development. A member on Mission Staff was assigned the responsibility for the production of all the newsletters, in addition to specific sport responsibilities. The photographer was responsible for all photos included in the newsletters. As well, all mission staff responsible for sport(s) submitted daily reports for newsletter content. The daily newsletters were provided to all members of Team Yukon, posted on our website, and sent directly to all media in Whitehorse, YT every morning. This was a very helpful supplement to the results posted on the Kimik site. o The Yukon News sent their sports reporter to cover the entire Games. He travels with the team on the airline charter, and his coverage was fantastic. He is run off his feet during the week, but we appreciated the good treatment of media by the Host Society. The radio coverage through CBC, CKRW, and CHON was adequate, but many people thought the coverage was not as broad based as possible. CBC North sent a reporter to the Games, which increased their coverage from past Games. - Recommendations o Continue to appoint mission staff members to produce daily newsletters, or web coverage, but try not assign that mission staff to a sport as well. o Continue to have each mission staff report on their particular sport (s) on a daily basis for newsletter content. o Continue to either contract a photographer, or appoint photographer on mission staff.

Medical Services - What sort of medical services did you provide within your team? Provide comments or recommendations. o Team Yukon did not have a medical professional on Mission staff this year. - Recommendations o Appoint one mission staff as the medical liaison, with the responsibility of liaison with host medical volunteers, polyclinic visits, hospital visits, and taping. o Ensure that all procedures to access medical treatment are clearly understood by all parties well in advance of the Games o Ensure that all medical records are on site, or available on the database. o Do not allow athletes to access medical treatment without the presence of coaches, chaperones, or mission staff. o Report any participant hospital visits to parents/Guardians o Ensure removal and return to play cases are reported through Kimik, or through calls from host society members.

Sports - Provide a brief summary of the Unit’s involvement in and any comments or recommendations on each sport. o  Venue was great, organization was really good. o Arctic Sports  This sport has improved greatly since the technical package review!  Coaches are tiring of having to look over the officials’ shoulders to determine placing and results. This information should be posted publicly, as the competition progresses, for the benefit of not only the participants, but the spectators. o Badminton  Things went well. We received good feedback on the facility, and schedule. o Basketball  Basketball was pleased with their schedule and facility. Some of their spectators became frustrated with the inability to purchase admission tickets at the door of the facility itself, and had to travel downtown again to purchase at the main ticket office, and missing the first part of the game. o Biathlon  The facility was great, and well organized. Transportation to the venue was quick. We were confused by changing plans for rifle drop at the airport, but once the final plan was in place, all went very well. They appreciated the waxing trailers per contingent, and were able to support their fellow cross country ski athletes. We were supportive of the schedule change to support warmer weather. See further comments, regarding lunches, in the cross country ski section o Cross Country Skiing  We were very pleased with the entire set up. The facility is beautiful, the trails were great, and the big trailers per contingent were fantastic. We would have appreciated grazing for lunch at the venue itself. However, once the boxed lunches were approved, they were o.k. Planning for lunches at the venue, before the Games begin, is important. As well, coaches must be at the venue the entire day, so feeding and care of coaches should be considered in the planning. o Curling  All went well. The officials didn’t appear to have a lot of recent experience in competitive events. As well, changes to warm up regulations were made by the head official, based on her preference to protect the ice. Teams were surprised by this significant change to their warm up process, and it caused some conflict. We recommend the technical package is always followed for AWG events. o Dene Games  We understand some of the sensitivities when advising this group to follow the technical package strictly at Games, but if this sport is to be respected as anything but a cultural exhibition, we advise strict adherence to the technical package. In our opinion, if Arctic Sport can follow theirs, Dene can too.  We appreciate that Dene Games is the next technical package that will be studied before the next Games by the International Committee. We look forward to clarification.  Please refer to previous results section for more detail on issues with Dene Games draws and results. o Dog Mushing  We empathized with Monty and his group when warm weather and cut trees made his well planned trail unusable. However, the track worked very well.  Races ran on time, which was appreciated. The venue was very good for spectators!  See accommodation recommendations in previous accommodation section o Figure Skating  The Crystal Centre was a fantastic venue for figure skating, even if we did have to sneak our boxed lunches in past security.  Recommendations for technical changes have been submitted to Ian L. o  Our skiers really enjoyed themselves! The venue was fantastic, and the organization was great. It would be good to have more people to compete against. o Gymnastics  What an unbelievable venue!!!  We strongly recommend that more thorough checking of previous competition levels need to take place, as gymnasts are competing ineligibly, and it’s frustrating to those who have sent athletes that meet the technical requirements in the tech.package. Technical change suggestions have been sent to Ian L.  Would like to see a men’s division.  It was so nice to compete against for the first time in a long time. o Hockey  Facility was excellent, and it was SO great to have the equipment storage right at the arena.  A suggestion to make women’s hockey U18 to even the playing field. o Indoor Soccer  Trouble finding medical at the venue  Nice venue for soccer  Competition level continues to increase. o Speedskating  Olympic sized ice surface is much safer for participants, if possible. Unfortunately, Grande Prairie did not have such a surface available  Suggestion for a mixed contingent relay to increase opportunity to race relays on the last day.  Very well run! o  Excellent venue!!  Standard of competition continues to rise o Snowshoeing  The venue made this sport easier to spectate.  All seemed fine with equipment and timing this year o Table Tennis  Yukon’s first gold medals in a long time! Exciting.  The facility and venue operation was professionally done.  Officials were good. o Volleyball  Would have liked to use Grande Prairie College gymnasium for at least the final games.  Suggested technical change is to have best of 5 for all matches, versus best of 3. If you are looking to develop competitive players and competitive situations, more games would be beneficial.

Transportation - Describe the logistics of transporting your team to and from the Games. o Team Yukon, through the Yukon Territorial Government, contracted Air North to fly directly from Whitehorse to Grande Prairie. Air North is phenomenal to deal with, and we chartered 3 flights full of participants, officials, VIP’s, media, and parents/spectators. o Air North would have appreciated knowing the arrival, and especially the departure plan, in advance. They were anxious about the process when they still didn’t know the departure plan 2 days before departure. Nigel from Air North, was very willing to assist in planning, since they were transporting Team Yukon, Team Alaska, and Team Nunavut, and stopped by the Host office weeks before the Games. However, he was told his help was appreciated, but not needed.

Team Selection Process - Describe the process used to select team members including specifics on the trials process. Complete the attached form. o Once the AWG International Committee announces the sports for the upcoming Games, Sport Yukon distributes the following to the Sport Governing Bodies:  Guidelines for Hosting and Conducting Trials  Team Handbooks, outlining the Conduct and Discipline Codes  Technical Packages  Mission Staff Applications - The SGBs are essentially responsible for all aspects of the trials, and for advising Sport Yukon of the specifics of the trial. This includes information on the assigned coaches, the athlete selection process, and the appeals process put in place for challenges to selections. At the same time, Sport Yukon Games Committee reviews all of the Mission Staff applications for selection in order to assign them to specific sports. - The sport trials then occur and the appropriate training squads or teams are named.

Your Team’s Website - Describe your team’s web presence and how you used the Web and the Internet to facilitate your administrative tasks. Complete the attached form. o Leading up to and during the Games, we put as much information as we can on our website at www.sportyukon.com to answer as many questions as possible. This includes linking to the host’s website and the AWGIC website.

Section III

General Comments and Recommendations Related to the Arctic Winter Games International Committee

Executive Summary and Recommendations - Provide a synopsis of the general observations and recommendations that the Chef has made in the body of the report. o Highlights include:  Carefully scrutinize Hosts’ marshalling plans for participants for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies  Security in Accommodation units requires either paid staff, or adults with friendly, yet assertive, demeanors. This regards the safety of all participants. I believe we’ve been lucky to this point, that nothing serious has happened.  House dog mushers together, and house them in as close a proximity to their dog teams as possible.  Offer on-site lunch grazing at the sport venues for those sports whose schedules demand this.  Provide non-emergent transport to hospital in volunteer driven vans, not ambulances.  Increase entertainment at accommodation venues, and ensure Chefs are aware of all entertainment plans (dances.)  Share departure plan well in advance of Games

Arctic Winter Games International Committee - Provide any recommendations on how the AWGIC could improve the assistance provided to the Units involved in the Arctic Winter Games. o Thank you for inviting and recognizing mission staff at your AWGIC reception. It is a nice break from the grind, and provides a lovely evening where mission staff feel truly appreciated. o While at the Games, I was asked by one of the 2012 future hosts, when the Chefs were meeting with the AWG International Committee. When I stated this wasn’t planned, it became clear that it may be a missed opportunity to meet without the hosts, to discuss pressing issues, comment on direction, and possibly discuss future, all in one room. It is not meant as an AWGIC and Chefs versus host situation, just an opportunity to speak frankly and creatively on topics that may not even be the host’s responsibility (ex. Dene Games). The Chefs may benefit from comments directly from the AWGIC, and vice versa. These could be scheduled at M2, M1, and or Games time.

Miscellaneous - Provide any other comments or recommendations that will improve the operation of future Arctic Winter Games. o An option we’d like considered is to allow accreditation of two people, in addition to mission staff, for positions such as team photographer and newsletter developer. With access to the mission offices, and the sport venues, these two people could provide their services to their team, but not use up two valuable mission staff positions. The contingent would pay for their accommodation and food, to ensure undue reliability on the host. o Hosts should ensure that those running the coaches’ meetings have as much knowledge and authority as possible to make decisions and answer questions on the spot, and/or invite those who do.

Section IV

2010 ARCTIC WINTER GAMES

UNIT INVOLVEMENT SUMMARY

TEAM YUKON

Participation Summary Regional Trials Games Athletes 424 239 Coaches/Chaperones 80 52 Mission Staff 14 14 Sport Officials 45 14 Total 619 319 Communities Involved 9 7 Aboriginal Athletes 95 81 Involved Males Athletes Involved 250 173 Female Athletes Involved 174 118

Summary by Sport Sport Regional Trials Games Alpine Skiing 13 7 Arctic Sports - Inuit 8 11 Games Arctic Sports - Dene 21 17 Games Badminton 12 10 Basketball 26 23 Biathlon - Ski 6 7 Biathlon - Snowshoe 5 7 Cross Country Skiing 24 19 Curling 17 11 Dog Mushing 2 4 Figure Skating 5 7 Freestyle Skiing 6 6 Gymnastics 4 5 Bantam Hockey 22 19 Midget Hockey 32 19 Jr. Women’s Hockey 29 21 Snowboarding 11 8 Snowshoeing 7 9 Soccer - Juvenile Male 35 9 Soccer - Juvenile 30 10 Female Soccer - Junior Male 25 9 Soccer - Junior Female 10 9 Soccer - Intermediate 0 0 Speedskating 9 11 Table Tennis 15 5 Volleyball 42 23 Culture 8 5 Totals 424 291

Note: We’ve included coaches in the Games column, but not the trials column. 2010 ARCTIC WINTER GAMES

SUMMARY OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURES TEAM YUKON

Summary of Revenue and Expenditures (Games and Trials)

REVENUE EXPENDITURES

Federal Contribution - Travel $ 0 Transportation $ 225,000

YTG – Sport & Recreation $ 355,000 Accommodations/M $ 9,000 Branch eals Contract - $130,000 Travel - $225,000

Sponsors $ 2,500 Clothing and $ 132,000 Accessories

Participant Contribution $ 111,715 Facility $ 7,000 Rental/Receptions Games - $109,055 Pep-Rally Trials - $2,660

Sales $ 12,500 Sport Officials $ 1,000 Raffle - $12,500

Other $ 10,000 Administration $ 99,000 Sale of Seats (NWT skiers & Supporters) - $10,000 Other Raffle - $9,000 $ 9,000

Total $ 491,715 Total $ 482,000