Dave Leaderhouse
Special to the Herald
The excitement is growing and it became even more palpable on Sunday as dozens of athletes, coaches and managers from the Lakeland District gathered at Carlton Comprehensive High School for a pep rally in preparation for the upcoming 2026 Saskatchewan Winter Games.
“We want everyone to have a good experience,” said Lakeland chef de mission Helen Meekins prior to the event. “We want good competition, everyone to have fun and to meet new people.”
The Games, which are held every two years alternating between winter and summer disciplines, will be held in Meadow Lake and the Flying Dust First Nation on Feb. 15-21 with more than 1500 participants from nine provincial districts showcasing their talents.
There are 17 different sports scheduled for the Winter Games with Lakeland District sending close to 160 participants to vie for medals in 13 of them. Lakeland District, which just wrapped up qualifying events on Saturday, will not be represented in artistic swimming, biathlon and Special Olympic bowling while ringette is back in the line-up as a demonstration sport with four teams being formed from participants from all over the province.
Sports that will see local competitors in action are: curling (male and female), bowling, cross-country skiing, wrestling, figure skating, judo, badminton, table tennis, gymnastics, speed skating, target shooting and futsal, which is a scaled down version of soccer with just five players on each side. Half the events will be held during the first three days with the remainder grabbing the spotlight during the final three days of the Games.
The Winter Games, which are open to athletes 11-18 years of age, generally serve as a springboard to higher levels of competition such as the Canada Games or North American Indigenous Games. They are also held to promote healthy, active and creative lifestyles, which is part of the Lakeland District’s motto.
In addition to being provided team uniforms on Sunday, the participants were also given information packages outlining several items including accreditation, transportation, accommodation and meals. Athlete’s villages will be in a pair of high schools in Meadow Lake with events being held throughout the community in addition to the Flying Dust First Nation, which is the first ever indigenous community hosting this event in the more than 50 years that the Games have been staged.
Lakeland District, which encompasses a large area of the province starting from the Manitoba border to the east all the way to as far as Spiritwood to the west, Candle Lake to the north and Naicam to the south, will be looking to improve on its 34 medals (6 gold, 17 silver, 11 bronze) it won when the last Winter Games were held in 2023 in Regina. Originally scheduled for 2022 those Games were postponed one year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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