NORTHEAST – Over 220 athletes, coaches and managers for Team Lakeland will be heading to Lloydminster to compete in the 2024 Saskatchewan Summer Games July 21-27.
The 2024 Saskatchewan Summer Games in Lloydminster will see competition among upwards of 1,800 participants from across Saskatchewan in 15 different sports. These include: archery, athletics, baseball, basketball, beach volleyball, canoe kayak, golf, soccer, softball, special olympics - bocce, swimming, tennis, triathlon, volleyball, and wheelchair basketball.
Crystal Clarke, Chef de Mission for Team Lakeland said Team Lakeland is about 90 per cent full for athletes competing. At the last Summer Games in 2016, Team Lakeland filled 85 per cent of the team positions.
Athletes from all over the Northeast are competing. Team Lakeland held a pep rally at Carlton Comprehensive High School on Saturday July 6 with about 110 athletes plus coaches, managers and parents attending.
For many youth, this will be an experience they won’t soon forget. Bjorkdale local, Daniellyn Johnson made the team and will be competing in shotput, discus, and hammer throw. She hopes to bring home gold to her hometown.
The Saskatchewan Games originated in 1972 when Roy Romanow, the minister then in charge of the Saskatchewan Youth Agency, held the inaugural Saskatchewan Games. The province was divided into eight competitor zones, with Saskatoon and Regina each considered individual zones.
Clarke said, “Lloydminster’s host committee has quite the experiences planned for those attending the games in the boarder city. The level of competition and experience of the multi-sport events is like Saskatchewan’s own Olympic style games.”
He added they are excited to have eight dual sport athletes and one dual sport coach who will stay in Lloydminster and compete/coach for the entire week, taking part in both opening and closing ceremonies.