(September 29, 2017) – After the first round of open trials, the Arctic Winter Games look promising for Alberta North’s male and female juvenile teams. Trials took place in both Grande Prairie and Fort McMurray last month, with a total of 71 enthusiastic players in attendance.

“In areas such as Fort McMurray, we recognize we don’t have as many athletes as bigger cities and communities, but what we tend to turn our attentions to instead, is the “desire to learn and improve”. The lack of human capital is something that all of us coaches and even our players see, not as a disadvantage, but as a strength,” said boys head coach, Shervin Hajami. “We aim to thrive on collaboration and cooperation within our teams and the tryouts that we held for the Arctic Winter Games showed exactly that.”

Each of the players demonstrated an impressive amount of enthusiasm, determination, and respect. Nearly all of them personally thanked and shook hands with the assessors and event administrators at the end of the trials, which for a group of 10-13 year-old children, is a great testament to the coaches they have worked with up to this point.

Of the 71 players who took part in the first round of trials, 39 were chosen to attend final tryouts in November.

“I was excited to see the exceptional talent Grande Prairie has to offer on both the boys and girls side. I expect the final tryouts in Fort McMurray to be challenging as there is a lot of talent on both sides,” said Christine Reid, the girl’s head coach. “I’m looking forward to showcasing our athletes internationally in March.”

Final Tryouts will take place on November 25-26, and roster announcements will follow shortly after.