Sept. 4 is the day when everything gets back to normal for parents.

But while it's the first official day of the new school year, it also means another year of school sports is set to begin.

The NWT School Athletics Federation is responsible for all scholastic sporting events in the territory and that includes the first big territorial championship of the season: the Elks Outdoor Soccer Tournament in Hay River, which is scheduled to happen this year from Sept. 21 to 23. Last year's tournament featured athletes from Hay River, Fort Smith, Yellowknife, Fort Simpson and Fort Liard taking part.

Participation is the name of the game for the federation, according to its president, Tobi Dusome.

She said the more athletes taking part in events, the better off they'll be down the road.

SA国际影视传媒淏eing a multi-sport athlete is so important, especially at the younger ages,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淚t's important that the young athletes get involved in as many sports as they can. Representing your school is a big deal and that's really cool no matter what age you're at but empowering youth and having them play is key.SA国际影视传媒�

The added benefits of better co-ordination and understanding physical fitness with students competing in a variety of sports are big as well, she added.

SA国际影视传媒淟ong-term athlete development is the model every sport is shooting for nowadays,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淭here's a big push to get kids active in many sports and teaching physical literacy in phys-ed classes will only help with that co-ordination. We're providing kids with every opportunity to to compete in sports.SA国际影视传媒�

The big events of the season are always the outdoor soccer tournament in Hay River, followed by the Spike It! tournaments in October, the NWT Badminton Championships in Hay River in December, the Cager basketball tournaments in February, Super Soccer in late April and early May and the NWT Track and Field Championships in Hay River in June.

Dusome said because the school sports season is so short, the federation does the best it can to make sure everything is spaced out but not to the detriment of any one sport.

SA国际影视传媒淲e try to keep it equal so all sports get close to the same amount of practice time leading up to it,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淲e talk to the TSOs (territorial sport organizations) to get some help and we know that teams head down south to play in tournaments so we do our best not to conflict with any of that.SA国际影视传媒�
Try as they might, Dusome said it doesn't always work out as some students do end up missing school sports tournaments.

SA国际影视传媒淚 know there's some athletes who will be missing Cager because of the Canada Winter Games (in February) but you can't help that,SA国际影视传媒� she said.

As much as the athletic side of the federation is important, these are student athletes, said Dusome, and there's a reason the word 'student' precedes athlete.

SA国际影视传媒淎ll of the athletes must be in good standing with their school and they must be doing well academically,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淧erforming well in school is a must, as is attendance, and we are big advocates for that.SA国际影视传媒�