Gearing up for another school year, Andrew Gilmour, executive director for the NWT School Sports Association, has a lot on his plate.
"We're hitting the ground running," he said, listing each of the upcoming school sports tournaments happening in 2024-25.
First on the list is the Aurora Ford Outdoor Soccer Tournament, said Gilmour. It's happening in Hay River, starting on Sept. 20, and lasting for two days.
Gilmour added that he's still waiting on some information on which grades will participate in this tournament.
"We're still finding our feet under us with this association. And I think that this is going to be the first Aurora Ford outdoor soccer tournament in Hay River that happens with the association being a part of it. So, I'm going to go and we're going to support the tournament, help as much as we can," he said.
Post-tournament, Gilmour said he's hoping to learn more about how he can help for following year's event.
"It's a bit of a ramp up in terms of building relationships," he said.
Following that, it's off to Fort Providence for the NWT Cross-Country Championships on Sept. 27. Junior Spike It!, the first big volleyball tournament of the year, is scheduled to happen from Oct. 3 to 6 in Yellowknife, followed by the Lawrie Hobart Memorial Volleyball Tournament in Fort Smith from Oct. 18 to 20. That leads into Senior Spike It! from Oct. 30 to Nov. 3.
The Wade Hamer Challenge Cup, which pits Sir John Franklin versus St. Pat's on the ice, is set for Nov. 20 while the Scott McAdam NWT Badminton Championships are happening in Hay River on Nov. 29 and 30.
The Cager basketball tournaments are happening in Yellowknife with the junior version from Feb. 27 to March 2, 2025 followed by the senior tournament from March 6 to 9. Junior Super Soccer in Yellowknife is scheduled to occur from April 30 to May 4 with Senior Super Soccer, also in Yellowknife, happening from May 7 to 11.
It all wraps up with the NWT Track and Field Championships in Hay River from June 4 to 6.
The association also has its own website. Gilmour said he's looking for a company to help update it.
"The big thing that the website I'm hoping will do is create a registration data base system that will be easy for us to have people sign up online," he said.
In Yellowknife, Gilmour mentioned there will be badminton, table tennis and soccer tournaments and more happening this coming school year. For him personally, he said he's looking forward most to one event in particular.
"My daughter is into volleyball quite a bit, so I'm actually quite excited about the volleyball tournament at the start of the year here. And it's also the first one that I'm going to be fully running," he said. "I'm looking forward to that one the most."
