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Christian Patterson will lead many of Saskatchewan’s best amateur athletes as they compete against Western Canada’s best next month.
The 18-year-old Regina canoe-kayaker was named Team Saskatchewan’s flag-bearer for the 2019 Western Canada Summer Games, which are to be held Aug. 9-18 in Swift Current.
“I didn’t think I would even be nominated for it,” Patterson said Tuesday. “It means a lot to me that I’ve performed well enough this year and gave back enough to my sport that I was up for consideration and I won that honour.”
He has competed in his sport for 10 years and was at the 2015 Western Canada Summer Games in Fort McMurray, Alta. He said one of his teammates was the flag-bearer during that event.
“I was walking behind her and I was like, ‘I really want to do this,’ ” Patterson said. “That’s a really cool thing to have happened.”
The Games began in 1975, with the first being held in Regina. This will be the fifth time Saskatchewan has played host to the Games; the last time was in 1999 in Prince Albert.
Many athletes who competed in the Games have gone on to accomplish great things in the sporting world. That includes Taryn Suttie and Kaylyn Kyle, who won a 2012 Olympic bronze medal in women’s soccer.
The Western Canada Summer Games will feature 346 amateur Saskatchewan athletes who are to participate in 16 sports (athletics, baseball, basketball, beach volleyball, canoe/kayak, cycling, diving, golf, rowing, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, triathlon, volleyball and wrestling).
Some of the athletes, including 14-year-old Julia Petryna, will compete in their first Games.
The wrestler has only competed for a year but has fallen in love with the sport.
“I like beating up on kids and not getting in trouble for it and getting my anger out,” Petryna said. “I’ve put in a lot of time, starting at the gym and then wrestling practice. Our coach pushes us really hard and he likes to see us succeed.”
Petryna said she wasn’t sure if she would make Team Sask.
“I went up against a Grade 10 girl and she was really good. I did not think I’d be here,” Petryna said.
Team Sask chef de mission Mark Bracken believes the Games can be the highlight of a young athlete’s life.
“(The Games are) either a stepping stone to bigger and better things — we’ve got numerous athletes in the province that have gone on to represent Canada — and for some athletes this might be the pinnacle of their career,” Bracken said.
“It’s a great opportunity that they get to come and enjoy.”
Bracken got involved with Team Sask in the 1999 Canada Games held in Corner Brook, N.L.
He said he didn’t know how much money the city of Swift Current could earn from the 2019 Games, but expects it to be somewhere in the range of $4 million to $8 million.
Around 1,600 athletes from Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba, Yukon, Nunavut and the North West Territories will be participating. The Games also features events for paralympic athletes.