Tryouts and selection camps have lead six local athletes to Grande Prairie this weekend for the Alberta Summer Games.
The Games began July 19 and run to July 21 in Grande Prairie. The Alberta Summer Games feature young athletes between the ages of 11 and 17 who have qualified to represent their zone in the eight-zone provincial map.
Lac La Biche Soccer players Brody Finnestad and Zack Przybylski are playing on the team representing northern Alberta's Zone 7. Chloe Gauthier Schaub is on the Zone 7 girls soccer team. The soccer players are joined by swimmer Jacob Okrainec and triathletes Frances Farrant and Jane Atkin.
"This is so exciting and such a wonderful opportunity for our young athletes," said Jennifer Okrainec, the coach of the Lac La Biche Whitecaps swim club and the coach for the Zone 7 swimmers. "They get to represent their region and communities and get to experience what it is like to be part of a multi-sport event."
Part of that experience was the selection process.
More than 50 young athletes tried out for just 18 spots on the Zone 7 boys soccer team. Through five days of tryouts in June in Fort McMurray and Lac La Biche, the team was selected, including the two Lac La Biche players. On the girls side, there were two dozen players trying out for the 18-member team. Once the rosters of both teams were cemented, the teams spent a week in early July practicing together in Fort McMurray.
Triathletes Atkin and Farrant qualified at separate events in Edmonton earlier this year. Farrant qualified at the Coronation Triathlon on May 27 and Atkin qualified at the Kids of Steel event on June 16
Lac La Biche's 13-year-old swimmer Jacob Okrainec qualified on June 10 in Lloydminster, competing against athletes from Fort McMurray to Wainwright and Lloydminster. He is one of 26 Zone 7 swimmers. He competes at the games in several categories, including the 400-metre, 100-metre and 50-metre freestyle and breaststroke events.
In results posted on Saturday, Okrainec had finished his first event, the 100m freestyle in a time of one minute and 14 seconds, nine seconds behind the first place swimmer, and 11 seconds ahead of the final swimmer, giving him an eighth place finish out of the 12 athletes competing. He also placed seventh in the 400-metre freestyle with a time of six minutes, and seventh in the 50-metre breaststroke with a time of 47.75 seconds.
Early results also came in on Saturday from the soccer pitch, where both zone 7 team are battling some tough opposition.
Przybylski and Finnestad and their boys team lost their Games opener on Friday 8-2 against a tough Zone 6 team from the Edmonton region. They also dropped a 4-0 decision this afternoon to the Zone 5 team from the Sherwood Park and Spruce Grove region. The girls have been shut out in their first two games, losing identical 11-0 tilts to Zone 6 and then to the Zone 5 team.
Both teams play their final round robin games of the event later today.
Results so far for Farrant and Atkin were not available. Both girls are competing in the girls 12-13 individual triathlon, where they are competing against 22 other athletes from around Alberta. Farrant and Atkin will swim 300-metres, bike 10 kilometres and run three kilometres.
Check Tuesday's POST and the Lac La Biche POST Facebook Page for updated results.
Great Experience
Win or lose, to be part of an elite squad of selected athletes competing with other high-calibre athletes is a great opportunity, says coach Okrainec.
"The friendships they will make and the experiences they have will be something they will always remember," she said.
