Athletes, coaches, and parents from across the province are on their way to Grande Prairie, as approximately 100 people are expected to be in the city for the first-ever Alberta North Sport Conference this Saturday.
Grande Prairie Regional Sport Connection Executive Director Karna Germsheid says they worked hard to bring this event here.
“The region, the community, the northwest region, even eastern BC and the Northwest Territories; it’s time that we host things like this up north instead of having people fly right over our region into the major centres.”
The one-day conference will feature a number of guest speakers including Jennifer Sygo, the performance nutritionist for the Toronto Raptors and Ron Thomson, Grande Prairie Regional College Sport, Fitness and Wellness director. Despite the subject matter, Germsheid says the event is not just for elite athletes and coaches.
“It’s for people who are in the sports system and they just want to receive more information so they are better qualified to do their own programming; it’s for parents so that they feel more confident in supporting their athletes.”
She says this event is important for the organization and the city because it helps put Grande Prairie on the map and may lead to more opportunities in the future.
“We are constantly turning out quality volunteers, quality athletes, quality coaches and we’re consistently meeting the mark… When we have more access to education then we can help increase the quality programming.”
There is still space available at the conference and people can register online. The event will be held at the Paradise Inn & Conference Centre from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.