UNITY— Saskatchewan Winter Games will take place in Regina Feb. 19 to 25 and six local residents will be part of these games.
Unity Composite High School student, Thomas Snell will join McLurg High School’s Kaden Braun, Payton Schell, along with Cheyanne Cey, who was added to the team in January, and will all be competing with Team Rivers West in badminton.
Snell says he learned of tryouts in November and learned he had made the Rivers West team in December.
Rivers West badminton coach, Amanda Carruthers, of Biggar, has a few practices scheduled where she will determine categories for each athlete.
Thomas has a busy basketball schedule with away tournaments the three weekends leading up to the Winter Games. In badminton, he has primarily played singles throughout his UCHS Warrior badminton career, however in 2022 he completed in boys’ doubles with Jesse Deck. Thomas won bronze in Battle West Districts in Grade 8 and then the pandemic shutdown stopped school sports for Grades 9 and 10. He won silver with Jesse in Grade 11, advancing to regionals.
Payton Schell, says she tried out for Team Rivers West and learned in early December she was going to be part of the badminton team.
“Since Grade 7, I've been playing mixed doubles with Kaden and we have done fairly well throughout high school. Last year (as Grade 11s) we placed first or second in every tournament and got first in conferences, first in districts and then ended up losing out at regionals to the first and third provincial winners.”
As of press time we had not heard back from Kaden Braun after making contact the first week in February.
Cheyanne Cey is a Grade 10 student from McLurg High School in Wilkie.
"I’ve been playing badminton since Grade 7. Last year, as a Grade 9 student I played junior and senior badminton with my girls’ doubles partner, Kierra Babchuk. We earned second in a close match at the junior districts, and we had a lot of fun and success at quite a few tournaments," says Cheyanne.
Cheyanne said she was approached in early January to play for Team Rivers West badminton as part of Saskatchewan Winter Games and is excited to have this opportunity.
Amanda Carruthers will be coaching the badminton team at Sask. Winter Games.
“I was part of the athlete selection process for Teams Rivers west and badminton must follow a set tryout format set by Saskatchewan Badminton Association, which involves two tryout dates where competitors play a singles’ round robin to determine placing,” Carruthers says.
The top five boys and the top give girls were selected for the team.
“We only had four athletes attend tryouts, so with assistance, those players and district school coaches put me in touch with a few additional players to join Team Rivers West.”
Carruthers is originally from Ontario where she grew up competing provincially, nationally and for the University of Waterloo, as well an athlete \ in two Ontario Winter Games. She has obtained level one and two coaching certificates, and helped coach a number of clubs and players in Ontario.
“After moving to Biggar, I have helped coach at St. Gabriel's school, BCS 2000 school and have managed and coached the Rivers West badminton team for the past two SWG (2014 manager, 2018 coach). I am excited to be attending the games again with a great group of athletes as we set our sights on a medal,” adds Carruthers.
Recent UCHS graduate, Alexis Elder, who was a SWG participant, is now serving as female alpine ski coach for Team Rivers West.
“I was an athlete at the 2018 Sask Winter Games in North Battleford, and I competed in Alpine skiing. I took home a gold medal in the U14 women’s slalom and a fourth place in the U14 women’s ski cross,” Elder says.
“This year I was recommended for the Rivers West Women’s alpine coach as I am currently also one of the head coaches at our local hill, Table Mountain, for the alpine race team. My role at the games is going to be working with each of my athletes one-on-one in the start before a race and also co-ordinating with them to make sure that everyone is on time and where they need to be. I also will be staying with the athletes at the athlete village and participating in meetings before the races to keep the athletes safe while on the hill.”
Elder says her transition from athlete to coach started last year when she was in Grade 12. She coached the younger aged athletes in the Nancy Greene program and moved up to coach the race team and taking on a head coach position this year.
“I currently still am racing at Sask. races while doing my university classes and coaching on weekends. I balance my university and ski schedule by making sure that I am doing all my work during the week so that my weekends are free to be completely focused on the athletes. I am very excited for my athletes to be participating in these games and I can’t wait to see how they all do,” adds Elder.
Arlene Southgate, longtime Rivers West District board member will serve as assistant chef de mission
Southgate has been involved with the sports, culture and recreation district for more than 20 years. She says she is excited to be part of the 50th anniversary celebration for Saskatchewan Winter Games.
“We are the ‘go-to guys’ for athletes, parents and coaches. This year I am serving as assistant chef de mission for the first time. I have served in other roles in years previous. I look forward to interacting with athletes and fans and be part of Rivers West district pride.”
Unity's Chenae Bowker will be part of Team Rivers West categorized as a fill athlete, meaning she has qualified as a competitor to fill-in for another zone if needed to fill their quote of six. Not every zone has ski racers so they enlist extra athletes that didn't qualify for their own zone to fill a race spot in a different zone, but Chenae will still be proudly sporting Rivers West gear at the games.
Canada Winter Games take place in Prince Edward Island Feb 15 to March 6 and Cole Reschny of Macklin is the lone athlete from the Unity-Wilkie Press-Herald readership area selected for Team Saskatchewan participation.
