Team Sask Names Flag Bearer, Announces Full Contingent Ahead of the 2019 Western Canada Summer Games
REGINA, SK (July 30, 2019): Team Sask has announced the names of the 436 participants that will represent the province at the 2019 Western Canada Summer Games in Swift Current, SK. Additionally, Team Sask has named the flag bearer who will lead Saskatchewan into the Opening Ceremony on August 9th. The Games will run until August 18th.
Regina Canoe Kayak athlete Christian Patterson will be Opening Ceremony flag bearer for Team Sask. Patterson, 18, is a multiple-time national medalist in the sport of Canoe, and earned first and second place finishes at the recent National Team Trials. He is an alumni of the Saskatchewan Games, and will be representing Team Sask for the second time after competing at the 2015 Western Canada Summer Games in Wood Buffalo, AB. His age will make him eligible to compete at the 2021 Canada Summer Games in Niagara Region, ON.
Patterson has been training and competing in his sport for ten years, and on top of training full-time in the summers with Wascana Racing Canoe Club under coach Mike Robinson, gives back to his sport through coaching juniors at his club. At the upcoming Games, Patterson is striving to top the podium in several events as well as set a new C-1 5000m record.
The full contingent named to represent Team Sask at the 2019 Western Canada Summer Games is comprised of 347 athletes, 69 coaches, managers and technical staff, and 19 mission staff. Athletes will compete in 16 different sports. There are 82 communities across Saskatchewan represented by Team Sask participants, making this a truly provincial team.
With strong medal contenders in many disciplines, and national and provincial champions in their respective sports found among the team’s ranks, Team Sask will aim to improve upon its fourth-place overall finish and medal count of 127 at the 2015 Western Canada Summer Games in Wood Buffalo, AB. Approximately 1,600 of Canada's top amateur athletes from Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba, Yukon, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories will compete at the Games.
At a media conference on July 30th at Regina's Sportplex-Fieldhouse, Team Sask Chef de Mission Mark Bracken formally announced Team Sask's full contingent to media and addressed the crowd of over 100 athletes, coaches, staff and parents in attendance. “Every one of our teams has put in a tremendous amount of preparation to get ready for their moment on this major stage,” Bracken said. “These Games will be an opportunity to build lifelong memories, meet new friends from across the western provinces and northern territories, and enjoy the incredible experience that only a major multi-sport Games can offer.”
The full team roster, which can be sorted by sport and by community, can be found here.
The following sports will be contested during the 10 days of the Games:
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Athletes who compete at the Western Canada Summer Games represent the country’s next generation of national, international and Olympic champions. Team Sask alumni and Olympians Kaylyn Kyle, Taryn Suttie and Erica Gavel (Paralympian) can all count their previous Western Canada Summer Games experiences as a stepping stone to the highest levels of sport. Many of these athletes will go on to compete at the Canada Games, North American Indigenous Games, and even the Olympics.
Throughout the Games, an ongoing Team Sask medal count will be found on the Team Sask website at teamsask.ca, and live results and sport schedules will be found at https://wcsg2019.gems.pro. Daily content can be found on Team Sask social media: Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
The official 2019 Western Canada Summer Games website is located at www.2019wcsg.ca.
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For more information, please contact:
Karen Lawson
Games Services & Communications Lead
Saskatchewan Games Council
w: (306) 780-9387 | c: (306) 529-3120
klawson@saskgames.ca
