“They try hard and they’re all good sports. I’m proud of them all.”

By JANE GEORGE

SHERBROOKE, Que. — For all the preparation that goes into organized sports competitions, wrestling matches between members of Team Nunavut and Team Alberta at the Canada Summer Games in Sherbrooke, Que. during the morning of Aug. 6 last only a few, attention-grabbing minutes.

The lead-in to the brief, intense matches is longer: the provincial and territorial teams, all sporting their team colours, marched into the gymnasium at the Sherbrooke CEGEP college behind the flags of their province or territory.

Then, in a traditional show of sportsmanship, the three members of Team Nunavut — and and their coach — shook hands with members of Team Alberta, their opponents for this round, who are many times more numerous.

Finally, the three wrestlers from Nunavut take off their blue, white and red team jackets, and strip off their pink team tee shirts — which feature an inuksuk on the back and a stop sign against bullying on the sleeve— to reveal their bright yellow wrestling uniforms. The wrestlers stretch in place as they wait to be called up.

Sandy Saviakjuk, 18, of Coral Harbour, Arthur Siksik, 17, of Rankin Inlet and David Haulli Jr., 18, of Igloolik then take their turns on the mat with wrestlers from Alberta.

After the match, the wrestlers all have sweat pouring down their faces. Haulli Jr. said he was shocked by the strength of his opponent from Alberta — who resisted his best efforts to be pinned. For Siksik, who’s been wrestling for two years, it’s his first major competition ever, so it’s all new. Saviakjuk said he just wishes he could have done even better.

But for their coach, Mike Soares of Cape Dorset, Team Nunavut wrestlers are all winners during this first round of matches. “They try hard and they’re all good sports. I’m proud of them all,” Soares said.

Pitted against large teams like Alberta’s, Nunavut wrestlers are at a disadvantage. Members of the Alberta team might see as many meets in a month as Nunavut’s wrestlers will attend during their entire wrestling career, Soares said.

Still Soares said his Inuit wrestlers have a big advantage because their bodies are the ideal shape and size for wrestling — and the youth he trains are fearless and coachable — a great combination for wrestling.

Just being at the Canada Summer Games is a big deal for all members of Team Nunavut, Soares said. As for why wrestling is the only sport represented by Nunavut, that’s because it’s the only summer sport in which Nunavut is competitive on a national level, he said.

With only three of the 4,200 athletes at games from Nunavut has only three, at the athletes’ village at the campus of Bishop’s University in Lennoxville, the members of Team Nunavut are treated like “rock stars,” Soares said — so much so that one wrestler took off his team outfit in the dining room just so he could have some peace during his meal.

Wrestling matches continued in the afternoon of Aug. 6 when Nunavut met B.C., the province considered to the strongest team.

But the Nunavut wrestlers aren’t the only wrestlers facing stiff competition” a wrestler from Newfoundland confides that he’s facing a past national champion in the afternoon of Aug. 6 and that one of his team members decided to head home, at his own expense, because he was scared of the competition.

The wrestling matches continue Aug. 7 and Aug. 8. The way the competitions are structured, the larger teams will have the edge over Team Nunavut in winning the competition between teams, although, in individual matches, Nunavut wrestlers can still come out on top.

For members of Team Nunavut, what’s important is that they’re at the games, having fun, they all say — and feeling the support from people back home.

For more information on the Canada Summer Games, visit its website.

Look for more coverage from the Canada Summer Games and more photos later on Nunatsiaqonline.ca and on the Nunatsiaq News Facebook page.