Southern Alberta Summer Games Regional Events a success

By Lethbridge Herald on July 18, 2022.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

The Southern Alberta Summer Games  wrapped up  its Lethbridge regional events yesterday in what was a successful format for the city.

There were 85 participants that competed in six events including Indigenous Games, horseshoes, badminton, golf, climbing and sports photography over a five-day span.

“It was awesome,” said  Parker Allen, programming communications intern at Lethbridge Sport Council.

“We had some really good participation. Obviously they were going to be smaller events than the typical Southern Alberta Summer Games where it’s all based in one spot and you have all the different events going on. But I was really happy that we were able to offer something for the community and I really loved the energy that all the different events had. People were really there to get out of their comfort zone, you know try something new and you know it was really awesome.”

Allen thought it was huge for the city to be involved this year.

“ I mean grass roots events like this are huge not just for fostering a love of sport with kids but for keeping adults active and keep them participating in different events they love and it helps them keep getting out of their comfort zone,” said Allen.

Despite the small numbers, Allen said what that did is it allowed people to make friends a little bit easier.

“At our badminton one, we saw people organizing times to meet up  for pick-up games later that week, “he said.

“At our golf one, we saw some teams of juniors become really great buddies. We got some people who made excellent relations with some  different clubs and like I said, people feeling a little bit more comfortable getting out of their comfort zone with being smaller events. With our regional event for climbing, that was the first time I would say  the large majority of participant had been in a climbing competition.”