Athletes get in final day of practice before North American Indigenous Games begin

North American Indigenous games begin in Halifax It’s game on at the North American Indigenous games, with traditional sports competitions kicking off in Halifax Monday.

Team athletes from across North America went to their final practice at the RBC Centre in Dartmouth, N.S., on Sunday, ahead of the official start of North American Indigenous Games.

On the final day of training, volleyball athletes from Team New Brunswick started bright and early on the sand court, getting in as much practice as they could before their game on Tuesday.

Their head coach, Adam Spragg, said his team is excited to go.

“It’s been very cool. You can feel the anxious energy, like ‘let’s get this going.’ We want it to start.”

In the court next to Team New Brunswick, Team Yukon was preparing in their own way, by playing a game amongst themselves.

Assistant coach Jeffery McLean said there aren’t many athletes to compete against in the Yukon.

Leading up to the games, the team has been focused on building their skills together by competing in teams against one another.

“We’ve got the best of the best here, but what makes this exciting is this is one of our first times to compete against other teams outside the Yukon,” said McLean.

While the teams practiced their cut shots on the sand court, Nova Scotia’s lacrosse team was going over their playbook across the field.

The build up to the game is immense, but team officials said the players are ready.

“You can see it in their eyes. They’re hyped. They’re just glowing. They’re just excited to play and they can’t wait,” said Terry Bernard, chef de mission for Team Nova Scotia.

Inside the RBC Centre, practice continued for many teams, including Team Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, and Ontario.

Travis Hill, assistant coach for Team Ontario’s men’s lacrosse, said the focus is on character-building and team work, win or lose.

“A lot of these players haven’t played with each other and it’s the same throughout the entire games. A lot of these teams and athletes haven’t played with one another, so that teambuilding is going to carry on throughout the entire week.”

Athletes from Team PEI arrived later in the day, which prevented them from getting time for practice. However, some teams will still get the chance to practice Monday.