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Athletes ready for Manitoba Summer Games

The Flin Flon area will be well represented at the upcoming Manitoba Summer Games. A total of 48 area athletes will head to Steinbach for this year’s games, held August 7 to 13.

The Flin Flon area will be well represented at the upcoming Manitoba Summer Games. A total of 48 area athletes will head to Steinbach for this year’s games, held August 7 to 13. 

The athletes will participate as part of Team Norman in four different sports – basketball, soccer, swimming and volleyball.

In addition, the Norman girls’ volleyball team, girls’ soccer team, and boys’ soccer team are almost entirely made up of Flin Flon athletes and coaches.

“The parents of the kids from Flin Flon have been really, really committed,” said Rob Abbott, coach of the under-13 boys’ soccer team. “They know it’s a fantastic experience for their kids, and we’ve done a lot of travel.”

Abbott is one of those parents. His son Brayden is one of the 14 players on his team – 13 of whom come from Flin Flon, Creighton or Channing. The team will be playing against seven other teams, each representing a different area of the province. 

In total, eight areas are represented in the Games. While the Norman region is by far the largest area from a geographic perspective, it has one of the smallest population bases to draw from. 

“Obviously, it’s going to be a big challenge,” said Abbott. “We’re 13 kids from Flin Flon, one kid from Thompson, and we’re competing from some teams who were drawing from between 300 and 400 kids. It’s going to be a challenge, but I think we’re up for the challenge, and we’re going to compete very well.”

Abbott’s confidence is shared by his son, Brayden. “I think we might be able to win,” he said of the U-13 soccer team. “We played Parkland in an exhibition game and played really well against them. They’re not in our pool, but I think we can pull off a good game against all the teams.”

In the 2012 games, held in Swan Valley, Team Norman brought home 41 medals total, including 14 golds. Out of the eight teams participating, Norman finished fourth on the medal table. 

The games have been held since 1974, following the Olympic cycle of one event every four years for both summer and winter. The event has come to the Norman region three times: Flin Flon for the 1986 Winter Games, Thompson for the 1994 Winter Games, and The Pas/OCN for the 2002 Winter Games.

Flin Flon coaching connection

One of the top coaching teams at the upcoming Manitoba Summer Games has deep roots in Flin Flon.

Terri-Lynn and Doug Mack are in charge of the Eastman triathlon team participating in this year’s games. 

Terri-Lynn, a former university level athlete who represented Hapnot Collegiate in high school sports, is the team’s coach. 

Her father, Doug, currently a junior high teacher in Steinbach, is the team’s manager. 

The Mack family lived in Flin Flon and moved to Steinbach in 2012.

Terri-Lynn took part in the Summer Games herself, representing Team Norman. She won a gold medal in the 2008 games, finishing a full two minutes before the second-place finisher. 

For Terri-Lynn, being at the games as a coach is different from being there as an athlete, but the experience is still thrilling. 

“It’s a little different, because it’s not me competing,” she said. “It’s still exciting because they put so much time into being athletes and we get to see them succeed, just like how I did.”

For the Macks, the games are a family affair. Terri-Lynn’s younger sisters, Joanne and Allison, also took part in the Summer Games. Joanne was Flin Flon’s only individual medal winner in 2012, winning a bronze in the triathlon. 

Doug, the proud father, has either coached or volunteered in every games since 2008. 

 

“It’s our fourth Games as a family, taking part either as athletes or coaches,” said Terri-Lynn. “All my sisters were athletes there, and now we’re all either coaching or volunteering.”

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