Team Nova Scotia will be an ocean of blue Friday, July 28, at the opening ceremony for the 2017 Canada Games in Winnipeg, then kick the whole event off a few hours later.
The ceremony begins at 9 p.m., Nova Scotia time, and will be broadcast live by TSN, the first of 40 hours of coverage on the network. You can also follow along live with Team Nova Scotia on the team’s Facebook page and photos will be available after the ceremony at www.teamnovascotia.ca.
Mabou’s Siobhan MacDonald will lead Team Nova Scotia’s Week 1 athletes as flag-bearer for the opening ceremony at Bell MTS Place. Ms. MacDonald is a double amputee who will compete in the 2.4mR para-sailing event. She finished fourth in the event in the 2013 Games.
“We have a team of 425 athletes, coaches and managers who will represent Nova Scotia over the next two weeks,” said Chef de Mission Stephen Gallant, whose son Luke is a swimmer with Team Nova Scotia. “I can’t wait to watch these tremendous athletes in competition and see all their hard work and training pay off. It will be something to remember for the rest of their lives.”
Nova Scotia will take part in the first competition at the games, with the women’s basketball team tipping off against Team Yukon at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 29. The men’s team, a medal favourite, will play host Manitoba at 7:45 p.m.
“Getting the chance to play the first game is very exciting,” said Meghan MacLeod, of Wolfville, who is a guard for Team Nova Scotia. “All of our players will have lots of adrenaline and excitement running through us that will hopefully transition into positive nerves on the court.”
Other Week 1 sports are athletics, baseball, men’s softball, mountain bike, diving, rowing, sailing, women’s soccer, triathlon and men’s and women’s beach volleyball.
Week 2 sports are indoor volleyball, wrestling, tennis, swimming, women’s softball, men’s soccer, golf, road cycling and canoe/kayak. Athletes in those sports will arrive Saturday Aug. 4, and participate in the closing ceremonies. Paddler Zane Clarke, a multiple national gold-medal winner, will be the team’s flag-bearer.
For more information on the 2017 Canada Games, including schedules, information on team members, and a link to the live webcasts, visit www.teamnovascotia.ca. On social media, the team is @teamnovascotia on Twitter, teamns on Facebook, teamnovascotia on Instagram, teamns2017 on Snapchat, Team NS 2017 on Flickr and teamnovascotia on Medium.
Sponsors and partners of Team Nova Scotia include the Government of Nova Scotia, Sport Nova Scotia, the Nova Scotia Provincial Lotteries and Casino Corp., Atlantic Lottery Corp. and Karbon Sports.
Source: Release