The legacy of the 2024 Manitoba Summer Games powered by Manitoba Hydro in Dauphin will include a new rubberized track, as well as a new multi-use athletics pad at the DRCSS.

The announcement was made Friday at the track behind the local high school.

The project will cost $1.1 million, backed by a coalition of funding partners, including the Province of Manitoba, Mountain View School Division, Sport Manitoba, and the Dauphin and District Community Foundation.

Host committee co-chair Carla Wolfenden said the new track will be a huge addition to the community.

“It’s not just a games focus. This project is going to serve our whole region for years to come. Decades. It’s an investment in our youth. And just the benefits that come out of it, there’s so many intangibles. It’s going to be really nice to have,” she said.

Construction is expected to begin in late May and will be completed in time for the summer games.

Besides a new track, there will also be a new 100-foot by 60-foot multi-use pad where the runways for long jump are currently located. It will include new rubberized lanes for long jump, as well as an outdoor basketball court.

Having multiple funding partners was important to make the new track a reality.

“We’ve had support that we’re just so thankful for. And, honestly, it wouldn’t have happened without them. We were happy with just paving the track or doing a new asphalt track. But the support was there and we kept pursuing it and now we can rubberize. It’s kind of like icing on the cake,” Wolfenden said.

The volunteer drive did well at the recent Kin Business Expo, but Wolfenden said there is still a need for more help.

“Our goal is to have 1,000 by the end of May. And we’ll still need more beyond that. So we’re by no means finished recruiting. We’re about a quarter of the way there, maybe,” she said. “We know the support is there. When we talk to people in the street, people are still saying, ‘I want to volunteer, I just don’t know when I can yet.’ We know they’ll come.”

DRCSS Principal Taylor Schmidt feels the school is fortunate to have the summer games committee working with it to upgrade the track.

“It’s in our back yard, literally. So having the opportunity to use such a elite level track to support all of our students. It’s not just for our track team, but for all of our students of our Phys. Ed. programs, all of our sports programs. To be able to have a training facility like this in our back yard, just the opportunity to have it is second to none,” he said.

Having a multi-use pad for long jump and basketball is a welcome addition.

“That was quite nice. The pad out there, it can be used as a multi-surface pad, but looking to create a basketball court, again, in our back yard, for all of our students and for everybody, that was a bonus when they were sharing that with us, as well,” Schmidt said. “It’s going to be a wonderful addition to our whole campus. It’s going to bring people. This facility is going to be able to host major events. The opportunities are endless.”

The summer games will be held, Aug. 11 to 17.

The start of the golfing season in Gilbert Plains will be delayed due to flooding.

According to Gilbert Plains Country Club general manager Scott McCallum, there was about 2-1/2 feet of water flooding the course.

“Water was coming in the back door of the clubhouse. We’ve got areas of the clubhouse that were flooded. Our whole maintenance shed, our new hall, that had water in it. And that’s just speaking of the buildings and the equipment, never mind the golf course that has to be repaired,” he said. “I’m not going to downplay the magnitude of this. It’s a daunting task. Sometimes it can get you down, because you work so hard on a small budget to make that golf course as beautiful as we can. And for events like this to happen, it’s definitely difficult.”

Working in the country club’s favour is the dedication of its board of directors, as well as the many volunteers and staff, to making the course look its best.

“The municipality has been absolutely unbelievable in supporting us. The provincial government, for that matter, has been out to see the damages and we’re really hoping they can get behind us and help us with it,” McCallum said. “We’re stepping in the right direction. We’ve just got to execute and get the golfers out on the golf course.”

Clean up will be an ongoing project, McCallum said. The focus right now, he added, is getting the facility open and golfers out on the course.

“But clean up is going to be an ongoing endeavour, for sure. There’s some things that might not affect the golfers that have to be done and those will be put in priority and we’ll deal with that as we go,” he said. “But as of right now, we’re just focusing on trying to get the fairways and the greens and everything cleaned up and ready for the golfers. And, obviously, we’ve got some pretty big icebergs that we’ve got to get rid of off the golf course, as well.”

McCallum said about seven or eight holes have been affected by the flooding. But the goal is still to open the course in early May.

To celebrate the upcoming golf season, a Tee Off to Summer, presented by the Battle For the Belts, will be held, May 4. The evening will feature the Duelling Keys, with prizes and food available.

Tickets are available by calling McCallum at 204-648-7834.

The 2024 Manitoba Summer Games, powered by Manitoba Hydro, are less than four months away, but they are in dire need of volunteers.

Games co-chair Carla Wolfenden said they really need people to start signing up.

“We are getting to be in the time where we’re getting a little worried. I know we’re a last-minute town, but with an event this size and with the sheer number of volunteers that we need, people have to sign up early,” she said. “All of our committees need to have their volunteers, their work force scheduled by the middle of May and as of right now, we are very, very short for volunteers.”

Wolfenden is not surprised people are waiting until the last minute and is confident they will meet the required number needed come August.

“But we need them all to sign up now. We really need to get people signed up. A lot of people say, ‘yeah, I’m going to volunteer.’ But we actually need them to register online, so that our committees can get them scheduled,” she said.

To register, visit the Sport Manitoba website and click on the Manitoba games link under the programs tab at the top of the page. Then simply scroll down and click on the link and fill in the form to register as a volunteer.

Or Google Manitoba Summer Games and it will take you to the summer games page.

“If people aren’t comfortable with doing it on their own, they can go to our games co-ordinator who works at city hall, as they can sign up there,” Wolfenden said, adding they will also have a booth at the Business Expo this weekend.

Other than a need for volunteers, planning for the games is going well.

We have an amazing crew of committee chairs that are paving the way for all the volunteers out there to put on a really good event. Everything is proceeding. We’re now into the really nitty gritty details of planning,” she said.

“Not so much big picture stuff. But now the small details that are going to make or break an event. But it’s going really, really well from that point of view.”

The resurfacing of the track at the high school is expected to begin soon. Other than that, the rest of the facilities just need some fine tuning.

“Just cleaning things up a little. Adding a few things here and there. Polishing. Making sure the soccer and rugby fields are weed free,” Wolfenden said. “We want to put on a good show and make our town look nice and our facilities are the main focus. So we’re looking forward to how they look come August.”

Some sports have already started their qualifying process, while others will take place in the coming months.

“Teams will start being finalized starting in May, again, depending on the sport. But some may not be in until mid-July,” Wolfenden said. “Hopefully, we have some local athletes representing. I know we have some local coaches and officials, but we really are excited to see some local athletes on those teams.”

The host committee will hold its last meeting with all of the provincial sport organizations represented, Apr. 26 and 27.

“Each committee is giving their, not quite final, but progress report on what’s going on and what still has to be done and what the plans are for each of their areas. So there will be 100 people here to hear some presentations,” Wolfenden said.

The Manitoba Summer Games will take place, Aug. 11 to 17.