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Hundreds of NWT youth showing their skill, strength, and northern spirit
Team NT Trials for the 2026 Arctic Winter Games this March in Whitehorse have taken over sports facilities across Yellowknife and Dettah though Saturday
More than 600 athletes, along with coaches, chaperones, volunteers and parents are in Yellowknife for the Team NT Trials for the 2026 Arctic Winter Games in Whitehorse this March.
The trials feature young athletes from communities across the NWT competing in sport such as: table tennis; curling; female and male hockey; wrestling; basketball; Dene Games and Arctic Games.
The extremely difficult Arctic Games feature such sports as: kneel jump; knuckle hop; one-and two-foot high jump; and the Alaskan High Kick.
The latter category at Range Lake North School’s gymnasium was where CKLB found 13-year-old Amy Tobac from Fort Good Hope on Thursday, doing her best to kick a fur ball suspended on a string several feet in the air.
“I’m bad at that,” she said with a smile, adding she prefers other sports, such as the one-foot high jump and Dene Games stick pull.
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- Amy Tobac, 13, from Fort Good Hope gets some coaching from Darlene Gruben on the Alaskan High Kick during the first day of the Team NT 2026 Arctic Winter Games Trials at Range Lake North School in Yellowknife. (James O’Connor/CKLB)
She said she was having fun so far on the trip with classmates from her Sahtu Region community and plans to take in the city’s new Aquatic Centre when not at the trials (the City of Yellowknife is offering free admittance for athletes).
Byron Kotodak is a prominent NWT athlete from the NWT, who competes in in strength-based sports in Dene and Arctic games.
Kotodak notes that success in the Alaskan High Kick event requires a mix of agility, strength, and balance, and he competes in all events, although he excels more in strength-based games.
The 2024 Sport North Federation Senior Male Athlete of the Year from Tuktoyaktuk, who now lives in Yellowknife, said the trials are a good chance to compete and see some familiar faces.
He said he’s also looking forward to Whitehorse — “if I make the team!”
Team NT Trials for the 2026 Arctic Winter Games continue through Saturday at various locations, such as: William McDonald School; Sir John Franklin High School; Yellowknife Curling Club, Yellowknife Ski Club; Chief Drygeese Centre and the Shorty Brown and Ed Jeske arenas.
A total of 350 athletes will be chosen for the Winter Games.
