STEPHENVILLE The first Bay St. George Regional Games, scheduled to start Wednesday, was cancelled.
As of last Friday, the deadline for registration, no one had registered for the event, which was free of charge.
Coordinator Mike Alexander is confused as to why not one kid signed up.
"It's just weird," he said. "I'm not 100 per cent sure how to interpret it yet. It's not a positive thing, obviously."
Alexander said emails, flyers and other public awareness initiatives were distributed to let parents know about the Games.
"It's a combination of end of school year, people are busy, people are tired," he said. "Whether the messages got filtered down to the children or not, I don't know."
Alexander had all the logistics worked out, including, equipment, venues and volunteers.
He said there may have been confusion that the Games was only held for aboriginal kids, as it was hosted by the Aboriginal Sport and Recreation Circle, which is not true.
Even if the event was geared toward only aboriginal students, Alexander said, the Bay St. George area has a portionally high percentage of that population.
Alexander said the non-existant interest level is part of a larger issue in the area, that sees many students opting to drop out of sports altogether.
"This is a changing place we have," he said. "Participation levels in many sports in the area have gone down over the years. It's a concern."
The event was designed to give kids, aged 10-18, exposure to a variety of sports in a non-competitive environment. Sports included athletics, badminton, basketball, soccer and volleyball.
The event was funded by a $10,000 grant from the Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation.
None of that money has been spent, said Alexander, nor will be spent.
He said it is a significant portion of money that would have been invested in the local economy to run the event.
What money was already invested in the Games will be absorbed by the Recreational Circle, he said.
The Recreational Circle's board will meet later in July to discuss the cancellation of the event.
Alexander says it is too early to know if the Games will be planned for next year, and there is no intention of trying to organize the event for a later date this summer.
