Deer Lake to host 2018 provincial Winter Games

Premier Dwight Ball made the announcement at the Hodder Memorial Recreation Complex on Saturday night.
Ball told The Western Star that the town has the experience needed to host the Winter Games, having last done so in 2006.
And given the amount of snow in the area this year, he said no one could argue that the town isn’t ideally located for it.
Most of the venues that will be required to run the Games are already within the area. He said Marble Mountain and the cross-country ski facilities in Pasadena will be key components of the event.
With the Games just a year away, Ball said planning will start now to develop the networks and partnerships that will be needed.
Ball said the town will undertake a fundraising campaign to generate the money it’ll need to run the Games. To get that going he also announced a $200,000 investment in the Games from the province.
Ball co-chaired the 2006 fundraising campaign, so he might have some advice to offer as the process unfolds.
He said the event will be good for the town, bringing in somewhere around 1,600 participants.
He said the Games are good for encouraging youth to participate in sports.
“Which is one of the platform pieces in health and our policies in making sure that our young people get out and participate in sports, both individually and competitively.”