An historic meeting held last week between local and provincial sport organizations, local government, and educational institutions may set the stage for Prince George to become a national-calibre training centre of athletes in Cross-Country Skiing and Biathlon.

Representatives from Cross Country BC, Biathlon BC, 2010 LegaciesNow, the GamePlan program of 2010 LegaciesNow, PacificSport, UNBC, CNC, the City of Prince George, the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club, the Cranbrook Hill Greenway Society, and Initiatives PG attended the meeting, which was held at UNBC on Tuesday evening. “This meeting represents the new partnerships that will enable us to turn Olympic dreams into reality,” says Marion Lay, President of the 2010 LegaciesNow Society.

“With the Olympics coming and a desire to train future medalists right here in BC, we have a great opportunity to make Prince George a major training centre,” says Prince George Mayor Colin Kinsley.

“We have an opportunity to do something in Prince George that would put us on the map in international winter sport development,” says Geoff Paynton, President of PacificSport for northern BC, and organizer of the meeting. “Everyone around the table recognizes the opportunity and is willing to work to make it happen.”

The groups agreed on a common vision and laid out timelines to move forward in making Prince George a centre of excellence for nordic ski training. This would include attracting top-quality coaches and national-calibre athletes. Among upcoming projects is developing an agreement-in-principle between the organizations and conducting an inventory of local facilities and expertise.

The development builds on the proposed Northern Sport Centre and the opportunities that will come from hosting the National Cross-Country Ski Championships in March, 2005. A key element of the Northern Sport Centre is providing the facilities, equipment, coaching expertise, and access to education and research that are necessary to make Prince George a world-class centre for sport development. The area’s climate and geography lend themselves to particular opportunities in the Nordic sports.

PacificSport is the provincial sport development arm and is one of the partners in the Northern Sport Centre.