Ontario’s Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, Neil Lumsden, will be in Renfrew for the opening ceremonies of the 2023 Ontario Winter Games at Ma-te-Way starting at 6:30pm on Thursday, February 9th, 2023.
This will be the second and final weekend of competition at the 2023 Ontario Winter Games after a successful first couple of days from February 2nd to 5th. The second weekend of competitions from February 9th to February 12th will feature alpine skiing, para alpine skiing, kickboxing, sledge hockey, squash, wushu, bowling, biathlon, cross country skiing, para nordic skiing, wrestling and weightlifting.
The Ontario Winter Games were supposed to take place in 2022, but were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lumsden credits the organizers and volunteers for all the work to reschedule everything.
Lumsden says athletes who compete at the Ontario Winter Games have gone on to compete at the national or Olympic level.
With the final weekend of the 2023 Renfrew County Ontario Winter Games set to begin, Lumsden says the impact of the games will last for a long time even after the competitions are over.
This is the first time Renfrew County has hosted the Ontario Winter Games and the province’s Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport says there could be more opportunities for the region to host large scale events like this down the road.
A “Sport For All Legacy Fund” will be left behind after the Ontario Winter Games to support local sports organizations across Renfrew County. Volunteer Sponsorship Chair for the Ontario Winter Games, Amanda Daley, previously told our newsroom that local sponsorships will help to fund sports activities for those in the area who may not have regular access to these resources.
(written by: Rudy Kadlec)
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2023 Ontario Winter Games officially underway in Renfrew County