'We're doing it for the kids': Indian Summer Games kick off this week

Hundreds of kids from 11Indigenous communities gathered for the first day of the Indian Summer Games at EsgenoopetitjFirst Nation on Tuesday, a community about38kilometres northeast from Miramichi.

The event will take place overfour days and depending on the sport,will be held at different venues.Sports includesoccer, basketball, swimming, archery, among many others.

The annual games have been held for the past nineyearsandorganizers are hoping to continue the tradition of friendly competition between Indigenous communities acrossthe province.

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"It's a big thing for them," saidMarySillyboy, a local volunteer.

"They're making new friends and some are beginners so they're learning a new sport and I find that the older athletes will mentor the younger ones and they're all here having fun and meeting new people."

The teams camefrom every corner of the province just to have the chance to wear their team colours and play for medals. Each teamissplit among communities and the referees and coaches are all parents who volunteered their time to help out.

Friendships for life

Sillyboy saidthe decision to put these games together was very last minute butit all came together in under twomonths.

"We're only doing it for the kids," said Sillyboy.

"There was a point [where]this wasn't going to happen this year and just hearing the disappointment that the kids weren't able to participate in anything we took a day or two to think about what we were getting into, and we said, 'It's for the kids why not?'"

Kelvin Simonson, chair of Aboriginal Sport and Recreation New Brunswick, is hoping the games will become a tradition that kids can look forward to. Simonson said he hopes it provides astepping stone to participating in the North American Indigenous Games.

But while he wants to inspire friendly competition between the kids, he also wants them to make lifelong friends at the events.

Simonson participated in the games 35 years ago and saidthe friendships he made back then continue to thrive today.

"Most of the kids they start being friends and whatnot throughout the rest of their lives."