Being an athlete on the Coast

As teens on the Coast we participate in a lot of activities including track and field, cross country, volleyball, hockey tournaments, etc. Seeing we are such small communities that are sparsely populated, we tend to all come together for annual tournaments or competitions. Due to the fact that the weather on the Lower North Shore isn’t always the best, especially throughout the winter, it makes it really hard to travel.

Track and field is an event that many young people on the Coast look forward to every year. Track and field is normally put back to late May because there is too much snow for other athletes to practice their events. For example, loaders had to clear off our track so we would be capable to host our local track event. Because we are so isolated it makes travelling really hard when it comes to attending regional’s or provincial’s.

There have been times where we didn’t get to attend these events due to weather conditions. Like this year, for example, we had to postpone our multisports because the boat was not on schedule. Most students were very disappointed.

There have been occasions where we were late for regional’s or even provincial’s events due to late flights and long bus rides. Due to late arrivals, the events normally need to be pushed back to take place later during the weekend.

Even though living here on the Coast and never knowing when we will get a call to leave for these events, we still have a lot of fun when we arrive. Meeting new friends and watching people do sports we haven’t seen in our life time is something we find pretty amazing.

Chloe Letemplier, Secondary 2, English Class, École Mgr Scheffer