As hockey rosters finalized for AWG, few from outside the southern N.W.T. make the cut

As N.W.T. rosters are finalized for the upcoming Arctic Winter Games, there was little cause for celebration for many hockey players in the Beaufort Delta. 

The under-18 male team saw no players from the area, or any other regions outside the southern territory, make the cut. The team includes two players from Hay River, one from Fort Smith, and the rest from Yellowknife. 

Beverly Amos and Qurannaq's grandson Lennox Amos, who plays hockey in Inuvik, tried out for the team but didn't make it. Neither did Jacob Pokiak's son, who will be too old to compete after this year.

The issue of competitive teams largely including Yellowknife players has been ongoing and has led to accusations of favouritism. But sports organizations say a major barrier is just a lack of infrastructure in many communities that prevents athletes from getting the reps they need to compete. 

Qurannaq said the responsibility is on sports organizations such as Hockey N.W.T. and Sport North, which rely on government funding, to help athletes from communities outside Yellowknife. 

"Over the decades that Sport North federation, Hockey N.W.T., they talk equity and inclusion. But we don't see it — they haven't followed their statement," he said.  

Lennox was listed as an affiliate or alternate, meaning if players on the team can't make it, he may be called up. 

Christopher Gruben, the president of Inuvik Minor Hockey and the Beaufort Delta representative for Hockey North, said the issue of representation goes back to when he would compete in sports. 

"The concerns are valid," he said. 

"This is not the first time I heard about something like this, especially in my time here at Inuvik minor hockey, it also goes back to when I used to play sports and probably