BC Winter Games kick off in Vernon Thursday at Kal Tire Place

Photo: Cross Country BC

The BC Winter Games in Greater Vernon are less than a week away.

Opening ceremonies take place Thursday, at 7 p.m. at Kal Tire Place, where more than 1,300 of B.C.’s emerging high-performance athletes are set to be part of the celebration of sport and community.

The Games run from March 23 to 26.

The 895 athletes, 300 coaches and 140 officials attending the Games hail from 122 communities across the province.

Competing in 15 different sports, most athletes will be attending their first multi-sport games.

The Games were originally scheduled to take place in February 2022 before organizers decided to postpone to 2023 due to factors including the COVID-19 pandemic, flooding and wildfires in many parts of the province.

The official name of the event remains the Greater Vernon 2022 BC Winter Games, however.

More than 1,200 volunteers have signed up to help at the Games.

The BC Winter and BC Summer Games were established in 1978 to bring young people around B.C. together through sport and friendship.

Greater Vernon hosted the BC Winter Games in 1992 and 2012, as well as the 1982 BC Summer Games.

Greater Vernon 2022 BC Winter Games participants will compete in alpine skiing, archery, artistic gymnastics, badminton, biathlon, cross country skiing (including para), curling, figure skating, freestyle skiing, judo, karate, rhythmic gymnastics, ringette, snowboarding and wheelchair basketball.

For more information about the Games, click here.