ONTARIO WINTER GAMES
MUSKOKA — Athletes, coaches, officials and their family, friends and fans streamed into Muskoka last weekend creating traffic on Highway 11 not seen since the start of the last long weekend of summer.
The 2010 Ontario Winter Games in Muskoka kicked off with an opening ceremony Thursday evening that saw a crowd of close to 5,000 gather at Muskoka Wharf in Gravenhurst. Up-and-coming Canadian band Stereos rocked the stage while fireworks lit up the sky.
Many spectators said it was the perfect start to the multi-sport event that promotes the highest level of competition in Ontario for athletes 22 and under. Highlights of the weekend included double overtime for the bronze medal in women’s hockey, a tie-breaker to determine the gold medal in curling, and five broken records dating back to 1978 in five-pin bowling.
“It was exciting. The calibre of sport in Muskoka … everyone was wowed by it,” said Myke Malone, general manager for the games.
“It was an enormous success in all aspects,” he said. “The overall message from the athletes was it was the best winter games ever. They were thrilled.”
In speaking with spectators and participants, Malone said the other standout comment was the “yes-we-can” attitude of the many volunteers.
“Best hospitality” and “You have great volunteers” were often heard, according to Malone.
“We couldn’t have done this without the support of the volunteers and sponsors who helped pull this off and bring it all together,” he emphasized.
“There were adjustments to make and hiccups here and there,” admitted Scott Aitchison chair of the Ontario Winter Games committee, “but the overwhelming response was that it was a tremendous success.”
Aitchison agreed that volunteers’ commitment and positive attitude played a large part in the success of the games.
Two of the original goals in bringing the games to Muskoka were to show Ontario what Muskoka has to offer in winter and to boost the economic activity here in the first week of March, explained Aitchison.
“It was certainly a huge success in terms of those ambitions,” he said, estimating 6,000 visitors in addition to the 2,500 or so athletes competing.
“We will spend some time assessing the economic impact,” he said, “but hotels and restaurants were certainly busier than they would have been for this time of year,”
The games were expected to generate between $3 million and $4 million in economic benefits for the local economy. Area businesses were pleased with the increased traffic and revenue experienced over the four days of competition.
Bruce Kells, owner of The Cottage Waterfront Grill in Huntsville estimated they experienced a 30 per cent increase in business from Thursday to Saturday and said initiatives like the winter games are “fantastic” for the area.
In Bracebridge, the downtown businesses saw increased foot traffic on Saturday in particular and Beth Kelly, owner of the Creative Cook, said she had twice as many people through her store as usual for this time of year. She attributed this directly to the winter games.
“It’s challenging for the downtown businesses, especially this time of year,” said Kelly. “The more activities we can do to increase traffic and sales the better.”
Not only did area businesses see an increase in revenue over the weekend, but the influx of new visitors to Muskoka is expected to result in more economic spinoffs into the future.
“It is absolutely beautiful here. I don’t want to go home,” gushed Kim Defarias from Toronto, whose 12-year-old son Joshua played on the gold medal winning men’s hockey team. “We’re already planning our summer vacation here.”
For the athletes, from the opening ceremonies to the athletes villages, food and venues, the experience was “really amazing.”
“The opening ceremonies (were) really good,” said Parker Timlin, 13, a Toronto resident who competed in the synchronized swimming events at Bracebridge Sportsplex. “The food was really good and it was fun to share rooms with the other teams,” she added.
Matthew Kao, 18, of Toronto competes in air pistol and has been to three Ontario Winter Games and one Canada Winter Games.
“I love the experience and competitiveness of all the athletes and friendliness of everyone,” said Kao. “We were well accommodated and the food was very good. All the volunteers were very helpful and I’m grateful for them.”
“We set out to host the best set of winter games ever,” said Malone. “The overwhelming response has been phenomenal. We are all very proud of the games and how well they went. It was an outstanding success.”