2019 Games – A Leadership Opportunity
Over the next several months, I aim to provide central Albertans a bit of an insider’s look at what is happening with the 2019 Canada Winter Games as we march towards February 15, 2019, and welcome the nation to Red Deer. There is much going on behind the scenes, with many interesting, exciting and challenging aspects to delivering an event of this scope and scale for the first time in Red Deer.
In 2011, Lyn Radford, as a Board member of Alberta Sport Connection, heard the official word that it would be Alberta’s turn to host a Canada Winter Games in 2019. It did not take long for her to understand that this would be Red Deer’s big chance to do something never before done and possibly transform our city. This opportunity was evident to Lyn and, as she shared it, it became evident to others as well. The administration and Council with the City of Red Deer also saw this great opportunity and it was not long before Red Deer College, school boards and other community organizations saw it too.
To bid and win the right to host the 2019 Canada Winter Games would provide an opportunity to shape the future of Red Deer and central Alberta and provide a platform, unlike any other event, to elevate the region in the eyes of the nation.
Major events, like the Canada Games, only come around once in a generation. The 2019 Games is only the third time a Canada Games has been hosted in Alberta, with Lethbridge (1975) and Grande Prairie (1995) as previous Host Communities. Once-in-a-generation events can transform a community if the right vision, leadership and execution emerges. To win the right to host the 2019 Games, a team of community leaders took a year to build the plan and engage central Albertans. The challenge was significant, with other bid hopefuls capable of delivering a great Canada Games, but on September 4, 2014, three years after the initial vision began to emerge, the 2019 Games was awarded to Red Deer.