Members of the host society pose with the Summer Games banner

By Aaron Mahoney

Drumming Up Support

2020 Alberta Summer Games countdown to kick-off with community BBQ

Jun 3, 2019 | 12:05 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – While the games themselves are still more than a year away, the 2020 Alberta Summer Games are coming to Lethbridge, and the host society wants to start building excitement as soon as possible.

To that end, they’re inviting the entire southern Alberta community to a free BBQ from noon to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, June 19 at the Bowman Arts Centre. The BBQ is a chance to start getting the word out about the 2020 Alberta Summer Games. There will also be a raffle with a grand prize of two round-trip WestJet tickets.

Lethbridge 2020 Alberta Summer Games Society Manager, Steve Dudas, says the games are going to be a community-wide celebration of sports and culture.

“They will require a community-wide effort to make them the success we know they will be. This is our way of kicking off the celebration and letting all of Lethbridge know what a treat we will be in for next summer when the province’s best young athletes converge on our city.”

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Dudas speaks to the media on Monday morning

The focus right now for the society is on their sponsorship campaign.

“We need close to $350,000 in business sponsors and gifts in kind. We’re also looking for volunteers, there are a few chair positions that we’re still short on, and we’re looking for social media people. We’re working hard trying to find a couple of people still, but we’re coming around,” Dudas said.

The 2020 Alberta Summer Games will take place from July 23 to 26 at a variety of venues throughout the city and across southern Alberta.

Around 2,800 athletes between the ages of 11 and 17 will take part in the province-wide competition, and participants earn the right to compete by qualifying through zone playoffs for each sport.

Dudas explained that they’re starting slowly because they know there are a few more events in the city with the summer coming around, so they’re going to focus more on the fall.

“December, January and February we’ll really start kicking it up. The nice thing with that is all of the athletes will be starting their playoffs and doing things in their communities, as well as here in the Sunny South – Zone 1 community as well. A lot of those athletes’ parents we’re hoping will help out with the games as well. A majority of the volunteers are usually found 60 days out but the awareness of it we want to start getting out,” Dudas stated, adding people can expect to see signage out in the community starting in the fall.

This will be the third time that Lethbridge has hosted the Alberta Summer Games, after previous efforts in 1981 and 2012.

The City has also hosted the 1996 Alberta Winter Games, the 2001 Alberta Seniors Games and the 2009 55-plus Alberta Winter Games.

Lethbridge has a proud history of rising to the occasion for significant events and providing an unforgettable experience for participants, and from the City’s perspective, Dudas says there are considerable benefits to hosting an event like the Alberta Games.

“We’re going to throw some information out in the fall with the economic impact, but there was some information that came from Grande Prairie in 2018. I think $6.1 million was the economic impact for the City, and there was some federal tax revenue around $800,000 as well. There’s a big budget to run the games, but there’s a huge benefit to the City. We keep mentioning the 3,000 participants coming into town, but there are probably 3,000 to 4,000 spectators coming into town, so hotels and restaurants are going to be hopping for those three days.”