Arviat hockey organizer praises hamlet for continued support of programming

It costs a lot of money to run sports programming in the Kivalliq region and hockey often tops the list in both programming and costs. And his hamlet’s continued support of local hockey programming is something that’s not lost on Gleason Uppahuak. Uppahuak said for the past 20 years the Hamlet of Arviat has been very supportive of his hockey endeavours. He said some years the hamlet could only provide him with a percentage of his overall budget, but that’s understandable considering 75 per cent of Arviat’s population is under the age of 24 and there’s other programs that need to be taken care of. “When you look at the statistics, there’s 1,000 kids under the age of 18 in Arviat alone and we average 100 kids in minor hockey,” said Uppahuak. “It wouldn’t be fair for me to get all the money and spend all those dollars on 100 kids instead of 1,000 kids. “That’s where I saw the hamlet’s reasons on why it could only give me a percentage. But, at the end of the day, I want to thank the hamlet for its continued support.” Uppahuak said he’s often in situations where he has to decide whether to support an elite faction of the Arviat hockey program, as opposed to spreading the same amount of money over various programming. He said he does a completely different application to the hamlet when it comes to his travel teams. “I do my local proposal first and then I do a separate proposal for my travel teams, such as asking the hamlet for $1,000 per kid for those who were selected for the Kivalliq Junior Canucks. “The hamlet is very supportive of that, too. I can’t allow myself to put them all under one umbrella because that won’t make things easier. I have to keep them separate so that my involvement on the local level will not be connected to my regional program. “I do all my hockey planning about six months before an event is due. I’ve been lucky to have friends like Gavin Gee in Rankin Inlet who has stepped up to help the Canucks program while David Clark is out of the country. “The group of people who step up and help out often don’t even know how much easier they’re making my life in navigating things and making sure everything is taken care of.”