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Game on! The 2026 Saskatchewan Winter Games in Flying Dust First Nation-City of Meadow Lake set to begin
Feb 15, 2026

MEADOW LAKE, SK (February 15, 2026): In a matter of hours, the flame will be lit and the 2026 Saskatchewan Winter Games in Flying Dust First Nation and the City of Meadow Lake will officially begin.

Sport

A total of 1,582 participants (including 1,058 athletes, 299 coaches and managers, 66 mission staff, and 159 major officials), representing 203 communities from across Saskatchewan, will compete in 16 sports at the provincial multi-sport event from February 15th until Saturday, February 21st. Follow this link to view a full list of participants, sorted by District Team and home community.

The inclusive, weeklong event will feature competition in a variety of able-bodied sport events alongside para sport (Para-Nordic Skiing) and Special Olympics events (Bowling). For many of these young athletes, the Games will represent an exciting highlight of their sport career. For others, they will serve as a major stepping stone on their journey to the highest levels of sport. Newly-minted 2026 Olympian Logan Pletz competed at the 2014 and 2016 Saskatchewan Games before earning his spot on the Biathlon Canada Senior National Team; three-time World Champion Emily Clark competed at the 2010 Saskatchewan Winter Games before capturing Olympic gold in 2022, a feat she will look to repeat in Women’s Hockey this year in Milano-Cortana during her third Olympic appearance.

Community

Saskatchewan’s top young athletes will be supported by hundreds of local volunteers, who are banding together this week to welcome the province to their backyard. The volunteer drive, sponsored by SaskEnergy, is ongoing and interested volunteers can continue to sign up online to lend a hand. Volunteers can sign up to assist with hundreds of different roles, from helping out at the Athletes’ Village, staffing ticket booths, scorekeeping, and much more.

The Games have been organized by the volunteer Host Organizing Committee, led by Co-Chairs Davin Hildebrandt, Dwight King, and Regan Beck. Along with Games Manager Brittani Dunsing, dozens of dedicated planning volunteers have been working tirelessly behind the scenes for more than a year and a half to ensure that the Games provide a great experience for the province’s young athletes – work that has included transforming two local schools into the Athletes’ Villages, coordinating thousands of meals at the Meadow Lake Civic Centre, arranging transportation to and from sport venues all throughout the week, delivering a merchandise and ticketing program, facilitating medical coverage throughout the Games, and much more.

Culture

These Games are the first in the program’s 54-year history to be jointly hosted by a First Nation and a city, and it has been a partnership every step of the way. The neighbouring communities of Flying Dust First Nation and the City of Meadow Lake have been united in their planning of the Games, with sport venues being utilized across both towns and legacies going back into the entire region.

The 2026 Games logo has been designed by artist Chris Chipak of Red Pheasant Cree Nation, who pulled together elements of both host communities – including a star blanket pattern to represent Flying Dust First Nation, and a wave pattern to represent the City of Meadow Lake – to highlight the historic partnership.

The Games will kick off with this evening’s Opening Ceremony, taking place at 7:00 PM in one of Meadow Lake’s premiere venues, Co-Op Centre Moeller Place Arena. In addition to the Opening Ceremony and Saturday’s Closing Ceremony (hosted at Pineridge Ford Arena in Flying Dust), the Games will feature a variety of free Culture Events that will be open to the public throughout the week. A full list and more details can be viewed on saskgames.ca.

Lasting Legacies

The Games will leave behind numerous lasting legacies in Flying Dust First Nation and Meadow Lake. The Saskatchewan Games Council provides $250,000 in Sport Legacy matching grant funding in order to benefit sport clubs and venues local to the host communities of each Saskatchewan Games. Jointly funded by the Saskatchewan Games Council, the City of Meadow Lake and Flying Dust First Nation, and representing more than $500,000 of community investment, these projects include upgrades to the Meadow Lake Aquatic Centre; specialized grooming equipment, a new chalet and upgrades to the St. Cyr Cross-Country Ski Trails; upgraded shower facilities in Jonas Sampson Middle School and Carpenter High School; livestream cameras for Northwest School Division; an ice cover for the Meadow Lake Co-Op Centre, which will allow the facility to host major events in the future; and new sport equipment that will benefit local clubs, including sport clocks, figure skating harnesses, badminton nets, and bumper plates and weight platforms for weightlifting. 

These will be the 27th edition of the biennial Saskatchewan Games, which were first hosted in Moose Jaw in the summer of 1972. The inaugural Saskatchewan Winter Games took place in North Battleford in 1974. Since then, fourteen different communities across the province have played host every two years, with 2026 being the second time Meadow Lake has carried the title after its first time hosting in the summer of 2012.

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About the Saskatchewan Games:

First established in 1972, the purpose of the Saskatchewan Games is to provide an opportunity for the province’s developing athletes, coaches and officials to participate in an exciting and inclusive multi-sport event in preparation for a higher level of competition, including the Canada Games and the North American Indigenous Games. Countless Saskatchewan Games alumni have advanced to competition on the national stage and beyond, with Olympic champions such as Emily Clark, Colleen Sostorics, and Lucas Makowsky counting the Saskatchewan Games as a key step in their journey to the highest levels of sport. The Saskatchewan Games also leave behind valuable legacies that benefit each host community for years to come. To learn more, visit saskgames.ca.