2014 Winter Games Committee

By all accounts, the 2014 NL Winter Games were a tremendous success. Over 1400 athletes, coaches, managers and officials attended the Games plus many parents, media and dignitaries.

The Committee, chaired by Greg Pittman, was composed of 19 Community Representatives and 3 Ex-Officio Members. The Committee created jobs 5 employees over the duration of the Event. Throughout the event they had 500 volunteers from the local region. The Committee created various requests for proposals, contests, Athlete Handbook, Volunteer Handbook, sponsorship package, and other materials from scratch.

The Committee’s budget for the Games was close to $800,000 in cash plus several hundred thousand dollars more in in-kind, the majority of which was spent in Clarenville. We especially note that the Committee did not go over budget, and in fact the Committee had a surplus from the Games which the made some donations out of such as defibulators for the schools.

In addition to the Committee’s budget they were also able to obtain a Special Assistance Grant of $300,000 which the Host Committee and Town of Clarenville used to buy various things for the town which include; building the media booth at the Events Centre, upgrading the cross country ski trails and building a timing hut, purchasing six state of the art portable snow guns for White Hills, purchasing equipment such as table tennis tables, and timing equipment for Alpine and Nordic racing to name a few. In addition, a lot of time and energy was spent on
making necessary improvements, upgrades and repairs to our local schools, with the help of the School District, such as revamping the showers, repairing score clocks, installing new lights. The Games have left a tremendous legacy on our schools and community.

In addition to the direct money which flowed into the community, the value of the media attention the town received was priceless. The opening and closing ceremonies were broadcasted live on Eastlink TV, and in addition, they did 4 nightly shows which highlighted the Games events and showcased the town, its facilities and great volunteers. In addition, CBC, NTV and Transcontinental had numerous stories about the Games in the Telegram and the weekly regional papers provincewide. Another fantastic legacy piece was the opportunity for our 164 host athletes to participate in the Games! What an opportunity for them to attend the opening and closing ceremonies! What an opportunity to compete against athletes from Nain to St. John’s! What an opportunity to just be a part of the whole experience!

It was a proud moment for the Host Committee when it was announced the host region won the Sport NL Trophy as the most improved region. This happened thanks to a lot of work by a lot of people. They are also very proud the host region won the Lieutenant Governor’s Trophy for the region which best demonstrated the overall spirit of friendly competition and sportsmanship. This award says a lot about our host athletes and our town in general.

Last but not least, an intangible legacy of the Games is the feeling of community pride we feel from knowing our small town of Clarenville, one of the smallest to ever host the Games, can not only host the Games, but set the standard which future host communities will strive to meet.

Emergency Contacts
RCMP: 466-3211
Fire Department: 466-7777
Ambulance: 466-3468
Hospital: 466-3411
Poison Control: 1-800-722-1110
Mental Health Crisis: 1-888-737-4668

Photography by Paul Tilley.