Prince George is less than a week away from hosting the 2022 B.C. Summer Games.
Some 3,000 young athletes, coaches and officials are to arrive in the city this coming Wednesday with the Games themselves to run from Thursday to Sunday.
Most of the athletes are about 14 years old, although ages range from 11 to 20 years old, and will compete in any of 18 sports held at 21 venues in and around the city.
"For most of the participants, it will be their first time at a multi-sport event, so it'll feel like a mini-Olympics," said organizing committee vice-president Selen Alpay during a presentation to city council on Monday night.
Behind the scenes, things appear to be coming together.
From just 500 volunteers about three months ago, the number has more than tripled and by the time the Games being, the count is expected to reach about 2,000. That's still below the 3,000 organizers had hoped to draw.
"While we think we're not likely to hit that number as far as people stepping forward, the ingenuity and the spirit of our community is shining through," organizing committee president Renee McCloskey told council.
"Our team is busy revising some plans to make sure we're making the best use of the volunteers we do have without compromising on the safety of the participants and spectators and volunteers as well as the overall experience that we want to ensure our Games participants have while they're here."
There still is time to sign up as a volunteer by going to www.bcgames.org. In fact, volunteers are welcome right up to the closing ceremony and Prince George appears to be living up to its reputation as a "last minute town," said McCloskey.
"We will take people for as much or as little (time) as they have to give us," she added.
The opening ceremony is set for Thursday, 7-8:30 p.m. at CN Centre with a pre-show to start at 6 p.m.
McCloskey is counting on a good turnout and stressed that it's a free public event, open to everyone.
As for the sports themselves, three of them will kick off on Thursday while the first full day of competition for all the sports begins on Friday.
The full schedule is found here.
During Friday and Saturday evenings, athletes will be treated to special events at the Northern Sport Centre. For the general public, a night market will be open at House of Ancestors - Uda Dune Baiyoh at the corner of Vancouver Street and Third Avenue.
Competitions will wrap up by noon Sunday and the closing ceremony will be a casual affair in the form of a tailgate party complete with food trucks and music outside CN Centre.
On Monday, a volunteer appreciation street party will be held on George Street near city hall.
"An exciting few days that we have in store," McCloskey said. "We really think it's an opportunity to showcase not just the venues that we have but the spirit that's here in Prince George."
