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Next week marks the beginning of the 2022 . More than 4,000 athletes and coaches in 20 sports will descend on Niagara, Ontario, the host for this year鈥檚 event. Fifty-three of them (43 athletes and 10 coaches) are former, current or incoming Tigers who will be representing their home provinces during the two-week event.

Rich Lehman, the Tigers current cross country and track and field coach coach will lead Nova Scotia鈥檚 athletics team alongside current assistant coaches Heather Beaton, Kirk Jessome and Jodi Langley. This is Rich鈥檚 second consecutive year as head coach, while this will Beaton鈥檚 third games after competing for Nova Scotia at the 2013 and 2017 events.

There are 16 current or incoming track and field athletes representing three provinces at the Games this year. Matthew Aftanas, Amanda Black, Carley Birrell, Will Cox, Abbi Gaudrey, Skeets Greene, Hudson Grimshaw-Surette, Noah James, Zach James, Dan Lord, Chelsea MacIsaac, Oluwatobi Oshikoya, Ali Poisson, Simon Salah, Lynn Sheppard will suit up for Nova Scotia. Zoe Fullarton and Amelia Reid will be competing for their home province of New Brunswick, while Nick Robertson will run for Prince Edward Island. This will be the second Games for Noah James, Grimshaw-Surette, Lord and Robertson.

鈥淭his will be very different from my experience at Dal,鈥� says thrower MacIsaac. 鈥淢y main event, discus, is something that I am unable to compete in at school and I鈥檝e had to rely on my abilities in weaker events to achieve success in school track. Knowing I鈥檓 able to compete in discus already makes me more confident since I know I鈥檓 able to utilize what I consider my strengths to be to find success.鈥�

鈥淪econdly, the field of athletes is going to be very different, as many of my competitors will be different faces than what I鈥檓 used to,鈥� continues MacIsaac. 鈥淲ith the qualifications and processes for making the team rosters so different and limiting for Canada Games than for school, as well as a larger athlete pool to choose from for many of the provinces, there are some faces that I won鈥檛 be seeing at the games that I鈥檓 used to seeing during school. This can mean a lot since throwing is a very friendly and social environment in my opinion - even while competing. Having the right collection of athletes around you can help calm your nerves simply by being friendly with you.鈥�

'A truly special experience'

Volleyball is another sport the Tigers will be well-represented in at the Games in the next two weeks.

Long-time men鈥檚 volleyball coach Dan Ota will lead Nova Scotia鈥檚 women鈥檚 volleyball team to Niagara this summer. This will be Ota鈥檚 third Canada Games, having served as the head coach with the men鈥檚 teams in 2001 and 2005. Ota recently returned from working with Canada鈥檚 men鈥檚 Next Gen Final 6 team in Gatineau, Quebec.

鈥淐anada Games is a truly special experience that the athletes will never forget,鈥� says Ota. 鈥淢any of the athletes and staff have been preparing for this event for three summers. Considering that we had very few opportunities to compete during the pandemic, I鈥檓 thrilled for our team to finally have this opportunity to travel to Niagara and represent Nova Scotia.

Ota will be coaching 2021-22 women's volleyball players Ali Nadalini and Bella Noble as well as incoming Tiger Paris Stewart.

Five incoming men鈥檚 volleyball Tigers will also be competing in Niagara in the indoor event. Lucas Condon-Oldrieve and Jacob Oyler will compete for Nova Scotia. Pat Beresford and Tyler Wiseman will represent Newfoundland while Owen Tran will play for New Brunswick. Current Tigers Luke Rideout and Derrick Ejeckam will suit up for Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, respectively. Former Tiger Arcel Siosan will be playing in his second Canada Games with Yukon.

Former Tiger Angus Rhuland will serve as head coach with current Tigers assistant coach Bryan Duquette serving as an assistant.

On the beach, current volleyballers Brett Boldon, Justin Cross and Josh DeYoung will represent New Brunswick, Manitoba and Nova Scotia, respectively, while Tigers alum Ethan Boyd will play for Prince Edward Island. Former Tiger Adam Spragg will be on the sidelines coaching the Nova Scotia men鈥檚 beach team.

Basketball, soccer and golf

There are five incoming women鈥檚 basketball players attending the Games this summer. Jasenda Horsman and Mercy Ogulu will be competing for Nova Scotia while Abby Carpenter and Gracie Dalton will be representing New Brunswick. Sarah Valley will be doning the Saskatchewan green and white.

Incoming men鈥檚 basketball player Danny Daly will be playing for Team NS.

The men鈥檚 soccer team has an incoming athlete who will also be heading to the Games in the first week. Jared Ndopedro will be representing his province of New Brunswick, while Andrew MacDonald (Tigers women鈥檚 soccer video coach) will be serving as an assistant coach for Team Nova Scotia.

Incoming women鈥檚 soccer player Olivia Jack will be suiting up for Nova Scotia during week two of the Games.

Three members of Dal Rowing will be travelling to Niagara. Returning rowers Jay Chevalier and Sophie Inkpen are joined by incoming Tiger Maya Foster Thompson.

Last but not least, current women鈥檚 hockey player Abby Wamboldt will be competing for Nova Scotia as a member of the golf team, also in week two.

鈥淲ith hockey you have 20 other teammates with different skills and abilities meaning when in some situations you can use certain players to save the game,鈥� says Wamboldt. 鈥淕olf is an individual mental game and there is only yourself to rely on. You need to know what to do in every situation you are in. Golf and hockey are also different mentally. In hockey you don鈥檛 have much time to think, in golf you have lots of time to think and potentially second guess yourself.鈥�

It should be an exciting two weeks of competition. Be sure to cheer for the Tigers and stay up to date with all the action!

Twitter @2022CanadaGames

The Tigers competition schedule

Week One (August 7-13)

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Week Two (August 14-20)