Thunder Bay still scoring major sports championships despite ageing infrastructure

The man in charge of sports tourism for the City of Thunder Bay, Ont., says the city can still score hosting duties for some major sporting events — even with its aging infrastructure.

Tourism development officer John Cameron joined local hockey officials at Fort William Gardens on Thursday to announce that the city will host the 2019 Telus Cup, Canada's national Midget Triple-A hockey championship.

The event is one of several major championships the city has attracted in recent years.

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Others include the World Baseball Softball Confederation's 2017 U-18 Baseball World Cup, the 2017 U-16 Canadian National Alpine Ski Championships, Cross Country Canada's 2018 Canadian Ski Nationals, and the 2017 U Sports/Curling Canada University Championships. 

"We're getting our fair share," Cameron told CBC News. 

Thunder Bay is at a disadvantage when competing for events that take place in arenas, because most cities have newer, nicer venues than Fort William Gardens, he said.

When asked how Thunder Bay overcame that disadvantage to score the Telus Cup, he responded, "Having a good venue is just one piece of the puzzle."

"It takes a whole community to put on an event," Cameron continued.  "You need a sports organization that's really passionate about hosting that event and then creating the volunteer force that's required to run that event."

Thunder Bay also scores points for its devoted fans, he said.  

"Thunder Bay's known as a sports town, so any time we bring an event, say, like the Telus Cup, it's going to be the number one thing to do in Thunder Bay for that week."

In addition, the media coverage smaller cities provide to events such as the Telus Cup appeals to those in charge of selecting the host cities, Cameron said. 

Creative solutions needed

"These players that are involved in these events are stars for a whole week," he said.  If this event were held in Toronto ... it would barely make the front page of the Toronto Star or the National Post." 

Meeting the needs of the competitions' governing bodies sometimes means coming up with creative solutions, Cameron said.

"When we hosted the U16 Canadian Alpine Ski Championships, a lot of people in Thunder Bay said we did not have the height, the vertical, to host that calibre of event.  But creatively, a higher start position was built at the top of Loch Lomond ski hill ... that gave us the elevation," he explained.

For the Telus Cup, Thunder Bay might need to put a trailer outside Fort William Gardens in order to provide enough dressing rooms for all the teams and referees, Cameron said. 

It will also need to expand its media area to accommodate out-of-town media.  

Even with the need to adapt, there are several other events Thunder Bay could potentially accommodate, should local sports organizations wish to bid for them, Cameron said. 

Those include the Canadian Mixed Curling Championships, the World Mixed Curling Championships and the Canadian Senior Curling Championships.