National-level youth track and field event comes to Cape Breton
More than 700 athletes are gearing up for the 43rd Legion National Youth Track and Field Championships to be held at Cape Breton University starting Friday.
The event will be held this year and next at the Cape Breton Health and Wellness Complex.
Ella Bottomley, a 14-year-old from Sydney, is one of 38 athletes on Nova Scotia/Nunavut team. She is entered in the under-16 division and will run the 1,200 and 2,000-metre races.
It is her first year on the team and her first time competing at the national level.
"I live 10 minutes away from here and it's just nice to be in a community where you know people and they'll come out to support you," she said.
She said she has dedicated lots of time and effort to train and is happy that her hard work has paid off.
"I can't wait to compete," she said. "It's going to be the highest level of competition I ever competed in. So it should be fun."
Bottomley said she hopes to compete for Team Canada one day.
Springboard to Olympics
Nova Scotia athletes who have competed in the youth championships have gone on to the Olympics.
"We've got some lovely athletes that are full of energy and they can compete with the best in the country," said Steve Morley, head coach of Team Nova Scotia/Nunavut. "And we have some really good throwers and jumpers and sprinters and distance runners."
The championships were hosted in Nova Scotia in 1984, but this is the first time it has been hosted in Cape Breton.
Fundraising for five years
Tom Young, chair of the local organizing committee, said fundraising for the event has been ongoing for five years.
"The Legion really has changed their focus from putting this event in the big venues such as Halifax or Fredericton or Toronto," Young said. "I think they've realized that by putting an event like this into a smaller centre, the community takes ownership of it. So it doesn't just get swallowed up into the bigger cities."
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