Although organizing details for the 2015 Canada Winter Games have yet to be announced, its CEO, Stuart Ballantyne, said the co-ordinating team will be "thinking big" - meaning beyond Prince George.
"Thinking big enough will be part of the challenge. We can't think of these as Prince George's games - they are Canada's games, with Prince George hosting," said Ballantyne during a media briefing at the Canada Games Seventh Avenue offices on Thursday.
Following the appointment of two new staff positions and four new volunteer board members this week, planning for the multi-sport tournament will begin in earnest, Ballantyne said.
While the games have received letters of support from mayors and municipal councils throughout the region, games organizers will "take a travelling roadshow" to neighbouring communities to garner support, Ballantyne said.
The games will include some form of torch relay through the region, he added.
To successfully host an event of this size, the 2015 Canada Winter Games host society will be seeking volunteers and sponsors from across Northern B.C. and Canada, he said.
"We're going to need about 6,000 volunteer hosts. Currently we have about 2,000 in our database."
Volunteers will be needed during the planning preparation for the games, managing venues, fundraising, working with local sports organizations to host trial events, provide specialized expertise and a variety of other duties.
Additionally, one-third of the game's estimated $30 million operational budget will need to be generated from sponsorship and revenue generation.
Games director of revenue generation Todd Doherty was optimistic that sponsors from across Canada will step up to provide the needed cash.
"I don't anticipate any issues," Doherty said. "We have three years to do it and we're moving forward."
Currently the games planning team is developing three different plans - "good, better and best" options, which will correspond to different levels of sponsorships and funding, Ballantyne said.
The first Canada Games was held in 1967 and Prince George will host the 25th games in 2015, Ballantyne said.
"When hosting the 25th games there should be a big pool of knowledge available. The Canada Games has a system to transfer knowledge," he said. "We've been passed this baton... and the idea is we hand it over in better shape than we got it."
The games will run from Feb. 12 to March 1, 2015 and will feature 23 sports at 18 different venues, artistic and cultural displays, nightly entertainment and more.
The games will draw 2,000 athletes from 12 years old to 35 years old - primarily teenagers - and approximately 1,500 coaches and support staff, he said. An additional 2.7 family members per athlete are expected to come to Prince George to watch their children, siblings and other family members compete.
