The young athletes are gathered together, lined up, eager to make their entrance at the official opening ceremony of the Quebec Games Finals. They await this moment with a mix of nervousness and excitement—a moment when they will march proudly in front of the cameras, but above all in front of an enthusiastic audience made up of people who have come to cheer them on with all their might and to celebrate the pride that participation in the Quebec Games so rightly instills. For the vast majority of these athletes in the procession, without realizing it, this will be a unique moment that will rarely be matched in the course of their athletic careers.
By Laurier Thériault
Very few will experience more than one Quebec Games Final as an athlete. Fortunately, some will return to the Games later to play a completely different role as volunteers, officials, coaches, missionaries, or even journalists! These supporting actors are essential to the Quebec Games story, but they will never forget their time as athletes, of course.
What makes the Quebec Games so special is that, for a few days, they allow our entire province to experience the excitement and magic of a spectacular multisport event. For a few days, we set aside our usual uniforms to wear the colors of our home regions. Cheers, theme songs, and promotional items all add to the atmosphere of a truly special sporting competition. While the event is a sporting one, it is first and foremost a great gathering of young people. Of course, we take our performance on the field very seriously and want to push our limits and do our best. But this time, the presence of athletes from other sports who are representing the same regional colors amplifies the excitement of the experience. While focusing on the primary reason for their presence at the Games, the athletes don’t hesitate to go cheer on athletes from their delegation competing in other sports. Regional pride leaves a lasting mark on the experience at these Games, and the rallying cries remain etched in memory for a long time.
Among the athletes in the parade, there are also those who, in a few years, will take the stage at a bigger event—the Canada Games, the Commonwealth Games, the Pan American Games, or, who knows, perhaps even the Olympic Games. For many of the Canadian athletes from Quebec, their dream has been greatly fueled by the time they spent at the Quebec Games a few years ago. And they say so with a certain pride. While these Games help forge strong bonds within our sports community, they also serve as catalysts for nurturing the dream of athletic excellence. When the Quebec athletes who have succeeded in reaching the pinnacle of their sport enter the arena in Paris, it will be an entire close-knit community that will have every reason to be proud of having contributed, at one time or another, each in their own way, to the unique moments of the sporting events that paved the way for this major sporting event.
Over the past few days in Sherbrooke, Olympic dreams have begun to take shape, though we won’t truly know for sure until a few years from now. In the meantime, congratulations to all these athletes, as well as to the countless people who are contributing, each in their own way, to this great sporting event that is the Quebec Games. Of course, if the opportunity to dream is real for the athletes, it’s also true for some of the volunteers, officials, and managers. Proof that the dream of reaching the highest levels isn’t exclusive to athletes! Thank you and well done, Sherbrooke! See you soon, Paris, Los Angeles, Cortina, …
