Athlete from Ross River, Yukon, says living far from Whitehorse led to removal from AWG team

A woman from Ross River, Yukon, says she wasn't allowed to compete in the Arctic Winter Games (AWG) this year after she was unable to attend multiple practices in Whitehorse leading up to the event. 

Robyn McLeod says the experience highlights the inequality of access to sport in the territory as the current system makes it easier for athletes from Whitehorse to make teams. 

CBC News asked Team Yukon for a list of where each athlete is from. It showed that of the approximate 350 athletes attending the 2024 Arctic Winter Games, over 325 — about 93 per cent — are from Whitehorse. According to Yukon population statistics from September 2023, about 79 per cent of the territory's population lives in the Whitehorse area.   

McLeod, who hoped to compete in the new women's category in the Dene Games at the circumpolar event underway this week in Mat-Su, Alaska, argues that changes should be made to make the event more accommodating.

She says it's an issue for people who live in smaller communities, including athletes who are parents. She said access to child care, as well as travel costs and other factors, prevented her from attending practices in Whitehorse.   

McLeod has a long history in the Dene Games, competing in it for years in the Northwest Territories, where she's originally from, and also teaching youth how to play in the sport. When the women's open category was included in the 2024 Arctic Winter Games she decided to compete in territorials and won three out of four of the events.

She was later informed that she would need to attend around 70 per cent of the practices which would take place in Whitehorse. She said that meant she was expected to make around 11 trips, a five-hour drive each way, to the capital. 

"I told them that's not sustainable for me, I'm not able to go," she said. 

She said she managed to attend one practice and brought her two kids along, both under three years of age, but it was difficult.

"My kids were crying by the end and I was like, OK, I got to take them out of here, this is too much for them," McLeod said. 

She said the coach of the team took issue with her leaving early as the two were going to discuss how she could manage being on the team while living far away.

"I guess that was an issue for the coach, like to leave because my kids were crying," she said.

McLeod said she wanted to make a plan with the coach, but she wasn't getting many responses. She also trained on her own time in Ross River.  

McLeod said in late February she was informed that she was off the team.