Over a dozen local athletes heading to winter games

Two years have passed, and once again athletes find themselves preparing for the next edition of the Alberta Winter Games. This year, the games will be held in Medicine Hat from Feb. 13 to 16.

The St. Paul Area lies in Zone 7, which covers a large area from Provost all the way to Fort McMurray, continuing to the Alberta/Northwest Territories border. Thirteen St. Paul and area athletes have been chosen to participate this year, giving them an opportunity to showcase their talents and compete against athletes from across the province.

The athletes from this area that are competing in the Winter Games include Corey Amyotte, Corbin Ockerman, Allen Parker, Dustin Dubrule, Daniel Hebert, Nathaniel Buffalo, and Joshua Foote, who are all part of the male volleyball team, Cody Doucet and Cameron Kuzma taking part in curling, mixed doubles, Bradley Mistol, who will be on the hockey team, Megan Mortenson, who will be figure skating, and Annabelle Culham and Halle Stybel competing in wrestling in the 60 kg and 65 kg categories respectively.

Peggy Fedoruk and Brandon Strocki will be travelling with the athletes to serve as chaperones throughout the weekend. Peggy's daughter, Taylor, has been named Assistant Captain of her volleyball team, and said she was “really excited&” about participating in the games.

“It's a really neat experience, getting to compete with athletes from this zone and playing against elite athletes from across the province. Although I'm the only girl from the St. Paul area going to the games for Volleyball, and Zone 7 usually is a weaker zone in the games, I'm excited and I think our team could do very well,&” she said.

Fedoruk also noted that the Zone 7 girls volleyball team managed to finish second at the 2014 Winter Games.

As the time counts down to the winter games this weekend, the local athletes will gear up and represent the St. Paul area with pride on Alberta's biggest stage for amateur sports.