13-year-old Yukon skier competing alone after change to Arctic Winter Games age requirement

A new minimum age limit at the Arctic Winter Games means a 13-year-old Yukon cross country skier will be unable to compete in the relay event.

"It's kind of annoying because I don't get any teammates to be with," said Emily Kralish-Seguin.

In the past, the games have welcomed competitors as young as eight years old, but in Mat-Su, Alaska, the youngest athletes will have turned 12 by Dec. 31, 2023.

For Yukon's cross-country ski team, this means they will be fielding a team of one for the under-14 girls competitions.  

There are six girls who might have tried out for the team in other years, but at age 11, those skiers are not eligible. Kralish-Seguin said she would be happy to have them on her team.

"They'd be a little young," she said, "but they could still have the experience, and I could do all the events. Also, I would just get to have fun with some other girls close to my age."

Kralish-Seguin has seen the group of girls she started skiing with at age eight gradually drop out of the sport, she said.

"It's an individual sport, and other people were just in it to be social," she said. "They just wanted to take it down a notch in terms of competitiveness."

According to Canadian Women in Sport, one in three girls drop out of sport by the time they hit adolescence, compared to just one in 10 boys. A lack of social connection is one of the reasons cited for this shift. 

Coaches with Cross Country Yukon say they're working on turning this situation around.

Sarah Johnson coaches kids aged nine to 12, otherwise known as Purple Squad. She said parents have helped support team-building efforts specific to the girls.

"They've made the effort for the girls to get together outside of squad," said Johnson. "So they have movie nights and pizza nights, times for the girls just to get together."

There are also training days focused specifically on the girls, geared toward fun and team-building.

"Where the boys are results-focused, the girls want to do well, but they need to have that time to talk with their friends," she said.

Trevor Twardochleb, the Yukon's Chef de Mission for the Arctic Winter Games, said he hasn't heard much about those concerns from Yukon sports organizations, but he has a window on some of the challenges through his daughter's hockey teams.

"I know that there are five girls who are not going to be playing at the games as their leagues happen to have playoffs at the same time," he said. "There are a lot of issues that come up, but I haven't heard that one, specifically."

Twardochleb said gender equity is one of multiple concerns Sport Yukon is working on at the moment, alongside other issues like safe sport and concussions.

In situations like the one faced by Kralish-Seguin, he said, officials will be meeting to look at the final number of competitors and will find a way to make sure all eligible athletes get a chance to participate in relay events.