AMES — The Winter Iowa Games will officially kick off in Dubuque this weekend starting Friday evening with the opening ceremony.
This year marks the 18th Winter Iowa Games, and the Iowa Sports Foundation has been gearing up for the event with a record 19 sports.
The Winter Iowa Games offers athletes the chance to be a part of the Olympic-style Opening Ceremony to be held at the Five Flags Center in Dubuque; Friday, Jan. 29, at 7 p.m. This annual Dubuque event brings thousands of athletes and fans together to celebrate amateur athletics in the state of Iowa. This year’s Opening Ceremony will include a parade of athletes, a figure skating act and indoor fireworks. The event will also feature the second annual Winter Iowa Games mascot race featuring local mascots along with the new Iowa Games mascot, Champ. The Opening Ceremony and all Iowa Games events are free admission to athletes, coaches, parents and spectators.
As team sports and many individual sport deadlines have passed, athletes still have the chance to register on-site for the following sports: cross country skiing, downhill skiing, the fitness walk, 5K road race, snowboarding, and new events to the 2010 Games, martial arts and wrestling. Visit www.IOWAGAMES.org for the specific dates and times of these events.
With over 3,500 athletes pre-register to compete, the ISF will look for participation numbers to be near or break the 2008 record of 3,805 participants.
“We [The Iowa Sports Foundation] are excited about the new sports added, offering even more opportunities for Iowa’s amateur athletes,” commented Event Coordinator Cory Kennedy. “With the number of pre-registered athletes, it will be exciting over the next few weekends to see if we are able to break the record with on-site registrations at several sports.”
Youth basketball tops the list of team sports with a record 97 teams, followed by indoor soccer with 56 teams, and volleyball with 49 teams. Swimming, which was held Jan. 23-24 in Dubuque, had 140 participants. Other individual sports looking to be at the top of participation are the 5K road race, table tennis and wrestling.
This year’s Winter Iowa Games will be held over the course of five weekends in 10 different Iowa communities.
The Iowa Sports Foundation is a nonprofit sports management organization that helps develop amateur sports in Iowa and promotes positive lifestyles and physical fitness through athletic events and health education programs. The ISF host the Summer Iowa Games, Winter Iowa Games, Live Healthy Iowa, Live Healthy America, Live Healthy Iowa Kids, Go The Distance Day, Hoopin at the Dome, Net Fest, Fish Iowa Games, and the Iowa Games Golf Classic.
