By Tiffany Willits, Media Intern
Have you ever heard of Star of the North Games? Star of the North Games is Minnesota's own Olympic-style multi-sport event. Each year, a different Minnesota community hosts the Games. This year, the games were held in St. Cloud for the sixth time since 1988 when the games first started. Past venues have included Rochester, St. Paul, Burnsville, Moorhead, Twin Cities North Metro and Brooklyn Park. Depending on the year and how many choose to sign up, there are typically between 18 to 24 different sports that athletes can participate in. Both individual and team sports are open to the public and athletes can register online.
Having the chance to experience two weeks of the games was a great way to learn hands on for what Star of the North is all about. My duties consisted of sitting in the Halenbeck Hall Headquarters with all of the other staff by assisting with team check-ins, selling t-shirts, updating live scores on the computer as well as basic media coverage from taking pictures of athletes to interviewing them for possible story ideas. I even put together a giant map of Minnesota that had all of the cities that various teams and individuals came from to compete over the two weekend span. Teams from Ada, Worthington, Big Fork, Baudette, Jordan, Melrose and the hometown of St. Cloud came together to participate in the games. Of course, there were many more cities as well, but these are just a preview!
Here is a breakdown of the sports for this year’s Star of the North games: Week one consisted of the Family Adventure Race, figure Skating, diving, lacrosse, softball, swimming, volleyball and weightlifting. Gymnastics was also held during week one, but it was in Rochester. Week two consisted of baseball, basketball, BMX Cycling, golf, pickleball, 5k Road Race, softball and track & field. Each of the sports were held at various venues such as Whitney Park for the 5K Road Race, Whitney Recreation Center for pickleball and various local gyms for basketball. Being a basketball fanatic, I’d have to say that week two was my favorite as I got to watch the men’s adult league do what they do best: play basketball. Surprisingly even one of my college friends was playing on a team and that made it even more exciting to watch.
Above: Week one volleyball girls pose for a picture in the Halenbeck Fieldhouse.
Above: A Twin Cities Heat player shoots free throws versus the Royals from Arden Hills. The Heat came up short falling 82-85. The Royals advanced into the Gold Medal Game.
Olympic Day:
Not only did sport activities take place during Star of the North, but Olympic Day did as well! Olympic Day was held at St. Cloud State University representing the state of Minnesota as a celebration and promotion to fitness and well-being. Fair play, perseverance, respect and sportsmanship were stressed by our guest Olympians and athletes Gigi Marvin, Anne Schleper and Aaron Cross. Olympic Day is held annually in more than 160 countries and it was a big honor to be apart of such a huge movement. Olympic Day was free and open to the public and we even served root beer floats--yum!
Above: (From left to right) Three-time Paralympic Archer & Bronze Medalist; Aaron Cross, 2011 Gold medalist Women's World Hockey; Anne Schleper and Olympic Silver Medalist and three-time World Champion Hockey star; Gigi Marvin were our guest speakers. They did a wonderful job!
Approximately 140 of the National Select USA Girls' 16/17 Hockey camp attended Olympic Day. This is the view of the ice-cream social and meet and greet with the athletes from the balcony. It was a great turnout.
Above: Girls from the USA Hockey camp pose with hockey star, Gigi Marvin. Look closely: one lucky lady is holding Gigi's gold medal from the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
Here is our 2011 staff that helped make this year's Star of the North Games and Olympic Day successful. All of this would not be possible without you. Thank you!
