The 2023 Arctic Winter Games in Wood Buffalo are underway.

The Games started yesterday and run until Feb. 4 in the Alberta regional municipality.

Some of Team Yukon’s curling, futsal and hockey teams opened their games yesterday with mixed results.

The female curling team of Hadley Callan, Lucy Epp, Chloe Searson and Linnaya Searson had a good start against Alaska. Although they were down 3–0 after two ends, they roared back with three in the third to deadlock it at threes.

Unfortunately, it was all Alaska after that, as they scored three in the fourth, one in the fifth, and two each in the sixth and seventh ends to seal the 11–3 victory.

The male team of Nathan Iskra, Carlos Magsucang and Charles and Roman Snider were also in tough against Alaska, who scored three in the first and third ends, and four in the fourth. Yukon bounced back with two in the fifth to make the final score 10–2 for Alaska.

In female hockey, Yukon’s junior team (2003 or later) lost 5–1 to a strong Alberta North contingent. Cassie Cebuliak scored the lone goal for the Yukon to pull them within one in the third period, but despite their best efforts, they couldn’t get any closer.

The girls’ team bounced back in a big way against Nunavut this morning with an 11–1 victory.

The girls futsal team had a tough start to their tournament with a 7–0 loss to Alaska.

The best result of the day for Team Yukon was a dominant win in boy’s 2007 or later futsal over Alaska by a lopsided 6–1 score. Leo Whittaker tallied three goals for Team Yukon. Kyan Morrison netted two and Maze Clemente added one goal.

The 2009 boys’ futsal team opens their tourney tonight against Nunavut.

Meanwhile, the opening ceremonies took place during a chilly Sunday evening in Fort MacMurray. They started at around 7 p.m. Wrestler Jaymi Hinchey proudly displayed the Yukon flag as she lead the team into Legacy Dodge Field.