ESTEVAN — Five French immersion students from Estevan Comprehensive School travelled to Victoria from July 11-15 for the Northwestern Francophone Games.
Chloe Blakeney, Cody-Lynn Hoffort, Blake Andrist, Jacob Deitz and Carson Seemann were competing in three different sports, including volleyball, basketball and ultimate Frisbee.
While the event was centred around sports, the students got to meet people from all across the Western Canadian provinces and territories and had a great time practising their French as well.
The adventure started with a presentation by the Jeux Franco-Canadiens du Nord et de L'Ouest (JFCNO) group that organizes the games. They came out to ECS about two months before the event seeking participants from Grades 9-11.
"It was an amazing opportunity for the price and the overall French speaking, so I went and got there," Andrist shared. "I went for basketball, and the basketball quality was really good. It was like the Sask Games, except for French kids from all around Western Canada."
The Estevan quintet was joined by others and Saskatchewan group leaders in Regina, from where they flew out to Victoria. And the entire trip from A-Z was an experience to remember.
"It was good. It was my first time flying, so I was nervous about that. But overall, it was really good and it was a really good flight," said Seemann.
"I played volleyball, and it was very nice. There's a lot of different play styles there. I met a lot of people, and I got a lot of tips to get better as a player," he added, noting that his team included another boy from Saskatchewan and two girls from Manitoba.
"It was really fun meeting new people, seeing the beach, speaking French, playing basketball," Hoffort shared. She said her team with players from Alberta and Manitoba didn't do as well, but it still was a very positive experience, as it was for others.
"I thought it was overall a great experience and a great opportunity to make new friends and to grow my French," said Blakeney, who played basketball as well at the games. Her team with players from B.C. and Alberta came in third overall.
Deitz picked Frisbee, even though the only experience he had with this sport was from gym class, and his mixed team ended up winning gold.
While there was a competitive component to the games, it wasn't too stressful, students noted.
"Most of the people, they're just trying to have fun," Deitz said.
"There were some really good basketball players, and we were competing in real games. But at the same time, I'd say the moral of the games was just to have fun and experience and meet new people," Andrist said, whose scrambled team, which also included another player from Saskatchewan, one from Yukon and one from B.C., ended up fourth out 18 in the competition.
"It wasn't very challenging, there was a time when I just practised. There wasn't very much competition, it was mostly just practice and learning new tips," Seemann said.
The players on the teams were from different provinces and territories, and they were also mixed ages. Deitz noted that going on this trip with people he knew made it more comfortable and even better.
Throughout the games, students stayed and tabled in a school, but also had outings to enjoy the community.
"During the nights after supper, we would go to concerts, there would be people singing in French. We went to one at a park. We went to one at a beach, one came to us," Hoffort shared. "It was to bring a bunch of people together for the love of French."
"It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed myself," Deitz said about the overall Francophone Games experience.
The Estevan students chose to compete in sports, but Andrist noted there were other disciplines like improv, cooking and more, with the French language being the common ground for everything.
"It was more to bring a bunch of people together for the love of French," Hoffort said.
"I was coming into it thinking that I was going to struggle with my French speaking, but once I got there it was good," Andrist said.
"It really, really worked up my speaking abilities to speak to other people in French," Seemann said. "Yeah, I spoke a lot of French over the week, and I really got to figure out a lot of different French accents I'm not used to. That was quite the experience."
"I'm not 100 per cent fluent, but I definitely improved my French a lot there," Deitz said.
"It was a good opportunity just to be around other people that spoke French other than my classmates," Blakeney noted, adding that she's never really spoken French outside school, but was speaking it almost the whole time while in Victoria.
"I did listen to a lot of other people's French, and also spoke English and made some really good friends, still text them to this day," Hoffort said. "I would say it taught me a new perspective on French because for most of these people, French isn't their first language, some people have parents who speak it at home, some people don't, yet we were all able to understand each other at least to a certain point and speak together."
Andrist noted the school and the place they stayed at were beautiful, and the food was good as well.
The event came to a close with an award ceremony, and students said they really enjoyed the opportunity.
"I'm really grateful for the experience and the opportunity that was given to me. I'm really glad I went," Andrist said.
"It really improved my social skills and French abilities," Seemann said. "And with volleyball, it was amazing to see that there's a lot of talent from different provinces."
"I think it helped with my French speaking and understanding a lot, and I made a lot of new friends," Deitz said.
"And I just highly recommend, if anybody has the opportunity to go, I'd go," he added.
