Opening Ceremony For BC Winter Games On Thursday night                     courtesy BC Gov photos

Mission, BC – Competition kicked off yesterday at the BC Winter Games in Mission…

More than 1300 athletes between the ages of 9 and 17 years, from around the province, are at the three-day event to compete in 18 sports, ranging from ice and snow events – like skating, hockey and skiing – to indoor events such as badminton and wheelchair basketball.

The Fraser Valley is the early leader in the medal standings with 30 medals as of early Friday night.  The Cariboo-North East zone sits in 4th with 13 medals (5 gold, 4 silver, and 4 bronze), while the North West is in 8th spot.

In figure skating, Justin Hampole of Prince George is in the lead after the pre-novice men's short program.

"For many of BC's high performance athletes, the journey to the international stage begins at the BC Games," says Minister of Community, Sport, and Cultural Development, Coralee Oakes. "These Games are often the first experience a young athlete has with multi-sport competition, and represent a stepping stone to higher levels of competition."

BC Games alumni now representing Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi include:  hockey players Carey Price and Jamie Benn, speed skater Denny Morrison, skiers Kelsey Serwa and Georgia Simmerling, bobsledder Justin Kripps, and Paralympians Matthew Hallat and Josh Dueck.

To view the schedule for the 2014 BC Winter Games, click here.  To find results for a sport or athlete, click here.