This week 3000 athletes from the Province of Alberta will be in Leduc for the Alberta Summer Games.

The Alberta Summer Games has athletes ages 11- 17 compete in 14 different sports.

Cochrane has 31 athletes representing football, soccer both male and female, baseball, athletics, beach volleyball, triathlon, lacrosse, and basketball.

Sheri Wilson with Alberta Sport Connection says the games represent a great opportunity for our younger athletes.

"The Alberta Games represents a great opportunity for our young Alberta athletes between the ages of 11-17 to enter into a multi- sport games as their first experience. It just helps them move on towards being successful at a national level and international level."

Wilson adds that many professional athletes have started at the Alberta Games.

"Alberta Games has had over 40 athletes go to the Olympics and they all started at the Alberta Games program. So 2016, Olympian Tara Whitten in cycling, started as Alberta Games athlete, went on to Canada Games athlete, and then was successful for her second Olympics."

Wilson says for many of the athletes, the Alberta Games is their Olympics.

"They get an amazing experience, they get to interact with athletes from all over the Province in 14 different sports, they make a whole lot of friends, and they get treated like rock stars here. They live in an accommodation site for the weekend, they eat in a food centre, they travel in buses to get here; so it really is a fabulous experience.

Alberta Sport Connection gives grant money to the host community and works with the host community to help them put on the games over a two year period.

The Alberta Summer Games opens Thursday July 14 and ends Sunday July 17.