While the Canada Winter Games are in our rearview mirror, work continues to ramp up in preparation for the 2020 Alberta Winter Games being hosted by Airdrie.

With over 20 different sporting events requiring attention and thousands of athletes to accommodate, games manager Jim Darby, of Cochrane, has a lot on his plate and is loving every minute of it. Reaching out to volunteers to make it a success is among those responsibilities.

An estimated 3,000 athletes and 10,000 visitors are expected to arrive in Airdrie for the Feb. 14 to 17, 2020 games, Some 2,000 volunteers need to be mobilized to provide the support necessary.

"Volunteers are extremely important for the games to be a success," says Darby, who is also a member of Cochrane's parks and recreation board.

Darby has witnessed first-hand the rewarding experience it offers volunteers at the 2018 Arctic Games jointly hosted by Hay River, NT, where he managed their new recreation centre and worked with the games committee.  He saw it illustrated again while taking notes at Red Deer's Canada Winter Games.

"You get a real sense of happiness from what you're doing for the athletes," he says.

Volunteers of all ages, skills and backgrounds are welcome. Those wanting to know how they can help can visit:

https://albertasport.ca/alberta-gam…/winter-games/volunteer/

Athletes from across Alberta will be competing in alpine skiing, artistic gymnastics, artistic swimming, badminton, biathalon, cross-country skiing, curling, fencing, figure skating, futsal, freestyle skiing, female and male hockey, judo, ringette, snowboarding, speed skating, volleyball and wrestling.

Cochrane area athletes are part of Zone 2 and have had great success at past games in a variety of disciplines.

Playoffs determine who will represent the zone at the games. A full schedule of zone playoffs is being released this fall.