An infinitely small fraction of the three thousand or so young athletes who will partake in the 2024 Ontario Summer Games in London this week will rise to the point of competing at the Olympics some day.

Yet the fact that the two multi-sport events overlap on the calendar this summer is still pretty damn cool as a healthy gathering of Sudbury talent make their way down to take in what is still a wonderful sport memory to be stored away for years to come.

“The reality of it for me is that at this point, I am going for the experience,” noted Timberwolf GC and Marymount Academy golfer Elliott Boyles, who of three young women representing the northeastern region. “I’m aware of the other competitors that will be there and what their skill level is.”

“Just being realistic about that is important.”

A relative newcomer to higher level play, the 16 year old grade 11 student will be joined by Lea Lemieux (Lockerby Composite) and Amy Smith from Gore Bay on the girls side while locals Carter Baron, McKinley Sobush and Ryan Di Salle team up with Ayrton Longe (Elliot Lake), Drake Robitaille (North Bay) and Noah Thorpe (Manitoulin) to form the boys squad.

“I’ve been playing with my grandfather and my dad for about five years now – but I really just picked it up seriously about three years ago, essentially when I started high-school and realized there was an opportunity to compete for my school in the city,” said Boyles.

A competitor on the North Eastern Junior Golf Tour both last year and this summer as well – Boyles sits second to OSG teammate Amy Smith in the U17 Division – the well-spoken young teen has noticed a huge progression in her game recently, a coming together, if you will, of both the physical and mental aspects of the sport.

“It was important to gain distance,” Boyles acknowledged. “It has to feel like things are reachable, that it didn’t feel like such a stretch to play the really long holes. That came with refining my technique, just being able to make my swing as efficient as it could be.”

“That was where I noticed more consistency in terms of how I was hitting and the confidence that I gained in being able to do that. It all kind of works together for me. I seem to have a strong impact zone now to be able to hit how I want to to be able to hit – and then to repeat that.”

Though it may still be a longshot, the likes of Ellie Sauve and Peyton Tessier and the balance of the Team North U14 girls basketball team need not look a whole lot further than in the direction of long-time Sudbury youth talent (and current Olympian) Syla Swords to understand that their wildest of dreams are not completely unfounded.

In fact, the regional squad that includes all but one player who hails from Sudbury is expected to contend for a medal when play begins Friday at Fanshawe College. “Our defense leads to our offense,” noted scoring sensation Elie Sauve, a key beneficiary of the correlation noted above.

“We’re good at making people feel uncomfortable, getting in their grill – and our transition runs really well off that. We’ve repped our presses a bunch of times so we know what to do.”

A grade nine student at Lo-Ellen who is set to return to the Knights Jr Prep formation in the fall, Sauve will be looked upon to play to her strength as Team North navigates their way through a five-team round robin preliminary schedule.

“I’ve always been really good at seeing the court, just knowing where people are,” she said. “Passing is one of my best skills. I’ve worked on my speed a lot, so I am able to get up the court fast – and I’m always working on my shot.”

“When you really love it (basketball), you just keep working at it.”

A 5’9” center who is one year younger than roughly half of her teammates, Peyton Tessier is anxious to see just how much progress she had made, given a surge in her commitment to the hardcourt that kicked in within the last year or two.

“This (OSG) is different, for sure – not like anything I’ve ever competed in before,” said the grade 8 student at Ecole catholique Jean-Paul II in Val Caron. “I am really excited to see how our team can do at the Summer Games, how we rank against other teams. I’m excited to play the top girls, the top teams and get better as a team and as a player.”

With the best from Ontario on hand, Tessier knows that her stature is not likely to top the charts, forcing her to play a thinking man’s game, at times, beneath the basket. “There will be some tall girls there, for sure,” she said. “The key for me is to get in front of them, box them out, push them back and be as aggressive as I can.”

Joining Sauve and Tessier on the team are Allie Vaillancourt, Annakah Kruk, Avery Smith, Elicia Bihina, Emma DeMarchi, Kallie Smith, Mattia Mullen, Mila Beljo, Sunny Dunlop-Bassett and Timmins native Daphnee Labelle.

With Sudbury Voyageurs’ coaches Max Rydholm, Parker Savard and Kurtis Winrow all part of the team staff, Team North (of the baseball variety) includes local content in the form of: Brett Rienguette, Chase Taylor, Evan Ouimet, Trent Peters, Justin Mrochek, Landen Creasey, Nathan Omeljaniuk, Owen Lamothe as well as underagers Adrien Cecchetto and Olivier Seguin, both of whom will observe the festivities.

Locals Trista Appleby and Arielle Roy are also part of the Baseball Ontario girls development teams that are on hand for the event, with local umpire Rheanna Crepeault tasked with officiating games on this side of the draw.

The girls hockey brigade that form part of what is ostensibly a U16 provincial talent identification camp for the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association features blueliners Adrielle Charette, Olivia Carriere, Alexa Labrecque and forward Sadie Frantz. Also in attendance are Timmins native Lacey Rivers, who suited up with the U15 AA Lady Wolves last winter, as well as Stephanie Pascal, head coach of the Team Ranscombe entry at the Games.

Out of the water, Julien Turpin is carrying local hopes in the sprint kayak /canoe competition, donning the Sudbury Canoe Club colours while the local track and field contingent assembles Nadia MacDonald, Mackenzie Roy, Nova Debassige, Janssen Fransen, Blaire Rickard and Caitlyn Vienneau from Elliot Lake.

Chill Volleyball will also be represented in London with Maksim Rybiak, Greg Kao, Cédric Larouche and Evan Hodgins part of the OVA festivities (Kevin McKee is there as coach), while the female tandem of Macie Barlow (athlete) and Carrie Welsh (coach) also made their way south this week.