Futsal Gold Medal Games

If you’ve been to the Canada Games Centre this week, you might have noticed futsal games starting first thing in the morning and going late in the evening on the court at the far end of the building. All week this court was dedicated solely to futsal, a variation of indoor soccer. 

The game is played on a hard indoor surface with a smaller, less bouncy ball than typical soccer balls. Similar to outdoor soccer, though, there are lines on the floor indicating the boundaries of play. Futsal game play is very fast paced and exciting.

The round robin tournament for under 18 male and female teams wrapped up the evening of March 13. The U18 female tournament resulted in team Alaska taking gold, team Yukon took home silver and team Northwest Territories won bronze. The U18 male results were team Northwest Territories capturing gold, team Yukon with silver, and team Alaska took home bronze. 

Early morning on the last day of Arctic Winter Games 2026 the U16 male gold medal game was between team Sapmi and team Alberta North. It was clear that both teams were hungry for the win throughout the entire game.

With under 5 minutes of regulation game play to go, team Sapmi took a short timeout then almost immediately tied up the game by scoring their third goal. Tension in the very full stands was palpable. Many athletes from all nine contingents attended the match, since all other competitions for the Arctic Winter Games had wrapped the day before.

With the game tied up the players headed into a sudden death overtime to battle it out. Two minutes into overtime it looked like Sapmi was going to score, but Alberta North came right back, scoring just seconds later for a 4-3 golden win.

Shortly after the boys game the stands were flipped and the court was prepped for the female U16 gold medal game. Both team Alaskan and team Northwest Territories got ready to leave it all on the court.

It was an intense fight, but heading into the second half of the gold medal game, team Northwest Territories led 2-0. At this point, the stands were completely full and athletes from all the different sports were buzzing, excited for the closing ceremonies. Some were even swapping gear with other teams and finishing up their final pin trades. 

The eruption that occurred when team Northwest Territories knew they had captured gold with a final score of 2-1 was infectious. They celebrated on the court while the stands went wild.

The medal ceremony for both male and female U16 teams was very special. It opened with a land acknowledgment that included a traditional yoik dedicated to Whitehorse from Mahtte, a member of team Sapmi’s cultural contingent.

Medals for the male teams were presented starting with the Honourable Adam van Koeverden, former Olympic medalist and Secretary of State for Sport, presenting the bronze to team Nunavut. The Honourable Marc Miller, Minister responsible for Canadian Heritage and Cultural Identity, presented silver to team Sapmi, then Her Excellency, the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General for Canada, presented gold to team Alberta North.

For the female teams, former Olympian Jeane Larsen presented bronze to team Sapmi. The Honourable Marc Miller presented silver to team Alaska, and her Excellency, the Right Honourable Mary Simon presented gold to team Northwest Territories.

By Felix Olaney

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