The 2020 Manitoba Games powered by Manitoba Hydro are officially a go in Dauphin! Sport Manitoba presented the Dauphin Host Society with a $50,000 cheque as a part of the official signing of the Multi-Party Agreement at City Hall.

Above is City Manager, Sharla Griffiths, Dauphin Mayor, Allen Dowhan, President & CEO of Sport Manitoba, Jeff Hnatiuk and Co-hosts Carla Wolfenden and Clayton Swanton as they signed the official agreement which formalizes the partnership between Sport Manitoba and the host society, the City of Dauphin.

"We are so excited to host the 2020 Manitoba Games," said Dowhan. "The legacy that the 2004 games left in our community, the promotion of amateur sport for our young people, the volunteers that come forward and of course all of the visitors that come to the games, it's going to be such a memorable event for our community."

"It's a very exciting time whenever we get together with the Host Society to sort of kick things off," said Jeff Hnatiuk. "It marks the beginning of a significant amount of work to put on this type of event. It's the largest multi-sport event we have in Manitoba. It was a great afternoon."

Today's $50,000 cheque was the first of three installments of $50,000 that Sport Manitoba will provide to the Host Society to assist with the operating costs of hosting the Games. Each installment may support costs including, but not limited to administration, staffing, food services, and registration fees.

The 2020 Manitoba Games powered by Manitoba Hydro are set to take place from August 9-15. 

"We are very confident that Dauphin is going to do an amazing job just like they did in 2004," said Hnatiuk. "The facilities that are here are absolutely incredible and they're a perfect fit for the Manitoba Games. The people here are great and we know there is a fantastic Host Society set up."

About 7,500 athletes, coaches, officials, and volunteers will take part in the event.