Sport In The North: Katrina Krawec Moved To Nunavut, Canada To Become Development Officer

An interesting thing to note about Nunavut is there are no roads connecting any of the 25 communities, so you have to fly everywhere!

Katrina Krawec

Sport and Recreation Development Officer

Nunavut

Sport and Recreation Division staff work together in three main areas:

1. Major Games: Team Nunavut attends five major games: Arctic Winter Games, Canada Summer Games, Canada Winter Games, North American Indigenous Games, and Western Canada Summer Games. All of these games rotate on different cycles, taking place every 2-, 3-, or 4-years, and planning for each set of games actually begins years in advance. The Sport and Recreation Division coordinates Team Nunavut’s participation in all of these games.
2. Stakeholder Support: The Sport and Recreation Division supports various sport and recreation stakeholders across the territory, including municipalities, Territorial Sport and Recreation Organizations, community sport organizations, and other non-profit organizations, through funding, consulting, resource development, etc.
3. Policy Development: The Sport and Recreation Division develops, implements, and evaluates sport and recreation policies for the Division and our stakeholders.

When people hear “Sport and Recreation” in my job title, they often picture event planning and on-the-groundwork with athletes and coaches. Although I am fortunate to get to attend major games with Team Nunavut as part of my job, my role largely involves being in the office and interacting with coworkers and other stakeholders to advance work in the different areas I described above.

An interesting thing to note about Nunavut is there are no roads connecting any of the 25 communities, so you have to fly everywhere! Further, the Sport and Recreation Division is divided into three offices, one in each region of the territory. Since it is very expensive and time-consuming to travel around the territory, a lot of work is done by e-mail and phone, rather than in person.

When was the point you realized that you were meant to do this career? Take us through that realization.

As I am sure is very common for people who work in the sports industry, I grew up playing sports. When it came time to go to university, I decided to take Kinesiology because it seemed to be the most interesting and relevant to my life. While at university, I realized that I gravitated towards sport management courses and afterwards I ended up completing my master’s degree in sport management. It was through my master’s coursework and the thesis-writing process that I honed in on my interest in policy, inclusion, and sport for development, and I am extremely lucky to have found a job that supports these interests.

What are three words you would use to describe your work-life?

1. Collaborative
2. Inspiring
3. Fulfilling

Are there any rules or quotes you try to model your life and work-life by?

I try to follow the Four Agreements (from Don Miguel Ruiz’s book of the same name):

1. Be impeccable with your word.
2. Don’t take anything personally.
3. Don’t make assumptions.
4. Always do your best.

Given my Type A personality, I don’t have any trouble with the fourth agreement, but I do think about the first three agreements on a regular basis.

How do you maintain a work-life balance having such a large role?

I am very careful with what I commit to, both at work and in my personal life. I try not to overcommit myself and create situations in which I am stressed out and not able to be “impeccable” with my word.

I am also aware of my tendencies when it comes to scheduling my time and completing work, so I don’t make big commitments when I have important deadlines or events, like major games, coming up. Finally, I wake up early in the morning so that I have time to myself before I begin my day. Doing so also gives me plenty of time to get ready for work so that I don’t have to start my day rushing around.

What is your most memorable moment you have experienced in your job?

I really wish I could say that the most memorable moment of my job so far as being at the 2020 Arctic Winter Games with Team Nunavut, but unfortunately, the games were recently cancelled due to COVID-19.

So, I am going to have to go with a memorable moment that happened in my career before I moved to Nunavut.

I was part of Team Ontario’s mission staff for the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer, Alberta. Although I had previously volunteered at major games, including the 2010 Olympics, 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games, and 2017 Invictus Games, that was the first time I was involved in the behind-the-scenes, pre-games planning process. It was incredibly rewarding to see the month’s hard work put in by mission staff come to fruition at the games. (I imagine I would have had similar feelings about the Arctic Winter Games!)

What is one of the most rewarding parts of the position you are in?

The most rewarding part of my job is being able to support the incredible work being done across the territory by hard-working community recreation coordinators and leaders along with sports administrators, coaches, and other volunteers.