Overview
Over the past several years, the BC Games Society has undertaken a comprehensive review of the BC Winter and BC Summer Games. The review examined two key areas:
Size
The number of sports and participants in the Games (athletes, coaches, and officials).
Scope
The purpose of the Games, their role in British Columbia’s broader sport development system, and the hosting impact on the local community (host society).
In order to meet the required size and scope of the Games, the BC Games Society revamped standards and expectations within the 2028 Core Sport Policy. The following sections summarize the steps in this process, including the timeline, reasoning, and changes.
Why Change was Necessary
To ensure the long-term viability of hosting the Games, a reduction in the overall size of the Summer Games was necessary. Setting hard capacity limits of 1,800 participants for the BC Winter Games and 2,700 participants for the BC Summer Games achieves several critical goals:
- Ensures more athletes throughout the province can experience a single BC Games.
- Reduces pressure on volunteers, local housing, food services, and regional transport.
- Ensures a safer, higher-quality environment and preserves the unique “Culture of the Games.”
- Expands the number of BC communities capable of hosting the Games in the future, making the event more accessible.
Implementation of Change
Core Sport Alignment
To help implement the desired size and scope of the Games, the BC Games Society revamped standards and expectations within the 2028 Core Sport Policy. The Core Sport Policy is the primary document defining partnership expectations for PSOs/DSOs participating in the BC Winter and BC Summer Games program. It establishes the parameters for:
- Applications and eligibility for new sports seeking inclusion in the Games.
- Sport performance and programming standards, including for example province wide zone participation metrics, NCCP Coaching Certification levels and other key benchmarks.
- The post-Games sport evaluation process.
- The process for removing a sport from the Games if Core Sport standards are not achieved.
2028 Core Sport Policy
The 2028 Core Sport Policy states programing standards across all sports to improve consistency, while rooted in long-term athlete development alignment. Changes continue to reinforce the foundational sport development goals of the BC Games such as accessible province wide participation, coaching excellence and creating positive Games experiences. New adaptions are also intended to reduce historical reliance on special exceptions (deviations).
Below you will find a summary of the changes for 2028 compared to previous Games:
| wdt_ID | Area of Change | What's New for 2028 | Previous Approach |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Total Games Capacity | Hard limits established for the first time (Includes all athletes, coaches, and officials): • Winter Games: 1,800 max participants • Summer Games: 2,700 max participants |
No hard capacity limits on the overall size of the Games. |
| 102 | Athlete Attendance | One-time experience: Athletes can only attend the BC Games once per sport. (Exception: Athletes with a disability may attend up to two Games). | Sports could apply for exceptions to let athletes attend a second Games (or a third for athletes with a disability). |
| 103 | Development Level | Strictly aligned with the Train to Train stage of Long-Term Development (the entry point to the Podium Pathway). Age ranges may vary between male and female athletes to match sport-specific pathways. | Aligned across a broader, less consistent mix of the Learn to Train and Train to Train stages. |
| 104 | Zone Allocations & Wildcards (Individual Sports) | Fixed athlete spaces per zone are required. Wildcards are capped at a maximum of 20% of total spots (or the equivalent of 2 zones). Unused zone spots cannot be turned into wildcards (no backfilling). | Sports had highly customized, varied zone allocations. Wildcard rules existed but were frequently exceeded due to limited policy enforcement. |
| 105 | Replacement Teams (Team Sports) | Only permitted when absolutely necessary to balance competition schedules. Replacement teams can now be formed using players from one or multiple zones. | Replacement teams could only be made up of athletes from a single zone. |
| 106 | Coaching Qualifications | Standardized minimum coaching expectations across the board to ensure professional safety and development benchmarks. Coach exemption process continue. | Sports could apply to have coach qualification requirements lowered. |
| 107 | Policy Exceptions (Deviations) | Processes for deviations are removed to ensure system-wide fairness and consistency. | Many sports operated with unique deviations, often written into their individual Technical Packages. |
Why is the BC Games Society limiting the number of participants?
The BC Games grew too large for most BC communities to host. By establishing a firm cap of 1,800 winter participants and 2,700 summer participants, we lower the operational burden on local volunteer teams, reduce intense transportation and accommodations demands, control rising logistical costs, and significantly expand the number of municipalities across the province capable of hosting the Games in the future.
Does this mean the BC Games are trying to cut down on sport opportunities?
No. The primary goal of the Core Sport Re-alignment project is long-term sustainability, not reduction. These updates ensure that the BC Games can continue to deliver exceptionally high-quality, safe, and organizationally stable Games experiences in various communities throughout BC.
Who made these changes?
These updates are the result of a lengthy, multi-year collaborative process undertaken from 2019 through 2025 across the entire provincial sport system.
To ensure all perspectives were included, the BC Games Society established dedicated Steering and Working Committees composed of BC Games staff, Board members, Sport Branch government representatives, and Provincial and Disability Sport Organizations (PSOs/DSOs). Driven by a commitment to open communication, the Society formally introduced the project to sport partners in late 2023 and hosted extensive, transparent consultations throughout 2024 and 2025, including system-wide meetings, surveys, and follow-up interviews.
When do these changes take effect and what happens next?
These rules apply structurally to the 2028 Games cycle. Throughout 2026 and 2027, the BC Games Society will focus heavily on collaborating directly with individual PSOs and DSOs. We will work with you step-by-step to re-align your competition structures and technical packages with the 2028 Core Sport Policy safely and effectively.
Can an athlete compete in the BC Games multiple times?
Under the 2028 policy and implemented across all sports, an athlete can only attend the BC Games one time per sport. The Games are designed to be a vital steppingstone in an athlete’s development pathway, rather than an environment they return to repeatedly which would limit others participation. This rule ensures that a completely fresh group of developing athletes gets to experience the benefits of the Games every single cycle. Additionally, this rule is now consistently applied to all sports in the BC Winter and Summer Games.
Are there any exceptions to the one-time participation rule?
Yes. Recognizing specific parasport and adapted development pathways, athletes with a disability are permitted to attend the BC Games up to two times.
How do I know if my athlete is the right age or level to try out?
The 2028 policy focuses eligibility parameters directly on the Train to Train stage of Long-Term Development. Because different sports have varied development timelines, exact age ranges may vary between male and female athletes to match their specific sport’s technical pathway. The BC Games Society has established the desired sport development level of the Games (Train to Train), while each respective PSO establishes the age eligibility for their sport’s technical package to align with Train to Train. Please check your specific sport’s updated Technical Package or contact your Provincial Advisor for exact details.
What qualifications do I need to coach at the 2028 BC Games?
To ensure a safe and highly professional environment, Head Coaches must be Competition Introduction Certified, Assistant Coaches must be Competition Introduction Trained, and Adult Supervisors must complete the CAC Safe Sport module. These are the appropriate National Coaching Certification Program credentials for Train to Train level of competition. Sports may choose to set additional background screening or qualification expectations.
What happens if our sport has coaches who are still working on their certifications?
The BC Games Society will continue to utilize an exemption and verification process. We recognize the Games are an important learning ground for developing coaches as well as athletes. However, your PSO’s overall Core Sport evaluation score will be directly tied to the percentage of your coaching staff that is fully qualified by the time the Games begin.
Can we use unfilled spots from one zone to bring more wildcard athletes from another?
No. Under the new policy, “backfilling” is strictly prohibited. Unused zone-restricted allocations cannot be converted into extra wildcards under any circumstance. This standard ensures structural fairness across the province and reinforces our mandate for genuine, multi-regional participation.
Can team sports still bring in replacement teams if a zone cannot field a full squad?
Yes, but only when it is absolutely necessary to balance out competition schedules. A team sport would never be granted two replacement teams. To give sports more practical operational flexibility and to help smaller developing zones fill teams, 2028 rules allow replacement teams to be built with athletes pooled from one or multiple zones, whereas past rules limited replacement teams exclusively to a single zone.