Before they wore NWT colours at major competitions, sisters Mia and Kaylie Locke-Setter were five-year-olds chasing a basketball across a Yellowknife gym floor.
Today, they still step onto that same court. Only now, they’re the ones teaching the next generation how to dribble.
In the North, sport grows athletes, shapes leaders, and strengthens communities.
And when Mia and Kaylie step onto the court at the 2026 Arctic Winter Games, they won’t just hear the whistle. They will hear Yellowknife cheering them on.
In most places, competition builds players. In the North, community builds champions.
For 12 years, basketball has shaped their lives. Early mornings before school, practices three nights a week, and the steady rhythm of drills and scrimmages have transformed potential into performance.
Playing in the Northwest Territories is different than in larger provinces. There aren’t endless local teams to test yourself against or packed tournament brackets every weekend.
In the North, you don’t wait for the game to push you. You push yourself.
Teammates compete against each other in practice. Coaches raise the standard. Every possession matters because opportunity isn’t guaranteed. It’s earned.
This year, when northern athletes step onto a bigger stage at the 2026 Arctic Winter Games, they will carry something greater than ambition. They will carry their communities with them.
Representing the Northwest Territories means more than chasing a medal.
“It means a lot to represent where we’re from. To show what the NWT can do and how hard we’ve worked to get here,” Kaylie shares.
The Games bring together athletes from across the circumpolar North, each shaped by culture, pride, and place.
There’s the intensity of competition, but there’s also a powerful bond as athletes trade pins, meet other dedicated competitors, and share space with people who understand the journey.
“I’m looking forward to playing and competing. I’m also excited to be in an environment where there are so many athletes who are dedicated to their sport. We all have ambition in our own sports, and that’s definitely an experience I’m going to enjoy,” Kaylie shared.
Even when they travel, Mia and Kaylie are never disconnected.
“Our parents and grandparents are always messaging and calling,” Mia shared. “They watch the livestreams so they can see us play. That’s how they show their support and we want to make them proud.”
That connection turns distance into closeness. It allows families to follow every shot in real time and communities to rally together from afar.
As both a Legacy Sponsor and Arctic Champion Partner of the Arctic Winter Games, Northwestel helps power those moments. Through fast fibre connections, Eutelsat’s OneWeb network and Fortinet’s unified cybersecurity solutions, Northwestel helps families follow every play, every milestone, and every proud moment.
Because when northern athletes compete, the whole North shows up.
Behind every confident player is someone who helped them fall in love with the game.
For Mia and Kaylie, that mentor is NWT Basketball Head Coach Aaron Wells. He knows every northern champion is connected first to their community.
He believes sport helps young people discover who they are, building confidence alongside skill and learning what it means to contribute to something larger than themselves.
That belief is lived out every week. Mia and Kaylie now coach with Aaron in the same GoBall and Junior NBA programs where they first learned to dribble, giving back to the community, and helping younger players fall in love with the game.
In the North, community sits at the heart of sport and it’s how champions are built.
Beyond the Games, Northwestel proudly partners with Basketball NWT, helping expand youth basketball opportunities in Yellowknife and strengthen development pathways for young players and coaches.
From grassroots programs to territorial competition, that investment builds stronger, healthier, and more connected communities through sport.
Because building champions happens when communities stay connected, young athletes have access to opportunity, and mentorship is passed forward.
The Arctic Winter Games celebrate competition, but they also reveal something bigger: pride carried forward.
Across the Northwest Territories, young players are watching Mia and Kaylie wear NWT on their jerseys. They’re watching them compete. They’re watching them return home and lead. And they’re learning something powerful.
Greatness doesn’t have to begin somewhere else. It can begin here.
In the North, the future isn’t waiting somewhere ahead.
It’s already here, in community gyms, packed stands and athletes who return home to pass the ball forward.
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Northwestel is proud to serve 97 northern communities, each with a rich and unique Indigenous history, culture, and identity. We exist to help ignite the power of these First Nation, Inuit and Métis communities through the very best communications technology and services. We are committed to doing so in true partnership and consultation with Indigenous governments and other Northern Indigenous partners in a way that creates shared benefits for people in the North.
