It has been a great year for the Sunshine Coast Skating Club and an exceptional year for 12-year-old Caitlin Jarvis.
She was selected to carry the Olympic Torch just prior to attending the BC Winter Games where she placed 13th overall.
Caitlin competed at the BC Sectional championships (competitive stream provincial championships) and her placement at the recent Winterskate competition qualified her to attend Starskate Provincial Championships. Those two competitions, along with the BC Winter Games, meant she attended all three provincial championships.
Much of Caitlin's and the entire club's accomplishments can be attributed to the acquisition of NCCP level three (partial level four) certified coach Lesleigh Farr five years ago.
Farr has worked hard to design effective programming to ensure the club can produce successful skaters in both the recreational and competitive streams. The coach, club board and School District No. 46, have worked together to implement the excel program whereby skaters miss school twice weekly in the afternoon to train in a condensed/intense program, focusing on mental prep, technical info, goal setting, school figures, freeskate and off ice jump technique.
Next week, international/world level skating judge Susan Heffernan will be in attendance to address this class. The excel program complements regular training on ice as well as off ice plyometrics with Mokie Burnham and ballet/flexibility with Kathleen Holmes.
As figure skating is a year-round sport, the club is currently rallying to try to keep ice through the spring. Spring and summer ice is not only imperative for a competitive or test stream skater, but it also enables the club to offer full-time employment for its coaching staff. Without full-time employment, it is difficult to attract and keep quality, certified coaches. Skaters have travelled in and out of the city for spring and summer ice for the past two years at great expense, time and energy. The club would like to see that change by ensuring there is, at the very least, a spring program to offer both skaters and coaches.
The club also recently held a test day Feb. 8, with 25 of 26 Skate Canada tests passing.
Jarvis passed her novice competitive test, making her not only the only skater from the Coast to achieve this level, but also passing at a very young age. Congratulations to all skaters who tested. A 99 per cent pass rate is to be applauded.
-Submitted
