The Sunshine Coast Skating Club is having one of its best years ever, with five figure skaters on the regional development team and arecord number of skaters competing at provincials in the competitive and StarSkate streams.
"It's a first for our club and a real achievement," said club president Jill-Marie Jarvis, who worries the closure of both arenas for the spring and summer will stall that momentum and create tremendous financial hardship for skaters and their families. "Our skaters can't afford to lose months of training. Our competitive, StarSkate and regional team members are scrambling to find summer ice, but the cost of travelling off-Coast to train is a huge expense. Figure skating, unlike hockey, is a year-round sport, with summer being the most intense part of the training season. We desperately need summer ice if our skaters hope to compete with other clubs offering year round training."
The Skating Club has approached Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) staff with a proposal to run a beginner CanSkate as well as a figure-skating school for four weeks this summer.
"Science has shown that muscle has memory, and after two weeks off the ice, muscles begin to lose that memory, and skaters enter into detraining mode," added director of skating Lesleigh Farr. "When skaters do return to the ice, much time and money is wasted relearning what they originally had achieved."
Jarvis notes the jump in ice costs this year (from $2,400 to $4,200 a week) makes it difficult for the club to cover the entire cost on its own and is looking at ways to partner with the SCRD. Staff are reviewing the club's proposal, which includes running a skating camp in conjunction with SCRD summer camps at the Gibsons and Area Community Centre.
-Submitted
