The Sunshine Coast Skating Club (SCSC) has had a busy first half of the season. Working hard to provide adequate programming for a growing club hasn't always been easy, but through great coaching, a wonderful volunteer executive and sheer stubbornness, they have managed. With the unfortunate delay of the Gibsons arena, the SCSC had to make a difficult choice, and in the desire to provide their membership with stability, they have opted to run the second half of their season out of the Sunshine Coast Arena in Sechelt. This will provide the membership with a firm schedule and take the unknown out of the equation. The loss of revenue due to the delay will be unfortunate, but the club has persevered through difficulties before.
Once the Gibsons arena is functioning, the SCSC plans on doubling its learn-to-skate program as well as the successful PowerSkate classes. The club's director of skating, Lesleigh Farr, is joined again this year by Anita Flay, who heads up the PowerSkating program. The coaching staff this season also includes a former skater turned professional, Michael Jensen. Michael is a senior at Elphinstone Secondary School and coaches during the CanSkate sessions as well as freelancing for the club. The club enjoyed its first competition in White Rock last month, sending four skaters to compete. This month, five skaters are participating in the regional development team seminar in Vancouver, while six more skaters are participating in the grassroots seminar held at the Agradome. With regionals coming up in February, the club is keeping very busy preparing. The first test day of the season was held in December with a 99 per cent pass rate. It isn't just all hard work though; a very successful Halloween party saw more than 100 kids participating, and Santa had his hands full handing out candy canes to all the skaters at the annual Christmas Eve skate. The upcoming team day, simulations, exhibitions and more help keep this club hopping. With the loss of revenue from the delay of the Gibsons arena opening a concern, the club is working hard to fundraise and help offset some of this burden. A recent raffle offered a pair of tickets to the 2008 BMO Championships being held in Vancouver this January. The club is also raffling off a spring cruise, so if you feel lucky, make sure you contact the club and find out how to purchase a ticket.
The SCSC is completely volunteer run and relies on its membership to keep the club running smoothly. If you have an interest or feel you have something to offer this wonderful organization, come down to the arena during club programming and talk to any executive member.
Registration will be held for the winter session Jan. 6 to 8 at the arena from 3 to 5 p.m. Be sure to sign up early as space will be limited now that they are operating out of only one facility. CanSkate and PowerSkate programs run on Mondays and Wednesdays, as does CanFigure. StarSkate programming runs Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Keep your kids healthy and happy - get skating today!
