Strathmore Figure Skating breaking ice to success

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

It’s only been two months into the season, but the Strathmore Figure Skating Club has already experienced some pleasant surprises.
With impressive growth among participating skaters, coaches also noticed a change in their ability to learn techniques from experienced skaters.
“We’ve grown the club to roughly 90 members now,” said coach Rhett Myers. “The quality of skating is much better. The kids are improving on a daily basis and when the older kids start improving faster, the younger ones follow.”
Myers said the older skaters have not only become role models, but mentors as well and give the younger skaters a look at great technique which gives them the encouragement needed to try something new, like spinning.
He hopes the hard work they put in will pay off by the end of the year, and that they will be meeting the club’s goals that were set right from the start.
“We have a Fire on Ice show that we do every year and for each individual skater to achieve their own goals and show what improvements they’ve done,” said Myers. “We’ve had some success. Rylee Wilson is competing this weekend to try and qualify for Alberta Winter Games in her region and we hope she has good success there.”
He hopes that with the older girls competing at a higher level of figure skating and doing well, that the community will catch on and result in an influx of audience members.
In her sixth year with the club, Jayden Wilson, who competed in the Calgary Regional Open last weekend with her interpretive ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry,’ was looking forward to the challenge of dancing to that genre of music.
“I’ve never done one to this type of music before,” she said. “It’s kind of fun, something different.”
She gave praise to the younger skaters for working really hard and has seen improvements every time she’s on the ice with them.
“Just their skills in general,” said Wilson. “They’re getting way faster and stronger. They can jump a lot better now.”
Wilson is currently a senior bronze level and is working towards a gold level, which she will go after in December.
The CanSkate program is getting stronger and moving along rather quickly as the kids are developing on their blades and moving on up to the higher levels.
“It’s working very well,” said Myers. “Obviously we got the little ones moving along and older ones are gaining more skills in the CanSkate area. Some of them are going to move up into our junior program and move up to our senior program here.”
CanSkate is open to ages four all the way up to adults, and you can register throughout winter.
More information can be found at www.strathmoreskateclub.ca