Successful skating season

By Melissa Piche Times Contributor

With April fast approaching, the 2022/2023 skating season is coming to an end for The Strathmore Skating Club. 

This season the club saw an increase in all of their offered programs. The StarSkater program saw an increase from nine registered skaters last season to 21 this year, offered to skaters from ages 7-19. PreCan Skate and CanSkate saw a staggering 100 plus registered skaters, a number they are truly proud of. 

The club offers a program for teens and adults too. 

“We had six skaters come through (this program) and progressed on their skating skills and confidence in skating which have helped a few of them be able to move into our StarSkate program for next season,” said Kathleen Beardsell, publicity chair with the board of directors for the Strathmore Skate Club.  

The PreCan Skate and CanSkate programs see skaters with a range of skating ability; some have never skated before and some were building on their skating skills for other sports including figure skating. 

“Our coaches have worked hard in the 2022-2023 season to rebuild the club to have so many amazing StarSkaters,” said Beardsell, noting the impact Covid-19 had on the club in the last couple of years. “Our year-end show is a fun event that our skaters work towards throughout the season every year.”  

On top of working towards personal goals of passing skills tests, dance testing, freeskate, and assessments, the registered skaters are driven and focused on what they need to accomplish in a season. 

“Some of our skaters have also worked towards competing at competitions with their Freeksate programs, such as Calalta Holly Jolly Competition, Stettler Future Stars FunSkate Competition and Three Sisters FunSkate Competition,” she said.

The club hosts their annual Fire on Ice year end show on April 3 at 6:30 p.m. at the Strathmore Family Centre. Admission is free and the public is warmly invited. 

Registration for the 2023-2024 season will open online at the end of August.