Prince George has become a home to the third centre for skating in British Columbia.
The Spruce City Skating Club formally became the Northern BC Centre for Skating at its AGM on Saturday when the club's director of skating Rory Allen put the initiative, first proposed by Skate Canada, to a vote. The other Centre for Skating programs are in Kelowna and Burnaby. "Those two centres have had fantastic results due to some coaching models and a little bit of a different approach," said Allen. "We've already started to initiate some of those approaches like team coaching, coaches specializing in certain areas and all the athletes benefit. "There's not necessarily an ownership on, my athletes versus your athletes, it's more of a collaborative approach," he added. "I think that has been instrumental in building towards becoming a centre of excellence which is the ultimate goal." Allen said by becoming the third Centre of Skating in the province it gives him and his coaches other sources to go to for information in enhancing the skating program. "We're hoping to do that more where we can ask for feedback and have their directors of development come up and inspect our programs," said Allen. "They've done some auditing on what type of work we're doing and given us feedback. It's certainly a good way to stay connected because the north can be fairly isolated." Allen said by changing the club's name it opens up areas for other types of skaters, not just figure skaters, to participate. The club already incorporates the national CanSkate objectives into its program. "It's called the Northern BC Centre for Skating for a reason, just like the university provides a very large scope of education to the north, we see the Centre providing a large scope of coverage for all athletes in the north," said Allen. "The CanSkate program is just our flagship learn to skate program. It provides the basic fundamentals for all ice sports,whether you plan on getting into hockey, ringette, speed skating, recreational skating or competitive figure skating it all starts with CanSkate." Skaters are already coming into Prince George from Vanderhoof, Quesnel, Fort St. John, Fort St. James and other northern communities to participate in the Centre's programs, said Allen. The ice is available to the skaters at the ElkSentre until May 13 this year and then, Allen said they'll move to off ice training and conditioning at the Northern Sport Centre and work with PacificSport on fitness assessments. Interest in figure skating, and skating programs in general, has gone up recently as the 2015 Canada Winter Games approach. "We have a lot of athletes coming forward to do goal setting because they'd like to be a part of that," said Allen, who skated for B.C. at the 1999 CWG in Newfoundland. "As an alumni I have to say, the experience is out of this world. To see that light in their eyes and to see it as a potential possibility is just so tremendous and has given them an open horizon in terms of places they can go." Skaters eligible to participate in the Canada Winter Games are in the pre-novice and novice programs. Two ladies and two men will be chosen from each province along with two pairs and two ice dance teams. "Having three or four northern skaters chosen for Team B.C. would be fantastic but we'll just have to see what happens," said Allen. "It kind of gives us, as a coaching team, a goal of something to work towards." To see the original article CLICK HERE
0 Comments
Prince George has had some pretty good figure skaters over the years. Now there's a movement to help skaters in northern BC, by having a training centre in our city. A former gold-medal winning Canadian Olympian dropped by the Spruce City Skating Club this week to help the students with their flexibility training as they prepare for the skating season.
Lori Fung won the first-ever gold medal awarded in rhythmic gymnastics during the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. For the past decade Fung has worked with numerous athletes on their flexibility in Vancouver. When her son Alexander Methorst was invited to Prince George last weekend to tryout for the Prince George Cougars, Fung gave Spruce City director of skating Rory Allen a call to see if she could work with some of his athletes. It didn't take Allen long to let his athletes know about an impromptu session Monday afternoon at the Elksentre Arena, which about a dozen skaters showed up for to work with the 2004 Canadian Sports Hall of Fame inductee. Fung was inducted in the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 1985. "Several years ago I came up to Prince George and did a figure skating seminar," recalled Fung. "I saw so many fabulous skaters up here with a lot of potential. "What I was doing [Monday] is the off ice flexibility program that's my specialty," she added. "I work with not only figure skaters, but with gymnasts, dancers, trick skateboarders and hockey players all needing the component of flexibility. Some need it for the aesthetic value, others need it for injury prevention. Flexibility is the root of all sport." She said that rhythmic gymnastics is known for it's flexibility so it's a natural fit for her to teach other athletes to learn how to stretch their muscles to achieve a more flexible body. Among the Spruce City skaters at the workout was Danielle Sidsworth, a 17-year-old novice skater who was surprised with some of the exercises. "We learned how to go deeper into a stretch, which hurts, but it feels good especially knowing you get more flexible," said Sidsworth. After the hour-long session was over, Fung pulled out her gold medal, allowing a few of the students to put it around their necks. "It was really cool, different than I expected," said Sidsworth. "It was a lot heavier." Fung said her memories of winning the medal came floating back when she was watching the London Games. "It brings back the feelings and the memories like they were yesterday," said the 49 year old. "It's never going to change. The goose bumps that I got when I was watching an athlete prepare to go for their event. It was 28 years ago but I still remember." She said she would like to return to Prince George for another flexibility session with the Spruce City skaters this winter and, perhaps she'll be visiting her son a year from now. Methorst, 14, was among the early cuts from the Cougars and he returned to Vancouver to prepare for the final tryout with the B.C. Major Midget League's Greater Vancouver Canadians. "Maybe they'll watch him this year," said Fung about her middle son. "I think what he learned here is going to take him a step up and I really think it's going to help him." After being recognized for 28 years as a gold medal winning Olympian, Fung said she enjoys her new role watching her three boys fulfill their sports dreams. "Now I'm a hockey mom," she said. To see the original article CLICK HERE The tearing down of the Kin Centre has resulted in the building up of a beneficial new relationship between the Prince George Figure Skating Club and the Spruce City Skating Club.
As the Kin Centre goes through partial demolition and reconstruction for use during the 2015 Canada Winter Games and beyond, ice space in the facility has been at a premium. That being the case, the two local skating clubs -- traditional rivals -- merged for the running of a six-week summer school. The pooling of coaches and skaters from the organizations had a positive impact on athlete development and that is reflected in the fact that 11 area skaters will compete at B.C. Summer Skate from Thursday through Sunday in Burnaby. "This is definitely a record [for participation]," said Rory Allen, director of skating for Spruce City. "Last year, Spruce City as a club had two." The P.G. and Spruce City clubs are planning a permanent merger in the near future. Allen said it's "very close" to happening. Other summer school coaches were Andrea Ludditt, Nicole Collins, Jennifer Auston, Courtney Powney, Allison Aikens, Jim Douglas and Alicia Mettauer. Summer Skate is a provincial Super Series event and, on a much smaller scale, will have the look and feel of a Skate Canada. The competition will be broadcast online at skatinginbc.com. "The live streaming is similar to what you'd see on TV," Allen said. "They'll have their names announced and it's all professional. They'll have a little area they go in to hear the marks. It's really, really cool for the kids." The highest-level local skater going to B.C. Summer Skate is 16-year-old Danielle Sidsworth. She'll be on her blades in the novice women's category. "The Olympic level is senior, below that's junior and below that's novice, so she's getting up there," Allen said. "Danielle's chances [at Summer Skate] are high. She has developed great consistency on her double-double combinations. She carries herself well and she's got great coverage across the ice. It's great to do two crossovers and be halfway across the ice. She's one of those types of girls that people just want to watch, before they even do any elements." In the pre-novice women's division, Prince George will be represented by Chelsea Raful and Samara Thew. Then there's Justin Hampole, who will do his best to impress the judges in the juvenile men's U-11 category. Hampole is so talented he's on the verge of moving up to pre-novice. "There are no competitors in his [current] group because he's so good at such a young age," Allen said. "He's starting triple jumps at age 10. In pre-novice, he'll have the chance to qualify for nationals. The average age in pre-novice is about 15 or 16 but Justin has the right combination of everything. He has some natural talent, a ton of drive and determination and he listens very well to his coaches." The local contingent going to Summer Skate is rounded out by Emma Bajestani (juvenile women's U-14), Fort St. James's Sydnee Schlamp (Star 4), Ally Norum (Star 3), Jayna Mason (Star 3), Asia Gill (Star 3), Myah Milner (Star 2) and Valyce Mamic (Star 2). The nine-year-old Milner and eight-year-old Mamic are from Fort St. John and Quesnel respectively but have been training in Prince George. "Myah stayed with a grandmother, and to not see her family and be home for more than six weeks is pretty astounding," Allen said. "Valyce, she travels up through the entire winter from Quesnel, several times a week, and she spent her summer here as well. There's a lot of dedication at a really young age, which is quite a big change for figure skating in Prince George." To see the original article CLICK HERE Prince George, BC - Everything is golden for Prince George figure skater, Justin Hampole, this weekend.
Hampole skated a clean solo and scored a personal best of 32.59 to take a gold medal in the Juvenile Men's division at the Super Series Victoria Day competition in Surrey. Hampole skates with the Spruce City Skating Club out of the ElksCentre. http://www.250news.com/blog/view/24458/1/local+skater+wins+gold+in+surrey With a record-high five competitive skaters attending the 2012 CNCR regional championship the Spruce City Skating Club returned from the competition in Quesnel, March 9 to 11, with 12 medals overall.
The Prince George based figure skating club sent a total of 12 skaters to the winter finale. Olivia Trampuh earned a pair of silver medals in bronze spins and the preliminary freeskate with 19.83 points, while her teammate Sydnee Schlamp jumped eight places from her last competition to place fourth in the preliminary freeskate. Audyn Mettauer won gold in the pre-preliminary, while Quesnel skater Valyce Mamic skated to bronze. Mamic travels to Prince George every week for lessons with Spruce City coach Rory Allen. The Quesnel skater took first place in the primary spins category with 4.5 points, while Mettauer won her second gold in the preliminary elements program. Olivia Wankling earned the silver behind Mettauer. Wankling also took gold in the primary creative level and finished eighth in the preliminary freeskate. Competitive skaters In the juvenile women category, Emma Bajestani won gold, improving her points total from 18.06 to 22.70. Justin Hampole took the gold in the juvenile men's group. Chelsea Raful ended her winter season with the silver medal and improving her personal best score to 59.04, while earning the senior artistic award at the regional championship. Spruce City had two pre-novice women competing in Quesnel where Danielle Sidsworth won bronze and Shaelynne Macaulay finished fourth. Sidsworth won a second bronze medal in the silver interpretive event. To read more CLICK HERE |
To Schedule an Interview contact our PR chair
Categories
All
Archives
October 2015
|