The Leading Edge. Olympic Torch Relay. Olympic Long Track Schedule. British Columbia Speed Skating Association

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1 The Leading Edge Volume 1, Issue 2 January 2010 British Columbia Speed Skating Association Inside this issue: Olympian carries torch Ridge Meadows 2 Esquimalt 2 Prince George 3 Salmon Arm 4 Burnaby 5 Kamloops 6 High Performance 7 Fort St. John 8/9 1 Mike Hall, Olympic speed skater from the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics, and coach of the Salmon Arm Icebreakers speed skating club, ran the Olympic Torch in Regina on January 9th. Mike grew up in Regina and his speed skating career was honed on the oval in Regina. Mike reports it was a great experience. That same weekend, two Hall skaters, Laura and Daniel, took part in the Western Regional Long Track Championships. Daniel swept the field by winning all his races in the Cradle category while Laura came third overall in the very competitive Pee Wee category. The Salmon Arm club took 9th overall in the competition. At the meet, Mike was swamped with requests from folks who wanted to have their photos taken with the Olympic torch he had relayed the day before. Olympic Torch Relay Olympic Long Track Schedule Mike Hall with his wife Diana and children Sandra, Laura and Daniel, carried the Olympic torch in Regina. February 13, 2010 February 14, 2010 February 15, 2010 February 16, 2010 February 17, 2010 February 18, 2010 February 20, 2010 February 21, 2010 February 23, :00 - Men's 5000 m 13:00 - Ladies' 3000 m 15:30 - Men's 500 m 17:28 - Men's 500 m 13:00 - Ladies' 500 m 14:52 - Ladies' 500 m 16:00 - Men's 1000 m 13:00 - Ladies' 1000 m 16:15 - Men's 1500 m 15:00 - Ladies' 1500 m 11:00 - Men's m February 24, :00 - Ladies' 5000 m February 26, :30 - Men's Team Pursuit Quarterfinals 13:20 - Ladies' Team Pursuit Quarterfinals 14:07 - Men's Team Pursuit Semifinals February 27, :30 - Ladies' Team Pursuit Semifinals 12:51 - Men's Team Pursuit Finals 13:13 - Ladies' Team Pursuit Finals

2 Page 2 The Leading Edge The Olympic bug has bitten here in the Lower Mainland and our Ridge Meadows skaters are no exception. New and experienced. Young and not so young. We are all excited. And the Games along with a bit of our own publicity seem to be inspiring new skaters to lace up for our club as more beginner skaters are smiling their way around the rink each month. At the same time, our junior and juvenile skaters have been toiling under coach Julian Green s dry land and on-ice training program all year. And the hard work is paying off. Six Ridge Meadows Racers have been named to the Zone 3 Fraser Valley BC Winter Games team. Juveniles Yijun Shi, Annie Russell and Justin Cross, along with Juniors William McLennan, Steven Timotius and Ian Cross will represent our club at the BCWG in Terrace/Kitimat. Ridge Meadows Update This crew and most other Ridge Meadows skaters will be donning the club s new skinsuits as our excited bunch of skaters cast off their old duds for the flash and style (not to mention safety) of their new blue, black and white suits. In between this busy winter of local, provincial and Canadian qualifiers; our own meet; increased fundraising efforts and the Christmas holidays (whew!) we were lucky enough to host a one-day BCSSA winter camp hosted by Debby Fisher that attracted participants from several other clubs and was a fun and educational day for all. We wish all skaters well during the home stretch of the season. Good luck. Good sportsmanship. And the best of this exciting Olympic year to us all! Esquimalt Notes Happy New Year to everyone. It s already starting out to be a fun filled and busy year here on the Island. We have a few skaters gearing up for the BC Winter Games in March, and are eagerly anticipating the start of the 2010 Winter Olympics in February. We are also hosting our first annual skate-a-thon for Multiple Sclerosis on January 19, 2010 with nine skaters par- ticipating in raising funds for MS. After the skaters are finished their laps, we have an exciting mayoral challenge between the Mayor of Esquimalt, Barb Desjardin, and the Mayor of Colwood, David Saunders. We will send photos of this exciting event in the next issue of the newsletter along with the total amount of our fundraising efforts. Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous New Year.

3 Volume 1, Issue 2 Page 3 Prince George Speed Skating As I write this update, our skaters have switched gears (and skates), and are in the middle of our Long Track season. A number of our skaters attended a terrific long track meet in Ft. St. James on Jan. 9 and 10, which was great preparation for the BCLT Championship in Ft. St. John. The ice was beautiful, the temperature was pleasant, and the sun even shone for parts of the day. It is always nice to spend time with other northern members of our speed skating community. on New Year s Day and shared hot drinks with other community members who came out to enjoy a skate. On January 29 th, we will be participating in the Olympic Torch Relay and Speed Skating demonstration at our Outdoor Prince George enjoying excellent outdoor conditions on the oval. Our own Prince George Outdoor Ice Oval has been terrific this year, thanks to our Lyle Dickieson and his Zamboni/Bobcat volunteers. We have been able to skate since just before Christmas, and a number of our members make regular trips to practice and enjoy the ice outdoors. We even hosted a hot chocolate session Oval. Along with the opportunity for community members to try our sport, Northern BC Tourism will also be hosting travel journalists to profile our travel and recreation opportunities. February will also be busy, as we are hosting our annual Central Interior Interclub meet on February 7 th. As many of you may know, the annual Prince George Iceman is held the following weekend on February 14 th. Not only does our club organize the skating portion of the event at the Oval, but a number of our members also participate in the skiing, running, skating, and swimming events that make up the competition. Prince George skaters training on the outdoor oval. As always, we look forward to seeing our skating community friends in the next two months at meets around the province. Our club is also helping to organize the skating portion of the BCWG in Terrace/Kitimat in early March, so a number of us will be traveling with our Juvenile and Junior skaters to officiate/volunteer. Good luck and fast skating!

4 Page 4 The Leading Edge Salmon Arm Ice Breakers Salmon Arm Icebreakers skaters took part in the annual Logan Lake long track speed skating meet on Saturday, January 9th. Under sunny conditions, the meet was held on the lake just outside Logan Lake and hosted by the River City Racers of Kamloops, assisted by the Kamloops Long Blades Club and the Kelowna Club. The Icebreaker team placed 3rd of 8 teams participating in the event. Individual results were as follows: Bantam: Hannah Kalinczuk 4th Midget: Connor Ogilvie 3rd Junior: Davin Hofmann 4th Intermediate: Keegan Hofmann 3rd Master 2: Alex Seal 1st Master 2: Cherilyn Drew 1st Master 3: Rick Hofmann 1st Master 3: Cheryl Ogloff 1st Two local Icebreakers are BC Winter Games bound. Alyssa Skaalid and Amy Balloun have qualified for the Games which will be held in Terrace, March 4-7. The Ice Breakers traveled to Vernon for a mini-meet on Saturday, January 16th, where new members Virginia Flahr and Gary Hucul participated in racing for the first time. Actually, Gary was on the Zone 2 speed skating team for the very first BC Winter Games held in Kamloops March, Gary raced in his hockey skates on the team coached by Marcia Beckner. Now Gary is back on the ice in speed skates and Marcia is helping out with the local Icebreakers Speed skating club. A bit of history! Other racers at the Vernon meet were Allysa Skaalid, Amy Balloun, Ali Balloun, Nikolas Mondar, Hannah Kalinczuk, Connor Ogilvie, Rick Hofmann, Daniel Hall, Laura Hall, Alex Seal, Cherilyn Drew with some excellent results. Skaters compete on Owen s Oval in Logan Lake, BC. This is southern BC s only outdoor longtrack oval. Salmon Arm Torch Bearers Two Salmon Arm Icebreakers skaters carried the torch in the Olympic Torch Relay as the torch came to Salmon Arm on Wednesday, January 27th. Davin Hofmann and Alyssa Skaalid took their turns as the torch left City Hall after the noon hour celebrations. Chosen for the torch as members of the local speed skating club, Davin and Alyssa are avid skaters and racers in the speed skating events around BC.

5 Volume 1, Issue 2 Page 5 Some of our members did not return this season, but we gained almost the same number of new members. In the Fall, we cancelled our Tuesday morning practices at our local rink and enjoyed the Tuesday evening club speed skating sessions at the Richmond Oval with Ariana coaching. Folks at the Burnaby Haida Speed Skating Club practice were excited to see and hold one of the Olympic Torches before the start of its Canadian relay in Victoria on October 30. Thanks to Tom Richards and his Dad, Jim for arranging to have the torch at our practice. Adding to the fun of regular racing at Burnaby Haida Speed Skating Club s Annual Interclub Meet staged January 9, 2010 at the Bill Copeland Arena, Burnaby, was the Open 3000 at the end of the day. The prize Table and 50/50 draw made winners of skaters, volunteers and spectators alike. North Road Scotiabank s Employee Volunteer Program participants not only provided the crucial extra hands needed to take the ticket selling into the stands, but the Scotiabank branch matched the funds raised for the third year in a row. Funds raised help offset costs to Burnaby Haida Club News the club and athletes for this meet: the first short track competition of the year, it attracted athletes from the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island. Coordinated by Burnaby Haida Master Skater Yoko Beriault, the Prize Table features items of universal appeal including shrink-wrapped PC games, over-sized plush animals, gift certificates, Christmas re-gifts and donations from club members. The frenzy of activity around the table during breaks Alex Ge, Coach Alice Ha, Nerys and dad Kyle Kirkwood from the Burnaby Club are pictured with the torch. and ice-cleans and the efficiency of the volunteers made it fun for everyone. Thanks to all the Officials, Coaches, Meet Volunteers and the Staff of the North Road Scotiabank s Employee Volunteer Program for helping make the Burnaby Haida Interclub meet a success again in 2010! As with most clubs, Burnaby Haida experienced a significant reduction in the gaming funds this year. To make up the shortfall, a new fundraising initiative was started by Boston Mah s Dad, Don. Thanks to our Silver Sponsor Quantity Surveyors B.C. Ltd. Bronze Sponsors And other contributors, Alpha Mechanical Contracting Ltd. and Genivar Consultants Limited Partnership. The Olympics are just about here. Some of our members have been selected as volunteers, some will be working at the Olympics, some will be spectators and hopefully we will host visitors at our practices. Olympic Short Track Schedule February 13, :00 - Men's 1500 m Heats 17:42 - Ladies' 500 m Heats 18:18 - Men's 1500 m Semifinals 18:50 - Ladies' 3000 m Relay Semifinals 19:18 - Men's 1500 m Finals February 17, :00 - Ladies' 500 m Quarterfinals 17:25 - Men's 1000 m Heats 18:10 - Ladies' 500 m Semifinals 18:32 - Men's 5000 m Relay Semifinals 19:07 - Ladies' 500 m Finals February 20, :45 - Ladies' 1500 m Heats 18:29 - Men's 1000 m Quarterfinals 18:58 - Ladies' 1500 m Semifinals 19:28 - Men's 1000 m Semifinals 19:51 - Ladies' 1500 m Finals 20:05 - Men's 1000 m Finals February 24, :00 - Ladies' 1000 m Heats 17:47 - Men's 500 m Heats 18:26 - Ladies' 3000 m Relay Finals February 26, :00 - Men's 500 m Quarterfinals 18:14 - Ladies' 1000 m Quarterfinals 18:43 - Men's 500 m Semifinals 18:52 - Ladies' 1000 m Semifinals 19:14 - Men's 500 m Finals 19:24 - Ladies' 1000 m Finals 19:51 - Men's 5000 m Relay Finals

6 Page 6 The Leading Edge Kamloops Long Blades Update We ve been having a great season so far. Lots of skaters and lots of fun! Our club had an awesome tri p to Fort St John for the BC Long Track Championship. We chartered a bus and had another great journey to the North. The Enerplex is an amazing facility and we all loved being a part of its very first competition! Some felt a bit disappointed that we weren t skating outdoors, but that soon faded after a few laps around the beautiful new ice! The thing that we really love about the BC Long Track is that the entire club can go and participate in the same meet. We feel it s really important to have one big club trip that anyone in the club can attend. It s something that the skaters can look forward to each year, and the whole family can participate. We received funding from Speed Skating Canada s Festivals on Ice program to hold our first annual Olympian for a Day event. Local dignitaries and sports people, and kids from the Boys and Girls Club and community joined our club skaters for some lessons on long blades and racing. Santa Claus even showed up! Seems as though he s quite the competitor! It was great to see our skaters out there teaching their skills and sharing their love of the sport to people who had never tried speed skating. We are working hard to organize the Southern Regional Championship and look forward to having a terrific meet. Hope to see you here February 27th and 28th! Kamloops Long Blades ready to compete on the new oval. At festival, Santa shows new skaters how it s done. BCSSA Board of Directors PRESIDENT Jim Allison (604) BCSSApresident@gmail.com VICE PRES. Donna Bilous (604) donnabilous@hotmail.com TREASURER Jim Hume (604) jim.hume@rbc.com SECRETARY Darlene Chapman (604) darlene_chapman@hotmail.com Director at Large Sue Spencer (604) speedskateb_sue@hotmail.com Director at Large Tara Mitchell (250) taramitchell72@gmail.com Director at Large Bill Kempers (604) billskaterdad08@gmail.com

7 Volume 1, Issue 2 Page 7 High Performance Committee Report Jacques Thibault Provincial Coach is an advisor on the High Performance Committee. High Performance Committee members include Barb Beck, Carol Dennison, Christina Acton, and Tina Henry. The High Performance Committee held 10 web calls and 1 conference call. Items addressed since last Leading Edge submission. Skin Suits The BCSSA pool suit inventory is extremely low and requires new skin suits, there are currently not enough pool suits for Nationals. HPC has advised the BCSSA Board and looking for direction from the Board to fund new suits or recommendations. High Performance Committee Policies HPC looking at the Policies for HPC as requested by the BCSSA Board. Competition Schedule reviewed: HPC discussed the Competition Schedule and would recommend it be divided into the 2 streams (High Performance Program vs. Development stream with the opportunity for overlap) colour-code on schedule, this would help members identify and prioritize competitions for the season. HPC stresses the need for Clubs / Regions to ensure adequate competitions are held to address requirements for skaters (i.e. regional competitions prior to BC Cups or ranking competitions) Regions/Clubs holding competitions prior to those requiring time / % criteria - allow the best opportunity for all skaters to meet requirements. HPC was asked to assist the Awards Committee Sport BC Senior Male and Female Athlete of the Year. BC Cups HPC discussed ways to improve the Cups, HPC recommends a workshop at the AGM to receive feedback from Coaches / Membership, the Cups are important Short Track competitions for our skaters how can we ensure they succeed and grow each year? Very disappointing to have BC Cup # 2 cancelled. HPC Updated AAP criteria in consultation with Provincial Coach, the criteria was posted on the BCSSA website and a final skater list. Sport Funder Travel Policy updated the criteria will be posted on the BCSSA website and application to go out with the BCLT (missed going out with the registration, will be given out at the coaches meeting) and BCST Registration packages. There will be 10 grants available for ST and 10 grants available for LT. HPC continues to work with our Provincial Coach and IPS Coaching Staff, camps continuing in both Short and Long Track, IPS skater information regarding camps, testing, and results continue to be collected to update skater profiles. Skater qualifying / ranking competitions - BC Skaters qualified to compete. (Complete results see SSC website) SHORT TRACK National Qualifier Kyle Yoshida, Timothy Hempsall Courtney Shmyr, Michelle Mackay, Trisha Gladysz, Carisa Lau. Canadian Junior Championships Timothy Hempsall, Michelle Mackay, Courtney Shmyr Tori Spence, Jamie Macdonald, Josie Spence, Robyn Kempers. National Team Selection # 1 Jessica Hewitt 1 st, Cory Rasmussen, Courtney Shmyr. LONG TRACK Fall World Cup Selections Denny Morrison, Jeff Kitura, Jay Morrison, Scott Bickerton, Jordan Ellis Keara Maguire, Elyce Henry Canadian Single Distance Championships / Team Selection Denny Morrison, Jeff Kitura, Jay Morrison, Scott Bickerton, Jordan Ellis Ricky Krieck, DJ Sanghera, Elyce Henry, Keara Maguire, Tori Spence. Canada Cup # 1 top 3 finish. Jeff Kitura, Nicholas Goplen, Keara Maguire. Please contact a committee member if you have any questions during the season. tina@fsjbc.com

8 Page 8 The Leading Edge Fort St. John Oval Passes the Test The local speed skaters already love the Enerplex Oval, but the latest test was the Work- SafeBC Long-Track Speed Skating Provincial Championships over the weekend. It passed with flying colours. One word: fantastic, said former Fort St. John Elks Speed Skating Club coach Ritha Johnson, mother of Olympian Linda Johnson and national team member Ken Johnson. Johnson was one of the referees at the championships over the weekend. I have worked at many B.C. long-tracks where it was either too cold or too warm. This is wonderful to have a stable environment in which to make plans and bring them to fruition, she said. It s certainly much more pleasant than wearing a Ski- Doo suit and rushing in and warming up your feet every half hour because it s all a block of ice. Johnson has been involved in speed skating for 40 years and said she originally thought the idea for an indoor covered oval in Fort St. John was a pie in the sky idea. As someone who s seen the Elks club evolve and change over the years, it was important for her to come to provincials in Fort St. John. Our community has put a lot of skaters on the national team, we ve won mega championships over the years. We ve been very progressive in the sport. I m hoping that this new facility will encourage more This is a wonderful environment in which to make plans and bring them to fruition. people in the community to take up speed skating, she said. BC Speed Skating executive director Ted Houghton, who used to live in Fort St. John, said he was thrilled to be able to see the oval, which he called stunning. Houghton has big plans for the oval, he is already planning training camps for Canadian skaters in preparation for the Canadian Winter Games in Halifax next year. He said on a goforward basis, it s huge. We can use it for all sorts of things, never mind local club and competitions, we can use it for training camps, we can bring Western Canadian skater in for training camps, we can invite people from all over, he said. The Fort St. John Minor Hockey Association Pee Wee House Tournament was running during the same as the provincials. Under normal circumstances, you d never think that you could run a hockey tournament and provincial championships at the same time with no interference on either side, said Houghton. There have been no problems. We ve heard the noise of the hockey coming up because the sound rises but it hasn t impacted what we do. Elks coach Richard Stickel said he was impressed with the meet, and for the first major event on the Oval, it went better than he had hoped. It s actually incredible to think they ve never done an oval like this before. A month later, they re talking about how good the ice is, it s pretty impressive, he said. This could be the start of a great opportunity not only for Fort St. John and its speed skaters, but B. C. and Canadian speed skaters too. I ll be talking it up to anyone who cares to listen and those who don t anyways, said Houghton. Once the Richmond Olympic Oval is decommissioned after the Vancouver Games, the Enerplex Oval will be one of two indoor, covered speed skating ovals in Canada. The PeeWee girls get ready to race in Fort St. John s new indoor oval.

9 Volume 1, Issue 2 Page 9 Fort St. John Racing Well The Fort St. John Speed Skating Club took first place overall in the WorkSafeBC Long-Track Provincial Championships over the weekend. The Elks 40,598 points beat out Prince George s second place 37, and Dawson Creek s 30, points for the Neil Dyer award. The lightning fast ice helped push the Elks skaters to personal bests and great skates on ice that was described as almost as fast as the Calgary Olympic Oval. In the shorter distances, sprinting is really good, said Elks coach Richard Stickel of the races with times close to Calgary. Basically I hear a lot better than Richmond, so we re basically in between Richmond and Calgary Personal bests and great skates on Fort St. John s lightning fast ice. and we can see where we can make improvements. Elks pee wees Yuna Lovell and Josh Telizyn broke B.C. records this weekend. Lovell beat the previous female 100-metre record of seconds with seconds. Seven-year-old Telizyn set the male 100-metre at seconds from the previous Seven-year-old Owen MacDonald of Prince George eventually broke that later with a time of seconds. It was good, said eight-year-old Lovell, adding that the competition was easy because I practiced a lot. skater Jacob Graham won first place in the juvenile men s provincial category, a feat he described as pretty tough. I fell in my first final and I had to win all of my next races just to come in first, he said. It was quite a bit of pressure there were a couple of guys who were really competitive. Masters skater Rick Lee won first place in the masters40 provincial level mass start and third in Olympic style and said the skaters couldn t have asked for anything better than this weekend. Everybody down south is like it s too far, but they don t realize you know what we go down south all the time, it s going to work both ways, he said. It s going to take a little bit but when this place takes off, it s going to be busy. Owen s Oval Legacy Owen s daughters Tori, Sara, and Josie Spence demonstrate the team pursuit. Peter Blokker of Vernon, Matt Denys of Kamloops, Gary Goplen from Kelowna, and Eric Spence from Kamloops survey the condition of Owen s Oval in Logan Lake this January. The Oval is named after Owen Spence, who passed away one year ago.

10 British Columbia Speed Skating Association Rm. C1011 c/o UFV King Rd. Abbotsford, BC V2S 7M8 Phone: Fax: speedskating@ufv.ca BC TEAM SUITS The High Performance Committee would like to ask skaters who have retired from Skating or may have BC Team suits they no longer wear if they would like to donate or sell the suits to the BCSSA the suits would be kept by the Association and used for skaters when representing BC. Please tina@fsjbc.com if you have a Team Suit and are interested in donating/selling to BC thank you. (Purchase of suits portion of money paid by skater) BCSSA Editor: Sylvia Lindgren Submissions to sqlindgren@gmail.com National Schedule BC Schedule Date ST/LT Event Location January 8-19 LT Canada Cup #1 Calgary, AB January LT Canadian Masters Championship Quebec, QC January LT Can. Jr. Champ/Canada Cup #2 Saskatoon, SK February 6-7 LT Can. Age Class LT Champ. Winnipeg, MB February LT North American Champ. Salt Lake City February LT North American Marathon Joliette, QC March 4-6 LT Canada Cup #3 Quebec, QC March ST Canadian Open Championship/ National Team Selection #2 Montreal, QC March ST Canadian Age Class ST Champ. Campbellton, NB Feb. 6 Vernon Interclub Feb Olympics Vancouver Feb. 27/28 Southern Regionals Kamloops Northern Regionals MacKenzie Mar. 4-7 BC Winter Games Kitimat Mar. 5-7 RUFast Calgary Mar Paralympics Vancouver Mar BCST Championship Dawson Creek