SUNDRE - Members of the Sundre Skating Club recently began practising for their upcoming ice carnival.
“They’re working hard to prepare for that,” said coach Lyndsay Stange.
The skaters, who include a range of ages and abilities, have really been coming along this season and have developed substantially, said Stange.
“We have a good team this year. They help and encourage one another, ” she said.
“They work very well together.”
There are many aspects to the sport, and the skaters all develop their skills and improve in different ways, whether on the basis of basic skating techniques, the foundations of figure skating, or accomplishing more jumps and spins than before, she said.
“I see them growing in every aspect.”
Coaching for the club for the past approximately five years, Stange said she has had the pleasure of watching several skaters progress from the time they had just started. Although she was previously involved with the CanSkate aspect of the club, she has since refocused more specifically on the StarSkate program to accommodate her post-secondary education course load.
Currently in her first year of studies for a two-year pharmacy technician diploma at Red Deer College, Stange said she remains passionate about spending time working with the skaters.
“What I enjoy most is the kids and their personalities,” she said, adding they sometimes come to practice eager to share a new joke they’ve just heard.
“They make me laugh and enjoy the little things in life.”
The coach also finds inspiration in their can-do attitude when they come in ready to work hard, demonstrating their dedication to putting in 100 per cent.
“That’s what it’s about.”
She especially relishes being able to share in their success and seeing their faces light up euphorically when they accomplish a new skill they’ve struggled with and worked hard to learn.
Lamar Tobin, the club’s president, said the season has been coming along well. The organization’s annual cheese fundraiser wrapped up before the holidays, bringing in an estimated $2,000.
Aside from preparing for the ice carnival, which takes place Tuesday, March 24 at the Sundre Arena, Tobin said the skaters have also been getting ready for a couple of informal skating competitions, including recent fun meets in Olds as well as another one hosted in Cremona.
Although largely just for fun, she said these events nevertheless offer an important opportunity for the girls to practise their skills in a competitive setting, but without the pressure.
