Content this issue - BC Speed Skating Association€¦ · NEWSLETTER VOLUME 9 - ISSUE 1 Submissions...

EditorialWelcome Back for a new season.

Nice to see the skaters and clubs gearing up for another busy season. A lot has been going on through the summer with Dry land training and Camps. The HP group have been training up a storm, working hard and maybe even having a little bit of fun in their sessions.We have a few new contributors articles and pictures this issue, thanks for the submissions. Hope everyone has a great season, see you all at the races.Thanks and hope to hear from you all.Ron Cartier, editorEmail -- [email protected]

BRITISH COLUMBIASPEED SKATING ASSOCIATION

NEWSLETTERVOLUME 9 - ISSUE 1

Submissions - Email to:[email protected]

Content this issue:• Editorial ----------------------Pg 1• Presidents Message ------Pg 2-3• Bits & Bites ------------------Pg 3-5• Club News --------------------Pg 5-8• Observations Saguenay -Pg 8-10• Symposium-------------------Pg 10-11

• Symposium----------------------------Pg 10-11 • BCSSA Office-------------------------Pg 12• Winners Vs Losers------------------Pg 13• Summer Camps ---------------------Pg 14-16• BCSSA directors---------------------Pg 17• Parting Thoughts--------------------Pg 18

Presidents Message Welcome to the 2005 - 2006 Speed Skating seasonThe 2005-2006 season is now upon us and we are all gearing up for another busy and suc-cessful year. I hope that everyone had an en-joyable and restful summer. Welcome to those new to Speed Skating this season and to our returning skaters, parents, Coaches, and Offi-cials.

Should you need any assistance from the Board we would be happy to do what ever we can to help. Don’t hesitate to contact the ap-propriate Director.

I would like to encourage new members to get involved as a volunteer. You, your club and the province will all benefit.

Provincial Summer Camp: I would like to thank Matsqui Blades for hosting this year’s Provincial Summer Camp.

From the comments made, I understand that the skaters enjoyed themselves while working very hard. Some of the coaches also took the opportunity to take part in the fun activities that were available; water running, cycling and of course the Iron-man.

Coaching Clinics summer camp: Some of our coaches benefited from clinics conducted by Julian Green, Shawn Holman and PacSport. Thank you Julian for your time and effort given to ensure the Level 2 clinic hap-pened.

Officials Clinics Summer Camp: The Of-ficial’s Development Committee ensured that a Level 1 Officials and a Level 2 Place Judges clinic were also accessible to the membership.

Thank you to Cheryl Leonard for taking the time to do the Level 2

Place Judges Clinic.

An Insurance infomercial was also organ-ized by Jim Allison to assist clubs to better understand our insurance coverage.

For those who were unable to attend we will make sure that the information is obtainable in the pre-season package or through the of-fice.

SSC’s Official Symposium: BC hosted the National symposium one week after the summer camp. It was attended by officials from across Canada.

The theme of this meeting was HOW, should the Branches and the National body go about recruiting officials and retaining them long after their children no longer skate? How can we encourage skaters to move into the roll as officials?

The branch was well represented by officials from across BC. I am pleased to say that we can be very proud of ourselves; as a Branch we have many best practices in place. These were shared freely with other participants to take back and implement if they so wished.

Sr. and Provincial Team Skin-Suits:The Board is seriously considering imple-menting (on a voluntary basis only) a penny drive at the Provincial meets to raise funds for skin-suits for our Sr. and Provincial Teams.

With this initiative we are hoping that clubs and their members will remember to bring along any pennies they may have to any of the Provincials meets and deposit them in a Penny jar. All donations will then go towards buying Team suits.

The Office: Lorna will continue to look after the overall operation of the office and

Presidents Message Cont,communication with the clubs. I would like to stress how important and time-saving it is for everyone however that pro-gram specific questions/concerns be e-mailed to the appropriate Committee Chair or Board member rather than the Office.

Competitions Committee:

Meet Manager As reported last season Quebec con-

tinues to work on this program. We hope that this will be in place this season.

Canadian Age Class Long Track I understand that Dawson Creek is

busy working on putting together a memorable Championship. If you want to help make sure and contact Darlene Chapman.

Masters will no longer be attending the Age Class Championship but in-stead be part of Canada Cup 3.

North American Championships The Kamloops Long Blades are busy

working on this competition and again if you can drop them a note and offer your services, please do.

Conclusion:

I extend a wish for a safe and successful sea-son to all. To parents, coaches, officials and club executives, I say let us work together and make this sport a safe and happy one for our athletes.

To our athletes, skate hard and turn left. May your PB’s be big ones! Strive to be the best you can, remember have FUN and enjoy your chosen sport.

To Alanna , Daryl, and Cory all the best in the upcoming Olympic

Short Track Team Trials as you vie for a spot on the Team that will represent Canada at the Torino Olympics. BC would like to say how proud we are of you.

I look forward to seeing you all throughout the season.

Thank you

Yours in Speed Skating

Lanyin Osborne End

BITS and BITES from the Office – August 2005

Here we are again…summer behind us and the anticipation of a new and exciting season ahead. So many very good things are happening in the speed skating community around BC these days…whether it’s a new or im-proved oval in Kelowna, Prince George, Fort St. James or Fort St. John, one of the many new, larger ice surfaces for short track like the ones on the Sunshine Coast and in Nelson or new club development, there is much to celebrate. My congratula-tions to the movers and shakers in our organization who play an impor-tant part in making these wonderful things happen in communities all over the province.

The summer camp in Abbotsford was a great success and I was glad to have the chance to drop by each day to see familiar faces, meet new ones, observe talented coaches in action (skaters too) and to do some Associa-tion business at the same time. The session with Clayton Owen from SBC Insurance was very interesting. The camp also offered coaching and offi-cials clinics and the opportunity for

Bits & Bites Cont,some committees to meet face to face. It was a literal hub of activity! I continue to be amazed by the energy organizers and coaches alike, put into making these camps a positive ex-perience for all. And fun too!

COMMUNICATIONS

Communications will continue to be a priority for office staff. All e-mails to President’s will be blind copied to alternate contacts where names have been provided.

RED BOOKS/PRE-SEASON PACK-AGE

Each year, in September, club Presidents re-ceive hard copy of the new BC and SSC Red Book inserts and the BCSSA Pre-season package. These will also be posted on the re-spective websites: www.speed-skating.bc.ca and www.speedskating.ca

Club directories were slow to come in this year – as of August 15th three had still not been received. Where clubs weren’t able to find someone for a listed position we will default to the President.

MASTER RESEARCH PROJECT

Fiona McQuarry, Professor of Human Resources at UCFV Abbotsford, is looking for individuals 18 and over who are employed and who are en-gaged in leisure activity to the extent that occasionally, work commitments must be adjusted in order to accom-modate the leisure activity. Fiona would be interested in interviewing your supervisors as well.

Anyone interested in participating in this interview project is asked to no-tify the BCSSA office immediately.

SPORT BC POWER of SPORT TOUR

October 17-22: Sport BC Power of Sport Tour in the Kootenays (12 sports to be selected

through application process: each sport to provide their own

technical people to deliver serv-ices during the tour.) At time of printing, we don’t know for sure if speed skating will be one of the sports selected. If so, this opportu-nity will allow us to raise awareness and in-terest prior to the 2006 BCWG.

BC FERRIES/SPORT BC TRAVEL PROGRAM

Through their newly launched pro-gram: Sporting Life on the Coast, BC Ferries and Sport BC will assist with ferry travel costs for athletes, coaches and officials for selected competi-tions. Look for more information in this newsletter and check out the website: www.sport.bc.ca

HUSKY OIL COMMUNITY RE-BATE PROGRAM

This is a great program that rewards both the PSO and the clubs. And it’s so easy…. When purchasing gas or product at Husky or Mohawk sta-tions, you simply “swipe” your com-munity rebate card. Rebates are split 50/50 with the clubs.

This year, the program netted the As-sociation just over $500.00. Of the 17 clubs who participated to some de-gree, only 3 received rebates in excess of $25.00. Why isn’t this program more successful?

I’ve been told by some clubs that they don’t have a station in their commu-nity.

Solution: encourage your members to swipe when they travel! We know that many members are on the road a lot, driving great distances to camps and competitions on a regular basis. How many clubs for instance, have families driving back and forth to Calgary?

I’ve also been told that some mem-bers prefer benefiting themselves through other redemption programs.

Bits & Bites Cont,Solution: Ask your members to swipe one transaction per month for the sport. You’d be surprised how the dol-lars will start adding up!

Clubs interested in finding out more about this potential fund raiser can check out the Husky website at: www.huskyenergy.ca. If you need cards, drop me a line: [email protected] PANAGO PIZZA

Don’t forget that Panago continues their community partnerships pro-gram. Clubs wanting Pizza for a spe-cial event are to contact local fran-chises for a dealAs well, Panago will provide free pizza for special “provincial” events such as the BC AGM, BC coach and officials retreat, HP camps, etc. Request must be made Through the BCSSA Office at least 1 week in advance.

SPORT INFORMATION SURVEY

Thanks to those clubs who responded to the Sport Information Survey sent out by LegaciesNow consultant, Mar-ilyn Payne. Feed-back from a multiple of sports was being sought to help develop a plan for Organized Sport Participation.

Please see information in this news-letter regarding office location/hours of access and directions for anyone planning to drop in. End

Club NewsKamloops Long Blades

It is hard to believe that summer is com-ing to a close. As it was not as hot as usual it was a great summer for being ac-tive. It seems with all the summer speed skating activities there is no longer a break from the winter season. It is how-ever slower than the skating season.

KLB wants to congratulate Jessica on be-ing named to the Senior Racing Team and her move to Calgary and her BCSSA short track award. The club wishes her luck at the Oval program. Also congratu-lations to Gavin Coyne, and Andrew Reith for making the Provincial Racing Teams, the High Performance Team and in get-ting their Pacific Sport Bronze Cards. Congrats also go to Mitch Hewitt for get-ting on the High Performance Team and the Development Team. Also congrats to Ellis Jordan, Erik Norlander, Hans Froese, Quintan Neville, Gareth Kelly, and Stefan Pavlis for making the Junior Development Team.

Kamloops Long Blades along with the Reith family hosted the High Performance Cycling Camp in July 2005. Mike Mar-shall coached the HP skaters, who biked many hills and valleys around Kamloops. Thanks go to the Reith’s for allowing eve-ryone to tent in their back yard, use their showers and swim in their pool. It was a fun time along with hard training.

KLB would like to welcome Stacie and Amanda Coder to our club along withtheir parents Diana and Dean. They will be living in Barrier and commuting to Kamloops to skate. Stacie will be

Kamloops News Cont,attending the long track oval program in Calgary.

2005/2006 should be another great sea-son for the Kamloops Long Blades. While we wait eagerly to skate on the new Olympic ice surface beside the old rink, KLB will be skating across town for a couple of months. The disruption in the practices will be worth the wait. The tar-get date to start skating on the new ice surface will be January 2006. The new rink surface will be housed in a new build-ing and lobby area. The old rink surface where KLB skated in the past will remain as a twin rink with the idea that it will be torn down in the future and a new NHL size surface will be built in its place.

Meanwhile KLB is working on hosting the 2006 North American Short Track Cham-pionships, March 24-26, which will show case the Olympic rink. We hope all eligi-ble skaters from BC will attend. The top 6 skaters from BC in each age group can attend from Midgets to Masters. There will be lots of BC, Canadian and North American records to break. It will be a great event with a banquet, opening and closing ceremonies. The Yukon and KLB are working on getting a charter plane to fly people to the Canadians the following weekend. Those not attending the Cana-dians can stay and ski at Sun Peaks.

The summer has been very busy with Sandi coaching the skaters in dry-land training this summer, plus the skaters have been cycling twice a week. In addi-tion many of the skaters have been at-tending ice camps, including seven at-tending the Abbotsford ice camp. Well this has been a busy summer and it is only expected to get busier this winter.

SEE you in the rink and at the many competitions!! End

Dawson Creek Speed Skating

We Hosted our Fall kick off short track camp Had Debbie Fisher up to work with the skaters. Congratulations to her on being in-ducted into the Speed Skating Hall of Fame.

Ambrose Currie, Short Track Coach, has had a job offer he couldn’t refuse and has moved to Whitecourt Alberta, we wish him well, but will miss him.

This summer we dual hosted with Fort st John, the HP group northern dry-land training camp for northern skaters. It was an excellent camp and would like to thank Mike Marshall for all his hard work .

Also on the plans for this year is an expanded Long Track camp with full competition at the end.

Drop in racing for both St and LT will be imple-mented in order to help develop local skaters , from both our club and others,to higher levels.

To crown off our Long track season we will be hosting the Canada Post Canadian Age Class Long Track Championships, Fred Feddema and Darlene Chapman are our main organizers.

Should be a great and busy year. See you at our camps and Meets.

Ron Cartier End

Club News Cont,Poco Lightrning

Since the beginning of summer, team Poco was eager get a quick jump on summer train-ing. We started off in the first week of May

and continued all the way into September without a break! Many of the team members set goals for themselves for the upcoming season that they wanted to achieve and knew the amount of work they had to put into it. During the process of training hard, many memories smiles, and strong friendships were created.

! Barb Beck, Kyla Beck and Louise Mclaren coached our weekly dry-land sessions. Like most dry-lands, Poco did their fair share of low walks and dry skates. No one ever said they were easy and we did have our occa-sional complaints

but then again, what family doesn’t have their

complaints right? With every imitation that we did, the Poco

kids knew that in the long run it would even-tually pay off if they did it right and worked hard to get the right technique. Eager to make a difference in the coming year, the younger kids often looked up to the older skaters in search for the right technique and proper intensity. Even with the younger skat-ers mimicking the older skaters, the wise had still yet to learn much of the proper technique.

Bryant, Lisa, Carisa, Bryn, Sebastian, Jessica and Kali looked to their very knowledgeable and wise coaches, who presented the correct positioning and timing. As a part of summer training, Poco was introduced to the sport of cycling. Many of our skaters attended the

Club News Cont,BMX track to try out a new way of training and having fun. It was need-less to say that a lot of the skaters enjoyed the sport. Not only did Poco learn to BMX, but a few skaters also did their bike training on rode bikes. It was a first time for some but slowly got the hang of it after falling a few times to get it right. Near the end of summer training, all of the skaters knew that it mat-tered more than ever that every little detail was done right. Seeing the determination in the skaters such as Zack, Steven, Kyle, Renée and Jeff, it was clear to see that team Poco

really wanted to make a difference. Not only on a per-sonal level, but in all of the skaters eyes it was clear to see that everyone wanted to put on a great impression for Poco and show BC what we were really about.

After a summer of training and

working hard, it is needless to say that Poco is more ready than ever to take on any skating challenges that come their way. With the help of the older skaters and experienced coaches, it is certain that they will all achieve higher than they ever expected. It was a fun filled summer full of training, memories, smiles and just plain good times. Let the good times keep rolling and the hard work and achieve-ments keep coming!

PoCo Skater Representative: Carisa Lau End

Observations from SaguenayThe 2005 Olympic Short Track Trials –

Some 6.0 hours North East from Montreal, through rolling Quebec countryside and past Quebec City lies Saguenay (formerly known as Chicoutimi) in the city of 70,000 people Canada’s best men and women (including Al-anna Kraus, and the brothers Daryl and Cory Rasmussen) are here to compete over a gruel-ing 11 days where they will skate each of the Olympic distances (500m, 1000m, 1500 me-ters) three times for the opportunity to repre-sent Canada next February in Torino, Italy. They will have been here for over two weeks by the time the final race is completed on September 11th.

This is not about results – refer to the SSC website for those – this about preparation; emotions; friendships strained; friendships strengthened and goals.

Oh those goals!

For some this is their last chance to represent Canada on the biggest sporting stage of their lives. For others, this is their biggest event in their competitive lives. Still for some others, this is build up for 2010 – but Oh they would relish the chance to go to Italy.

Day 1 – 1500 m – two hours before the first race and the skaters are at the 6000 seat George Vezina arena and the Marc Gagnon Speed Skating Centre. Prerace preparation runs the gamut of jogging; work on the bike; talking to their coach; reviewing their opposi-tion and fiddling with their equipment. Men-tal imagery is evident everywhere. A solitary skater up on the highest row of the arena star

“Observations Cont”..ing into space. Another walking; walking; walking aroundt the outside of the arena on a 26 degree late summer evening, The meet starts at 8:00 p.m. and there is the warm-up and skate sharpening yet to do. A last minute call to a supporter back home; a hug from an attending family member; an-other hug or hand shake from a fellow com-petitior – they are all getting into their zone. The warm-up appears to be the time for the settling of nerves; stretching the legs; check-ing of blades and focusing on the task ahead.

20 minutes to the first gun; last discussion with the coach; check the blades; check the neck guard and gloves are in place and a

further contemplation of the task ahead.

….. the finish line looms and goals are real-ized or not ….disqualifications are announced and reality sets in. For those who objectives were achieved there is a degree of satisfaction – points have been gained in the primary fi-nal. For those who skate the other finals an understanding that in the remaining two races over this distance there is the need for im-provement…. if Italy is the goal.

A skater comes of the ice and the emotions are released. A skater sits quietly at the end of the row, physically and emotionally spent – fourth place means the secondary final – valuable points have been lost. Small solace that the first three were on Canada’s national team last season. Time to refocus as they skate again in 30 minutes and there are two more sets of 1500 m to go in this extended competition.

Another skater also contemplates a final - having made the pri-

mary final in part because of a disqualifica-tion – realizes he has a second chance. Yet another – having finished strongly – consults with the coach strategizing for the final. One more skater – confident at the start line – falls and is emotionally distraught. There should have been a disqualification they say. Why wasn’t it called? The tears come unabash-edly. The ice is resurfaced for the finals. The skater finishing first is disqualified for imped-ing. The announcement is not heard by the skater until consultation with the coach. Tears flow again, a pat on the shoulder and the skater goes to find some solitude on the bike. A good friend offers words of encour-agement – they are not heard.

The first distance is complete and people leave. The skaters either walk back to the hotel – again they are in their zone and re-quire their space – or they climb on the bus with their friends and competitors alike to have a late meal (10:30 pm) before finding their rooms to begin their preparation for to-morrow – the 500 m.

This competition is physically and certainly mentally draining. At least four years of daily training and numerous competitions come down to hard work; tactics and circumstances - some succeed and others know their chances of reaching their goals have been made that much harder to attain.

To make Canada’s team, as has been often said, is harder than competing on the world stage. To hear of a punctured lung; a broken collarbone; a severe thigh injury – all on the first day – is to see hopes and dreams put be-yond reach and with them representing Can-ada.

“Observations Cont”...

Such is our sport and such are the Olympic Short Track Trials.

Day 6 – the 2nd set of races are over. Four fe-males and one male do not compete due to injuries.. Some of the skaters look tired. An-other day of breakfast at 11.00am; a light lunch at 4-4.30pm; to the rink at 6.00pm; race and return to the hotel at 10.45 for the eve-ning meal. This schedule is also followed on the “rest days” in order to mimic what they will face in Italy. It also allows for the organ-izing committee to not require volunteers to take time of from work. Now we see more skaters, contemplating this 2nd set of 1000m races, require/need/want more solitude. At least 10 of our athletes are seen top be sitting high up in the stands, by themselves, thinking; reviewing; hoping for????

Hellos are greeted, if at all, by a nod of the head. The pressure, and it’s real, is causing introspection to be highly visible. The extro-verts are now quiet; the friendly smile seems forced and the introverts are even more so. The ice is soft and the ice resurfacing breaks are extended to 30 minutes to allow the ice to freeze. More perceived pressure for and by the skaters.

The races run the full spectrum of incidences and results. Tempers are frayed and emotions – already on the edge – spill over. Water bot-tles; helmets and the arena glass bear the brunt.

The session is over and a skater is greeted by a friend and words are exchanged. A hug and the pent up tears flow. There is no consola-tion. Such is the pressure. Another skater is jubilant – a position is guaranteed in the eight who will be selected from which the Olympic Team will be chosen. For those who can not make the top 8 there is skating for pride and to show the National H.P. Committee mem-bers in attendance that they are the next wave of National Team members.

Outside the rain mirrors the thoughts of some and they walk back to the hotel alone.

Friday Sept 9 the final set of three races commences and the grueling selection meet will close with dreams realized; dreams shat-tered and for some, the understanding that the road to 2010 has just begun!

Submitted by:

Ted Houghton End

NATIONAL OFFICIALS SYMPOSIUM

AUGUST 19-21, 2005RAMADA INN - ABBOTSFORD

The official’s symposium was well attended by all member branches and the SSC ODC,Hannah Juneau (National Office) who coor-dinated the event also attended. The course

Symposium Cont”...

conductor was Jim Clements and the facilita-tor was Mike Makowsky.

The theme of this meeting was HOW do we go about recruiting and retaining officials long after their children are no longer skat-ing? Also how do we get retired skaters to become officials and not coaches?

Comparisons were done between branches on what we all currently do to achieve these goals. We were asked to itemize our best practices and compare them.

BC seems to lead the way in recruiting and retaining officials.

• We have an officials retreat each spring

• We have Level 1 and 2 clinics on regular basis

• We hold yearly summer camps• We have a publication issued quar-

terly• We use a recording card (passport)

for officials to record all the meets they have worked at

• We issue officials assignments for BCSSA/SSC sanction meets

• We have club officials liaisons

With these resources in place we were looked upon as being one of the better organized branches as far as improving and keeping our officials involved.

We also looked at rewards and recogni-tions, more women in the top level posi-tions, safety issues, better use of web sites, more sharing of information be-

tween branches, tapping into re-sources

outside speed skating and eliminating cost to volunteers.

This symposium was very enlightening and should be repeated annually if at all possible. We should impress upon SSC to continue having this type of meeting - that way we can formulate ways to achieve our goals.

BCSSA ODC Maurice Legros End

Membership Development Committee Report

It is time again to be thinking about the start of a new season. It is never to soon to start gathering up new members or promoting Speed Skating. When the back to school sales start you might want to set up a booth in your local mall or start putting fliers around the town. Summer is a great time for clubs to go in parades and other community events. Lets make this a record season for new members. Go out and share this great sport. The MDC committee would like to congratulate The Prince George Bliz-zards, Vancouver Speed Skating Club and the MDC for their successful SEED-ling grants from Speed Skate Canada. Good Luck with your programs. Speed Skate Canada has now come out with a SEED Grant for Long Track. Do not for-get to get your applications in to the BCSSA Office by Sept.15, 2005. Hope you all have a great season with lots of PB's and exciting races. The Member-ship Development Committee

Barry Krieck

BCSSA OFFICEThe office of the British Columbia Speed

Skating Association is located on the campus of UCFV (University College of the Fraser Val-

ley) in Abbotsford.

Our Office Administrator, Lorna Holbech manages the office and is available to the

membership from 10am-5pm daily, Monday through Friday. You are advised to call the office first if planning to drop by though as

Lorna may be out on business.

Our Executive Director, Ted Houghton, cur-rently works from his home office:

[email protected]

BCSSARoom B243 c/o UCFV

33844 King Rd.Abbotsford, BC

V2S 7M8 Phone: 604-557-4020Fax: 604-853-4629

E-mail: [email protected]

The office is under the umbrella of the Kinesiology Department and our

space is shared with staff of Pa-cificSport Group, Fraser Valley Re-

gional Sport Centre.

If you are planning to drop by, make sure you have a loonie in

youpocket, as parking at the University is pay only. Take the McCallum Rd.

exit 90 from the freeway whether driving east or west, follow directions

to King Rd. on the south side offreeway, then head east (one or two

blocks) to the college.

Park in the student lots or right out front the main entrance if you canfind a space. I suggest you avoid

dropping by the first week of any new semester though as parking at such

times can be difficult.

Room B243 is located on the main level of Building B. Approaching form the main en-trance, Building B is on your right at the top of the stairs. Once inside, follow the hallway around a couple of corners…we’re the 2nd

door on your left across the hall from Infor-mation Technology (ITS).

Winners VS Losers

When a winner makes a mistake, he says, “I was wrong;”When a loser makes a mistake, he says, “It wasn’t my fault.”

A winner works harder than a loser and has more time;A loser is always “too busy” to do what is necessary.

A winner goes through a problem;A loser goes around it, and never gets past it.

A winner makes commitments;A loser makes promises.

A winner says, “I am good, but not as good as I ought to be;”A loser says, “I’m not as bad as a lot of other people.”

A winner listens;A loser just waits until it’s his turn to talk.

A winner respects those who are superior to him and tries to learn something from them;A loser resents those who are superior to him and tries to find chinks in their armor.

A winner feels responsible for more than his job;A loser says, “I only work here.”

A winner says, “There ought to be a better way to do it;”A loser says, “I only work here.”

Pat Williams NBA General Manager and Vice President

My daughter attended the Calgary Oval Camp this summer and brought this quote back with her. I thought it expressed a truth that should be shared with the whole BC speed skating community. It is my experience, not only as a coach, but as an athlete and in my profession, that working with people with a winning attitude makes for a more positive and progressive environment. In the end, it is not about you, it is about what you have done for others.

Let’s all try to be winners this season!!

Cathy Turnbull-Spence River City Racers Speed Skating Club, Kamloops, B.C.

Summer CampsHere are some pictures of the High Performance Cycling Camp that was held in Kamloops July 31 to Ausgust 3, 2005. Mike Mar-shall was the coach.

Trish Coyne

Kamloops Camp contMike Marshall has a target group of skaters he is training. Here is a shot of some of the skaters training

with Mike Marshall two weeks ago in Kamloops. Most of the skaters from out of town camped in David Reith's backyard. The summer

training program has been very well done and the skaters are in great

shape to start off this season. I would like to send

out a big thank you to everyone who has committed time towards the success of this program and to the athletes who have committed to train 5+ days per week and follow the program.

George Moore END

Matsqui Camp

From the very first day, I could see that the camp would be a huge suc-cess. The big smiles from all the skaters waiting in the registration line explained it all. I could see all my younger Poco Skaters eagerly waiting in line with their parents getting ready to receive their goody bags and be on their way to a change room to get ready for dryland or ice time. During the camp, I would constantly see smiles all around from the Coaches, to the parents, to the skaters. It was truly inspirational to see everyone laughing and having a good time. It showed me how much I really enjoyed the sport of speed skating. Not only for the thrill and competition, but also for all the great people who are in-volved with it. During dryland prac-tises with Mike, wed often share the

Matsqui Camp contfield with all the other groups. I re-member watching some of the other-groups doing their dryland practises and working hard to get the right tech-nique and at the same time, everyone was having a great time and making new friends. Personally, during my dryland practises, Id have so much fun no matter how much hard work it was. I knew I was in the presence of my friends and they would always be there to help push me and guide me through the rough spots. I must say that one main dryland really stuck out in my mind and that was the iron man challenge. My team nearly took down the challenge in itself. So many smiles and so many memories and not to mention a lot of bruises and scrapes! When it came to ice time, there was nothing more fun than that obstacle course we had to do on ice. Solemn through pucks, three sixty on the knees, in basic through a tunnel and jumping over a huge wooden block! It was so much fun being on ice and working on the technical as-pects of skating. Our relay races were intense but always fun and exciting to watch. The relay race at the end of the camp proved that all. Needless to say, group one was literally jumping over the boards cheering for each other. You could literally feel the ex-citement from outside and how pumped up everyone was to be there and just racing for the fun of it. Id have to say that the Matsqui camp was a huge success. There were countless

memories being created during the entire camp and

there were smiles and new friendships forming. I find that every year, the provincial camps really bring the prov-ince together and just make us one huge family. I personally can say that I loved every minute of the camp and that it was everything I could have wished for. Amazing friends, amazing coaches and great classroom talks! Good Job to everyone and all their accomplishments!

Carisa Port Coquitlam Lightning Speedskating Club

Provincial High Performance Team

BCSSA BOARD of

DIRECTORS 2005-2006 President Lanyin Osborne

(H) (604) 854-0184

(F) (604) 854-8287 [email protected]

Vice President Jim Allison

(H) (604) 240-8663 [email protected]

Secretary Darlene Chapman


Treasurer Vacant

Director of Advanced Programs

Diana Coder

moved/awaiting installation Pro-grams [email protected]

Director of Coaching Barb Beck


Director of Membership

Marg Krieck (H) (604) 826-1968 Development [email protected]

Director of Officials Maurice Legros (H) (604)

467-4431 [email protected]

Parting Thoughts

Cathy Turnbull, (Canadian World Short Track Champion/Runner-up in the 70’s or early 80’s – best check with her) stayed at our place during the BC Summer camp. We got talking and it turns out Cathy skated at the first ISU World Short Championships in Solihull England in 1978. I set-up a club at the same arena in the mid 80’s due to a rekindled interest in the sport with a buddy, John Debney. We called the club the Solihull Phoenix on account of the fact that the original Soli-hull Viking Club had disbanded and we were rising from its ashes, so as to speak. In 1989 Eden and I met at the World Championships in Solihull. Eden was a double Olympic medallist in Cal-gary 1988 and 3rd in the World Champi-onships in Amsterdam in 1990. Some-where along the line Eden skated on Cathy’s old skates. Now we’re all living in BC and still involved. The whole thing sounded a bit like one of those six de-grees of separation things you see in magazines and seemed slightly entertain-ing at the time.

Julian Greene

Many of my skaters have recently re-turned from the Calgary camp excited and motivated for the upcoming season. At one of their sessions they heard a talk by National Team member by the name of Jason Parker. He recited a poem and mentioned that I recited this poem to him when he was young and attending camps, and I was a National Team mem-ber. So many of my skaters are asking for a copy of the poem, that I thought it was worth sharing with everyone. One of my high school teachers, Mr. Langford, gave me a copy of this poem when I was in grade nine and it has always meant a lot to me.

The Contest The contest lasts for moments

Though the training’s taken years; It wasn’t the winning alone

That was worth the work and tears. The applause will be forgotten

And the prize will be misplaced, But the long hard hours of practice

Will never be a waste. For in trying to win you build a skill;

You learn that winning depends on will. You never grow by how much you win, You only grow by how much you put in. So for any new challenge you’ve just be-

gun, Put forth your best and you’ve already

won. -W.A. Clennan

Eden Greene

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