Our 2017-2018 Season is coming to a close, but not without great accomplishments by our 120+ skaters, the executive, and myself in my first year as Head Coach of Nicola Valley Skating Club. We are finishing our season with our last week of Spring School at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena before the ice is taken out.
What a year we have had indeed! We expanded our ice times, amount of days the Club skates, and added 2 programs to the roster, with Junior Academy, Jr. STARskate, and CanPowerSkate. We attended 2 Seminars, competed at 3 Competitions in the Okanagan Region. Passed 27 Assessments before Christmas & Easter, and we ended our main season with a hugely successful Ice Show for all our skaters.
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| Jr. Academy 2017/18 |
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| Jr. STAR Wednesday 2017/18 |
This year we separated the Junior Academy & Jr. STAR programs to have better emphasis on the basics of learning how to Figure Skate in the Junior Academy program. Jr. Academy is a continuation of the CanSkate program specific to figure skating skills only. I had 7 CanSkaters groomed to fill these spots from last season, for this program. The Jr. STAR program focuses on the STAR 1 level. Working on all three disciplines from the STAR 1 Assessments and Competition requirements. This enabled our skaters in both groups to build a strong understanding of the basics for skating skills for their level & also jumping and spinning before moving up to STAR 2. Three of our STAR 1's competed throughout the year at 3 separate competitions in our region and did very well, coming home with Gold, Silver & Bronze ribbons. Our skaters successes have motivated them to continue Competing next season.
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| Wednesday CanSkate |
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| Monday CanSkate |
We also teamed up with the School District #58 Afterschool Program on our Wednesday CanSkate sessions. We had close to 20+ new skaters join our Club for that particular scheduled session. This opened up the opportunity for children to try a sport they may not have considered. The funding from the Afterschool Program helped pay for their fees, and a majority of the skaters found a new love for skating.
It was a successful partnership, and we will likely continue to offer this next year.
Our Monday & Wednesday CanSkate sessions combined for a total of close to 60 skaters in our program!! These young skaters are the future of our Club and it is wonderful to see them continue on, while making new friends.
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| STAR Skate at Shulus |
Our STARskaters skated at both Shulus & the Merritt Arenas. Our Competitive STARskaters took on an early morning skate at 6:30 am on Wednesday's in town this year. They took on a total of 4 days of skating each week, to cover all the disciplines they need to learn, along with a 45 min. Off-Ice session each week. This Off-Ice session has been invaluable for learning about Positioning, jumping, stretching, muscle & core building. Along with resistance training, personal goal setting, and informative talks about competition debriefing. We took all this associative knowledge to the ice for overall improvement throughout the season. It helped lessen our Cognitive lesson time while on the Ice.
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| Harness Session at Shulus |
In February the Club invested in a Pro-Motion Jump Harness and we have had much use and success with it already. For instance 2 Axels landed with more on the way, as well as double jumps not too far behind.
By the time our Spring School ice is over and this season is adjourned, we will have had a total of 27 Assessments completed for our STAR 1-4 level. The skaters have all worked very hard, and the Assessments are a great feeling of accomplishment for them all!
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| Coach Diana Demo of a drill |
The beginning of regular season brought the start of our new CanPowerSkate program. By the second registration session the program doubled in size with a very dedicated group of 17 Power Skaters. This was our first year being able to run this program after I received CanPowerSkate Coaching Certification. CanPowerskate program is specific to Skate Canada Clubs. We had a total of 24+ registered in total this year under this program, to better their hockey skating skills. We ended both sessions with Assessments and some fun. These skaters worked hard and set personal goal. If it was pushing yourself to stop the other direction, backward crossovers, more control, speed and power, or an effective Reverse Pivot. These skaters were crushing it! We will be running this very successful program again next year, which has been well received. Skaters and parents feedback has been extremely positive in regards to this program. The progress and distinction of each and every skater achieved was due to their dedication, hard work, and the prominent design of this program.
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| CanPowerSkate at Nicola Valley Memorial Arena 2018 |
Thank you to all the skaters, parents & executives for making my first year as Head Coach of this wonderful growing Club, such a success & an amazing year for us all!!
See you all next season!
Yours Sincerely,
Coach Diana
Skate Canada Professional Coach - Head Coach NVSC
"the road to success comes through hard work, determination & sacrifice."
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