By TERRY PUGH
The Dalmeny arena will be a busy place this coming weekend, as hundreds of young figure skaters take to the ice during a two-day regional STARSkate competition.
A total of 285 registrations have been accepted for the Region 7, 8 and 9 Prairie Edge event, slated for Dalmeny January 11 and 12. It’s the largest figure skating competition hosted in Dalmeny in two decades, according to Dalmeny Skating Club board member Candace Sonmor.
“It’s very exciting,” said Sonmor. “We’re a small club, but we have many dedicated volunteers, and we’re all working together to pull this event off and make it a success. It’s a challenge, but we’re up for it.”
Prairie Edge is one of several STARSkate competitions held across the province during the season.
This event features Region 7 (Quill Plains) clubs including Drake, Lanigan, LeRoy, Naicam, Humboldt, St. Brieux, Wadena, Watson and Wynyard; Region 8 (Blackstrap) clubs including Clavet, Dalmeny, Langham, Outlook, Delisle, Martensville, Warman-Osler; and Region 9 (Saskatoon) that includes all the skating clubs in Saskatchewan’s largest city.
STARSkate is an acronym for ‘Skills, Tests, Achievement and Recognition’, a program which offers opportunities for skaters of all ages to develop fundamental figure skating skills in the areas of ice dance, skating skills, free skate and interpretive skating.
According to the Skate Saskatchewan website, the uniquely-Canadian STARSkate program was initiated about 40 years ago, and provides a nationally-standardized testing system. Skaters who have mastered figure skating skills in STARSkate may also choose to pursue synchronized skating or pairs skating.
Sonmor said the majority of athletes taking part in the Prairie Edge event will be between 11 and 18 years old. They’ve honed their skating skills to a level where they’re looking to earn medals for their performances in one or more of the four STARSkate (STAR1-Gold) categories.
“They’re accomplished skaters, who will be aiming to move up into bigger competitions,” said Sonmor. “They’re judged on their skating techniques, their skills and jumps, and on their dancing. It’s all performed with music.
“Each skater works with their coach during the season to put together a program that’s choreographed to the music. They submit the music and it’s played while they’re skating. The competitors submit their music to us ahead of time, and we line it up according to the program over two days.
“There are a lot of competitors to get through over the course of the weekend, so we have one person designated solely to handle the music.”
The event is open to the public, and Sonmor said admission is by donation that will help the club offset the cost of hosting the event. She added they have some corporate sponsors that have pitched in, and the club has done fundraising activities over the past year leading up to the competition. There is also a raffle table at the event and the rink concession will be open.
“We’re hoping the interest generated in this event will help grow our club as well,” she said. “We have 32 registered skaters in our club. But we also have one of the nicest facilities in the region, and we have three certified coaches, so the coach to skater ratio is low. That translates into good, personalized coaching for the young skaters. They really benefit from that.”