The Carlyle Figure Skating Club has recently finished their first ever Spring Skating School, which was a great success.
Last year a group of 15 skaters and their coach, Dawn Dyer, travelled to Alameda where ice remained to continue training. The Carlyle Figure Skating Club and Dyer saw many youth who would have liked to take part in the extra month of skating; but, were not committed to driving to Alameda. Knowing many would join if held in Carlyle a meeting was made with the Rink Board who, after some discussion, gave their full support and agreed to keep the ice in for an extra month to see how Spring School would be received.
Skaters, therefore, were able to enjoy extra time on the ice to finish off dance skills, work on badges, and finish testing that otherwise would have had to wait until next season.
Setting out a goal of being able to recruit 30 skaters for Spring School the Carlyle Figure Skating Club was able to register 32 youth: 11 CanSkaters and 21 StarSkaters.
These dedicated youth simply love skating and were happy to attend lessons five days a week. Booking time on the ice between 3:30 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. the club saw the youth filter on and off the ice with an opportunity for one on one instruction time, which isn't always seen during the CanSkate regular season that is directed more at group instruction.
Everything from warm ups to activities program assistants and Dyer have to pay attention to many youth throughout the regular season.
"It allows them an opportunity to work independently," Dyer stated. "In CanSkate they're usually told what to do at different stations and here they are on their own a little bit more. With Spring School there is not as many of them so it is more focused."
Another change comes with the focus of the lessons. During the regular season many skaters are consumed by practicing their free skate and participating in competitions, while the Spring School is skills oriented. Youth are able to focus on each specific skill without worrying about developing a program to present during a competition.
"We still do jumps and spins, but we don't worry about the program," Dyer explained.
Dyer had pushed for the Spring School because she felt it was a way to help youth improve in something they love to do.
"I think I was maybe being selfish, I wanted for my kids to have the opportunity and we now have 30 kids I wouldn't have had in Alameda," Dyer stated.
This includes youth from Carlyle and Arcola, but attendees from Kennedy, Kipling, and Weyburn who are also enjoying the benefits of a Spring School.
Dyer is assisted by Nolan Mudrewich on the ice to teach partnering to StarSkaters, while Grace Smyth is found on the ice assisting Dyer with the CanSkaters.
Smyth's involvement is appreciated because she had previously skated competitively and is a role model for many of the CanSkaters, they look up to her and enjoy being on the ice with her.
Others whose hard work and commitment helped bring Spring School into being included Brent Stillwell who provided an extra month of ice maintenance and Patricia Himmelspach who cleans the lobby and agreed to keep the kitchen open, which allowed the skaters to grab snacks or supper easily.
Parent volunteers were also a big proponent in the facilitation of the Spring School as they assisted with hot lunches that were held throughout the month to help with rink costs.
"All the skaters have enjoyed it," Karen Fischer, a Figure Skating Club board member, stated. "It's been good and we're hoping to keep it going, but the rink needs to make sure it can."
This year the rink agreed to the Spring School and didn't pressure the Figure Skating Club about being able to pay for the facilitation of it, they simply wanted to see how many would be interested and if they could continue to operate Spring School in the future.
The Figure Skating Club did set out a goal of 30 youth in order to help with costs and were able to reach this. Costs of keeping the ice in longer were also offset by hockey tournaments that were held and the unusually cool month of April. In other years the equipment in the rink will have to work harder to keep the ice from melting, which could result in Spring School not continuing.
So, even though the youth enjoyed themselves it comes down to feasibility for the Rink Board. If the month of April is warmer in future years, as it can be, will it still be possible to offer Spring School? This will be the question that the Rink Board will face in the future as they want the youth to continue enjoying themselves in the facility, but need to make sure it is possible to offer the extra month of ice time. The Carlyle Figure Skating Club is very thankful to the Rink Board for allowing them the opportunity to hold Spring School this year without any pressures and hope they have shown that there is enough interest in continuing.
"We wanted to make it bigger and had invited other coaches to come with their skaters, so possibly in the future it will be something that will get bigger," Dyer said.
Though skaters from other towns did attend to receive instruction from Dyer, no other coaches attended this year. Though this may be the result of first year trial and once it becomes established other coaches will attend, which would be beneficial to all skating students.
The conclusion to this year's Spring School took place on April 27, with two judges from Regina attending. The test day saw youth conclude their skating seasons with an opportunity to now enter the new season in the fall at a higher level.
