More than 50 young figure skaters from around the region descended on Nelson earlier this month to attend the West Kootenay Development Camp. Hosted by the Nelson Figure Skating Club, the event was a boot camp on ice, designed to enhance and develop the abilities of young figure skaters in the West Kootenay.
“The camp was open to all skaters from the West Kootenay that are interested in attending a grass roots seminar,” said Sarah Gower a coach with the Nelson Figure Skating Club. “It’s one component of Skate Canada’s overall development strategy to foster young skaters from the region who eventually may go on to compete at provincial or national levels.”
Event organizer Tina Borhi was pleased with the turnout.
“We got lots of positive feedback from skaters and parents,” she said. “We had a number of high calibre skaters from out of town attend so the quality of skating was quite high and valuable for the younger skaters to see.”
Gower, along with fellow coaches Rachel Stewart and Yoshie Measures teamed up with out of town coaches Sabrina Hinson and Mandy Paulsen to put the skaters through their paces.
“We taught the skaters both new elements and elements they are familiar with but done in difficult positions, or difficult entries in the case of a jump,” said Gower, noting this approach wins skaters more points under the new system of judging. “Having five coaches on the ice at once meant that skaters were able to receive lots of input and varied approaches.”
Marg Larose from Vernon led the off ice dance sessions while Sabrina Hinson ran the off ice flexibility sessions.
The Nelson Figure Skating club is grateful to the many parents who volunteered or contributed food items to the buffet lunch.