The Moose Jaw Skating Club is finding its footing after the abrupt end to its season earlier this spring, and organizers couldn’t be more excited to get back on the ice with the CanSkate program this September.
Registration for CanSkate is now available on the MJSC website, said publicity chair Carime Molde, and the first block of lessons is set to begin on Sept. 14 at the Kinsmen Arena.
Things are going to look a little different on the ice this fall, however, as a number of safety guidelines laid out by Skate Canada will be in full force when skaters return.
A limit of 30 skaters on the ice will be in effect, which includes both coaches and students, and spectators won’t be allowed in the rink during lessons to avoid contact.
“Our program normally sees 50 to 70 skaters per session, so that’s going to be a huge difference for us,” said Molde.
One board member from the club will be around to help students lace up their skates or hop off the ice, but the club is encouraging parents to drop off their skaters fully ready to go — dressed and laced, with skate guards — no more than 10 minutes before their lesson is supposed to begin.
There are a few restrictions on registration this year as well, to help mitigate some pandemic-related concerns.
In order to join CanSkate this fall, all skaters are required to have a few key skills and be able to skate on their own to help lessen the physical contact between students and coaches.
“Skate Canada is asking that skaters have at least their Badge 3 in CanSkate, so that would mean they can get up on their own and skate unassisted fairly well,” said Molde. “And that’s just so that we’re not having our coaches and program assistants having to do too much hands-on.”
The new regulations will be a change for MJSC members to adjust to, but the club is just excited to be able to hit the ice at all this year.
“We’re really excited to be back at the rink and for our skaters to be training,” said Molde. “There’s no deadline to register, it would just be before the day [lessons start], and space is very limited so [we recommend] getting in there sooner rather than later.”
The MJSC is also hoping that things may change later in the fall, not only to include more skaters on the ice but also to clear skaters for competition and tournaments.
It’s especially important this year, said Molde, as Moose Jaw is set to host Skate Canada’s provincial sectionals competition here in November — an exciting opportunity that the club would love to see happen.
“That’s a really big skating competition that we don’t often get to host here, so that would be so good for our club and for our community,” said Molde. “And it's a big thing for competitive skaters, this is what they work towards and this is what they do all this training for, is so they can compete.”
MJSC skaters were disappointed earlier in March when COVID-19 cancelled the annual end-of-season ice show, but Molde shared that there could be a Christmas showcase in the works or even a virtual show for skaters to show off their hard work.
More information about the Moose Jaw Skating Club and the CanSkate program is available online at moosejawskatingclub.ca.
