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We have received confirmation from BCSSA that our High Performance skaters (currently skating at the Richmond Oval) will be allowed to skate at the Vancouver Speed Skating Club's practices once their Richmond Oval training ends on March 18th, 2021.
This means is that Charlotte, Adam, Wilfred, and Simon will be able to attend the Vancouver Speed Skating club's last three practices of this season, March 21st, 24th, and 28th.
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Last December, Adam Mong, Charlotte Sernoski, Wilfred Chan, and Simon Mikulash had to chose one venue as their "home club", due to BC SSA COVID regulations. Since then, they haven't been able to skate, or coach, with the other VSSC members. We recently reached out to them and their coaches, to see how they are faring during this challenging season. From the Oval HP coaches:"All VSSC skaters have shown incredible amounts of resilience and adaptability despite COVID restrictions and other major changes in the program. At the beginning of the season, VSSC skaters completed over 140 online training hours! This did not include the hours the athletes put in for solo training or in-person training once the facility reopened in August. Online training sessions included online circuit/dryland training, mental performance, yoga, baking sessions, racing analysis and intro to journaling. New sessions introduced to the athletes this year were Mental Performance training with Matt Fisher and Yoga sessions with Madeline Martin. Focus this year was technique, team unity, coach/athlete feedback and mental wellbeing. OvalHP coaches and support staff are very proud of the work the VSSC athletes have done this season! Everyone truly went above and beyond! Great work!" Watch a pre-skate warmup and a snippet of a practice. Coach Nicole on Adam Mong: "Adam has shown a great deal of strength and improvement in the weight room with Jackson this year! In his final year of high school, Adam has shown growth in the way he prioritizes school, sport and extra curricular activities." Adam states, "Training at the oval has been a good opportunity to train with other high-performing skaters and have more training opportunities on and off the ice. I look forward to returning back to the club and seeing the vast improvements that everyone has made." Here's Adam at an S&C session and clips of him skating, showing an awesome start, and skating in a very tight circle. Coach Nicole on Charlotte Sernoski: "Charlotte overcame a huge a setback this winter with her health and learned a lot about the importance of school/sport balance and rest and recovery. She was able to utilize the tools she learned through our mental performance sessions with Matt as well as the sessions with BCSSA’s Scott and Andrei to help her through these difficult times." Charlotte has this to say to the Skaters at the Vancouver Club: “I really miss coaching you guys and am super busy at the Oval, training hard with the other skaters. Hopefully you guys will be able to train at the Oval sometime soon! I look forward to seeing you in September at Kits Rink" Charlotte shows how to be COVID safe on the ice, lift weights, and skates like the wind in this clip. Coach Nicole on Wilfred Chan: "Wilfred experienced a few setbacks this year with injuries but is still skating impressively fast! One thing that has stuck out to me is Wilfred’s openness to experimenting with his equipment, program and technique." Wilfred adds, "Other than injuries, everything is going as planned. OVAL Hp programs provides way more hours than the training in VSSC. Though techniques and tips from both coach Adam and coach Nicole [are] always needed." See Wilfred lift weights and show great skating form in this clip. Coach Nicole on Simon Mikulash: "Simon sprained his ankle this year after a fall on ice this winter. He was able to make a very solid comeback with his training making improvements in his technique and strength on ice over the past few weeks!" Simon misses skating at the VSSC arena; in his words, "I miss all of you back at the club, I’ll be sure to come out to practise and show you all how much I’ve improved as soon as these restrictions lift. I really miss practising in Vancouver an[d] I especially miss coaching [G]roup 1. We are nearing the end of the season so don’t forget to bend your knees and stay in good basic position for the last few practises! I miss you all very much!" Here's a clip of Simon skating and another racing in slo-mo! We'd like to thank Adam, Charlotte, Wilfred, and Simon for their contributions to this update. And we especially extend our gratitude to Coach Nicole and Coach Jackson not only for the care and attention they continue to provide our skaters, but also for sending us their insights about how they've been faring at the Oval High Performance training sessions.
On February 24th, 2021, we were informed that the BC Speed Skating Association awarded our club with a COVID Relief Grant in the amount of $3000. This is wonderful news, and will help us towards upgrading our safety mats and replacing old skates and other equipment.
On behalf of our membership, our Board is extending a big thank you to the BC SSA. Click here for more information on the BC Speed Skating Association. The BC Speed Skating Association has posted a very interesting article about the challenges of coaching during this pandemic, and how coaches are adapting practices to keep their skaters engaged while maintaining fitness and improving technique.
From the article: "Speed skating through a pandemic has been a season of challenges, improvement, and reward. Coaches throughout the province have remained resilient to ongoing changes to keep both participants and volunteers safe while advancing skaters’ abilities." Click here to read more. The Canadian Youth Challenge is open to all skaters from 10 to 15 years old, inclusive, and also includes mixed-gender team categories.
Running from February 22 to March 28, inclusive, it allows short track skaters to compete locally, observing all official COVID-safety precautions, and have their results compared against other participating clubs. Coaches will submit results for a variety of individual and team events to Speed Skating Canada, which uses them to award prizes in individual, team, and club categories. Kai Barnett, Will Bird, Max Dohm, Nathan Lee, Arjen Sander, Edwin Voong, Anthony Wong, and Della Young will participate through our Vancouver Speed Skating Club, while Adam Mong, Charlotte Sernoski, Simon Mikulash, and Wilfred Chang will participate through the Oval HP Program. If you have any questions about this, feel free to ask any of the coaches. Detailed rules about the Challenge can be found here. The Vancouver Parks Board has informed us that the last day of ice at the Kitsilano Arena is Sunday March 28, 2021.
Thus, Sunday, March 28, 2021 will be our last day of practice. Congratulations, Stanley!Congratulations to Stanley Chang, father of Trevor and one of our long-standing members, for having achieved his FUNdamentals Coach Certification last week.
This is an important milestone for anyone wishing to develop their skills and knowledge in how to be an effective, considerate, and safe coach, and spread the fun of speed-skating while maintaining a structured environment. Click here if you wish to learn more about this certification. Well done, Stanley: our Club has benefitted greatly from your contributions!
We're so happy that our Special Olympics skaters are back with us again, starting with tonight's practice! Huge thank you to June Lum, and others, for working so hard to make this happen. June was recognized as a 2020 Community Sport Champion by the City of Vancouver. Check out her video here, filmed last season before COVID distancing protocols.
Any of us who know Michael and his volunteer work will not be surprised that he was selected by BC Speed Skating to receive the 2020 President's Award. These awards are given to volunteers from Sport BC organizations who demonstrate "the spirit of volunteerism through the dedication, commitment, and tireless energy they give to their sport organizations".
Michael is well-known in the speed skating community for his fabulous photos of speed skaters. He volunteers his time and the sale of his photos provide funds for the Vancouver Club. You can see his amazing work at the Vancouver Speed Skating Club's SmugMug site. Were it not for the COVID-19 outbreak, Michael would have been celebrated at this year's Sport BC Athlete of the Year Awards night, on March 12, 2020. Congratulations Michael, and thank you for all you do for speed skating in British Columbia! Charlotte Sernoski, one of our long-standing club skaters, won a Gold medal at the Canadian Youth Long Track Championships, held in Red Deer, Alberta, on the weekend of February 8/9, 2020.
Charlotte placed first in the 7-Lap Mass Start, a race of 3000 metres and 16 skaters on the starting line. She finished in 4th place overall in the T2T (Train-to-Train) 14 year old Female Division. Detailed results are available here. Team BC skated hard, won many medals and and had a great time in Red Deer, Alberta. Congratulations to Charlotte and her BC Teammates! Charlotte Sernoski, one of our long-standing club skaters, won a Gold medal at the Canadian Youth Long Track Championships, held in Red Deer, Alberta, on the weekend of February 8-9. Charlotte placed first in the 7-Lap Mass Start, a race of 3000 metres and 16 skaters on the starting line. She finished in 4th place overall in the T2T (Train-to-Train) 14 year old Female Division. Team BC skated hard, won many medals and and had a great time in Red Deer, Alberta. Congratulations to Charlotte and her BC Teammates! We would like to acknowledge and thank George and Annabelle Gaffney, of the Rick Hansen Foundation, for donating $1000 to our Club.
We would also like to thank Sasha Faris for coordinating with the Rick Hansen Foundation. We'd like to extend our gratitude to Intact Insurance, for having named us a winner of the Podium Tracker Program. The award is accompanied by a $5000 grant.
Our thanks also go to Ed Sernoski and Beth Elliot for their work in applying for the grant. We are proud to announce that our Head Coach, Adam Ingle, has been selected as ViaSport's 2017 Coach of the Year in the Regional/Provincial Development Category. This award considers coaches from all sports across BC! Adam is recognized for his dedication and commitment to coaching in British Columbia. He was selected for outstanding achievement in his category and for his unique contribution to the advancement and well-being of athletes and their sport. The award recognizes contributions the coach has made to sport in British Columbia over a number of years. Adam was honoured at the 2018 BC Sports Hall of Fame Induction Gala, on May 31, 2018.  The Coach of the Year Awards were founded by the Coaches Association of BC, funded by the Bob Bearpark Foundation. The Foundation continues to support viaSport in providing recognition awards for BC coaches in the following categories: Recreational/Grassroots, Regional/Provincial Development and International.
Congratulations, Adam, we all know you deserve this award! Concussion prevention, recognition and return to sport protocols have been heavily featured in the media over the past few years. Speed Skating Canada has a webpage dedicated to Concussions/Brain Injuries, which provides speed skating specific education and resources for coaches, officials, club administrators and parents.
Within BC, the BCSSA Concussion Protocol must be followed at all sanctioned events. The protocol includes the administration of the Concussion Recognition Tool and the provision of the BCSSA Suspected Concussion Form. When skaters attend sanctioned competitions and meets, the entry form requires an acknowledgement that the BCSSA Concussion Protocol has been read. A 100m and a 111m track has been set at the Kitsilano Ice Rink ready for the start of the 2015 season. More information about how 11m tracks are laid out can be found here! For the 2014-15 Season, our Club received a $1,000 award from Intact Insurance's Podium Tracker Program which supports our national athletes and the regional clubs. Check out all of the recipients in the video. The BCSSA's AGM and Excellence Retreat will be held on May 22, 23, and 24 (Fri eve - Sun midday) in Richmond. This year in addition to the AGM, there is an opportunity for skaters to train with High Performance coaches on and off ice, and meet Olympian silver medalist Jessica Hewitt. For coaches, or those parents who want to grow into the role of a coach, there is a similar variety of events. Please take a look at the following link which has full details and registration information.
http://www.speed-skating.bc.ca/agm/ Dry land training is now up and running on Sunday mornings in Connaught Park just outside the rink. Meet at 9am for 1.5 to 2 hours of training on technical aspects of short track and conditioning exercises too. For more information, please contact Alex at straussal@yahoo.com The Year End Party and AGM will be held on Sunday, April 12 between 3pm and 5:30pm at the Kitsilano Community Centre.
Here are the dates for the last practices of the year:
More details will follow about the trial skate and boot-return. |
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