Skate Thompson will host 82 skaters Feb. 3-5 from across the north at the Vale Regional Community Centre. Skaters from The Pas, Flin Flon, Gillam, and Thompson will be attending “Candyland,” the 2017 Skate Canada Manitoba Norman Regional STARSkate Championship & FUNSkate. Events start at 8 a.m. on Friday morning and run through until 5 p.m. on Saturday. An official opening ceremony will be held at 1 p.m. on Friday. There will be something for everyone from the learn-to-skate level to our seasoned competitors. This is a perfect opportunity for the people of Thompson to come out and cheer on our local athletes! Day passes and weekend passes will be available for purchase at the event, as well as flowers and candygram sweet messages to congratulate the skaters! There will be awesome silent auction prizes, a loonie skate, a gumball guess, as well as a small boutique selling new and used skating items. “Candyland” will also be the theme for the banquet to be held on Friday night for the skating families. Here, skaters will have more opportunities for team building, sportsmanship and fun! The Norman Regional Awards will also be presented at the banquet.
Much time and effort has gone into the preparations for this event. Skate Thompson would like to thank the community sponsors, volunteers, members of the regionals planning committee, the amazing coaches and the rink staff for all of their continued support. Without you, an event of this scope would not be possible to host. Wishing all skaters good luck and a fun-filled weekend!
To complement training towards this weekend’s event, Skate Thompson skaters Jade Brooks, Sydney Power and Ava White attended the Norman Regional All-STAR Seminar in The Pas on Oct. 29-30. This was a great opportunity to learn new things, work with different coaches, and make new friends. The on-ice sessions included activities to strengthen skills in jumping and spinning. The off-ice sessions educated the skaters in proper stretching and sports injury prevention.
Skate Thompson held a fall test day Nov. 19. An evaluator from Winnipeg was there to assess the skaters in dance and free skate. Thirty-three tests were performed. For anyone who got to watch, some amazing skating was showcased.
Five skaters from Skate Thompson also attended Skate Winnipeg SuperSkate 2016 Nov. 25-27. Avery Lagimodiere, Kaitlyn Krentz, Sydney Power and Ava White all competed at the STAR 2 level, while Kassia Wolanski-McGirr competed at the STAR 5 level. The girls did an amazing job of representing Thompson with many personal bests! Congratulations, girls!
Skate Thompson, in partnership with the Thompson Minor Hockey Association, also hosted two CanPower Clinics Oct. 30. Lead instructor Addie Miles, a Skate Canada and CanPower certified skating coach with The RINK training centre professionals in Winnipeg led the clinics. Participants were divided up into two groups; pre-novice/novice, and atom/peewee and up. Participants were encouraged to try new things in a fun, pressure-free environment. The clinic was designed to provide participants with an understanding of what it takes to be an elite skater.
For more information on Skate Thompson programming, please refer to our website at www.skate-thompson.com or email us at thompsonskate@gmail.com.
