3. SSC Rewards Deserving Athletes & Volunteers
This year’s most deserving athletes and volunteers were recognized by Speed Skating Canada at the Annual General Meeting Banquet in Richmond, British Columbia on June 20th. The banquet is held yearly to celebrate the successes of the past season and thank those who made a difference To the Relentless Pursuit of Excellence, from coast to coast to coast. The Alberta award recipients have been highlighted.
National Team members Charles Hamelin (Ste-Julie, QC), Jessica Gregg (Edmonton, AB), Denny Morrison (Fort St. John, BC) and Kristina Groves (Ottawa, ON) were all named Skaters of the Year, respectively for Short Track and Long Track, Male and Female. Hamelin is the current 500m World Champion in the 500m, he was nominated to the short track Olympic team because of his third place overall at the World Championships, and he won 8 individual medals on the World Cup Circuit this past season. He also established a new World Record in the 1000m and captured, with his teammates, the World Cup title in the Relay. Gregg had her best ever season on the international scene, winning her first individual World Cup gold medal in February. She also won her first World Championships medal, a bronze in the 500m, and took the 6th place overall at the event.
In long track speed skating, Denny Morrison and Kristina Groves both had amazing seasons once again. Even with a slower start due to equipment changes, Morrison capped off his season with one silver and one bronze medal at the World Single Distance Championships on the Olympic ice in Richmond. He also took the 5th place at the World Allround Championships and was 2nd in the 1000m World Cup rankings. Groves captured no less than 11 medals on the 08-09 World Cup circuit. She took the Overall World Cup Title in the 1500m, finished 2nd in the 1000m and 3rd in the 3000m. She also was a silver medallist at the World Allround Championships and captured two individual bronze medals at the World Single Distance Championships as well as the gold medal with her pursuit team.
Two rising stars were also recognized at the event. Marianne St-Gelais (St-Félicien, QC) is coming off her first year on the National Short Track Team. She was crowned World Junior Champion in the 500m, establishing a new World Record in the distance and taking 4th place overall at the World Junior Championships. She also won her first individual World Cup medal at the Pacific Coliseum last Fall, a silver in the 500m.
Richard MacLennan (Sault Ste. Marie, ON) is a very promising athlete on the Long Track side. He won a silver medal in the 500m at the World Junior Championships, where he also finished 6th in the 1000m. He is the Canadian Junior Champion and won a handful of medals at various Canada Cup events and at the North American Championships.
The dedicated work of many volunteers was also recognized at this 122nd SSC AGM Banquet. Other people recognized were:
Female Coach of the Year – Xiuli Wang, Calgary: Under her leadership, Kristina Groves had another amazing season. Shannon Rempel and Clara Hughes, all coached by Xiuli, also had good results this year, and Wang helped coach the women’s pursuit team who was crowned World Champion. A seven-year National Team Coach, she brings discipline and commitment to the athletes and empowers them to believe in themselves.
Male Coach of the Year – Sébastien Cros, Montréal: Sébastien was coaching the women’s short track development team through the season, including Rising Star Marianne St-Gelais. He also coached Valérie Maltais to a third place finish at the Canadian Championships, allowing the young skater to qualify for the World Championships. Many of Cros’ athletes, despite being on the development team, qualified for World Cups and other international events.
Coaching Excellence Awards: recipients of the award this year were Keith Gordon and Karen MacLaren of British Columbia and Stan Barnett of New Brunswick.
Outstanding Administrator Award – Pascal Archambault, Québec: He was the President of the Comité Organisateur d’Événements Montréal since he helped found the committee in 2002. He has been in charge of organizing numerous provincial, national and international short track speed skating events in Montreal over the years.
René Marleau Official of the Year Award – Terri Dixon, Nova Scotia: She has been an exceptional resource for clubs in New Brunswick, PEI and Nova Scotia for many years, helping to train volunteer officials and make the transition to the new meet manager software. This past season, she officiated at every single speed skating competition organized in Atlantic Canada.
Officials Excellence Awards – new this year, two officials were recognized for their work with the development of officials. Darlene Chapman of BC and Ghislaine Roy of Québec are the first recipients of this award.
The Gagné Family Award went to the Terstappen family of Alberta. It is awarded to a family that has made an outstanding contribution to the development of the sport of speed skating. The Terstappen – Hans, Ellen, Paul, Vince and Mark, have all been involved in the sport in various capacity for numerous years, and their tremendous contribution to our sport is to be commended.
The province of Québec earned the Pat Underhill Shield as the top short track province at the various national events, while Saskatchewan was awarded the Doreen Ryan Shield, as the top long track province at the various national events.
The recipients of the Peter Williamson Bursary, a bursary for promising skaters who best combine athletic and scholastic achievements, were short trackers Guillaume Bastille (Rivière-du-Loup, QC), Alex Boisvert-Lacroix (Sherbrooke, QC) and Valérie Lambert (Sherbrooke, QC), as well as long track skater Vincent Labrie (St-Romuald, QC).
Phyllis Loewen was also recognized for her long standing service with the Albert Speed Skating Association.
4. Sponsorship Summit 2009
A sport marketing conference hosted by WinSport Canada, in partnership with the Alberta Government, will be held from September 23 – 25, 2009 at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary.
This is a one-of-a-kind conference that will guide you through the complete process of sponsorships: The importance of a strong brand; Building a sustainable business beyond 2010; Increase your Return on Investment; Improve media and PR; Negotiating win-win contracts; Attracting the long term sponsors; and How do you measure results of sponsorships?
This is an exceptional opportunity for the Canadian sport industry to learn from the best of the best. Industry leaders from around the globe will lead discussions throughout the conference and will impart points of view on a wide range of topics from event branding to contractual strategies. Furthermore, there will be ample opportunities for you to market your property and to network with corporate decision makers. Speakers include: Anthony Bennett, Principal, Red Sky Insights; Chuck Wielgus, Executive Director, USA Swimming; Rick Arnstein, President/GM, GMR New York; Zak Brown, CEO, Just Marketing and Nicholas Drake, Head of Global Sponsorships, Adidas.
Ideas will be everywhere. With the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games just months away, you’ll take home a bag full of strategies, contract templates, other useful tools and opportunities that will help make your event, property or brand thrive in an ever-changing landscape. This will be vital in the lead up to the Olympic season and beyond.
For more information please visit http://www.winsportcanada.ca/events/sponsorshipsummit.cfm
5. Olympic Oval Update
From Sean Ireland…
Dear Provincial Speed Skating Organizations,
I am writing to you in follow-up to our recent conference calls regarding the future of the Olympic Oval Speed Skating programs. With the current financial crisis facing the Olympic Oval and the financial liability historically created by the Olympic Oval Speed Skating programs, there were decisions made to move programs into a separate financial entity from the University of Calgary.
However, in recent weeks, we have created a financial model of how speed skating programs could remain as part of the Olympic Oval/University of Calgary with minimal financial impact on the facility and University of Calgary. As a result, a recent decision has been taken by the University of Calgary to retain the Olympic Oval Speed Skating programs in a newly revised structure and financial model. The Olympic Oval Speed Skating Programs will continue to function as part of the Olympic Oval/University of Calgary in a more financially independent, accountable and transparent model. This new model will allow the Olympic Oval Speed Skating program to retain much of its current structure and ensure program continuity, while maintaining an affiliation with the University of Calgary. Under this new re-structured plan, all National Team coaching positions will likely be employed directly by Speed Skating Canada after March 2010.
The recent financial restructuring at the Oval has resulted in two financially independent units; operations and programs. The operations department will continue to operate with CODA and University of Calgary funding as well as general facility revenue, rentals and facility sponsorship. The programs department will operate as a financially independent unit supported by revenues from coaching, camps, competitions, fundraising, sponsorship, as well as a fixed financial contribution provided for in the legacy agreements. The programs area had historically been operated under large deficit budgets and supported by operations revenue and CODA/University funding. This unrestricted subsidization had become a large area of contention with CODA and the University in recent years. The new financially transparent, responsible and clearly defined financial framework for the programs area has addressed these concerns. Additionally, the decreased overhead due to staff reductions in programs (Hockey, Cycling and Admin) has reduced the University’s financial liability and overhead. Under this new model, the programs department will now include camps and competitions area which had previously been under the operations department at the Oval.
6. Podium Alberta Program
The Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation and Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation are pleased to once again offer funding to Alberta's High Performance Athletes through the Podium Alberta Program.
Athletes carded through Sport Canada's Athlete Assistance Program (AAP) at any point between July 1, 2008 and June 30, 2009 and meeting all other eligibility requirements may receive up to an additional one / third of their AAP funding. The deadline for applications is October 1st, 2009 and applications can be found at http://www.tpr.alberta.ca/asrpwf/programs/funding/podium_alberta/application/index.asp.
7. Lightening Safety
Be sure your club has a lightning safety policy and that everyone knows the 30-30 rule.
• When you can count 30 seconds or less between lightning and thunder, head for safe shelter
• Remain sheltered for 30 minutes after the last clap of thunder.
To help you recall this important rule of thumb, Environment Canada and SIRC are providing wallet-sized business cards with the 30-30 rule on them along with some lightning safety tips. Visit the SIRC Weather Resource Page to print out and distribute these wallet sized lightning safety cards or order them from SIRC at 1-800-665-6413 (US/CAN).
8. Speed Skating Canada Updates
It is with regret that Speed Skating Canada recently accepted Jennifer Conway’s resignation as Administrative and Membership Service Assistant. Jennifer’s last day in the National Office was Friday, June 5th, 2009. She has accepted a permanent position with the Government of Canada and will be starting there immediately. Please join the National Office staff in wishing Jennifer best of luck in her new position and to thank her for the time she has spent with us at Speed Skating Canada.
SSC hired Martin Fauteux, a recent graduate from the Human Kinetics program at the University of Ottawa, to fill the Administrative and Membership Service Assistant position for the time being. The position will be officially posted likely in early August. Any communication sent to ssc@speedskating.ca will be received and answered by Martin, and he will be your main contact at SSC for the next months.
Speed Skating has lost a long-time member and friend in the passing this week of Maureen Kraus. Maureen and her husband Gene were the heart and soul of the Matsqui Blades club for many years during which time all 6 of their children competed at a high level. Their daughter Alanna went on to make the National Short Track Team representing Canada at the past two Olympics (Salt Lake and Torino). She could not, however, watch her gifted kids choosing instead to pace the hallways while they competed. Maureen was completely devoted to the sport of speed skating for more than 2 decades.
She will be greatly missed.
