Before some tots can reliably run, parents strap skates on their feet and put them out on Stettler’s rink in the pre-CanSkate program to learn the quintessential Canadian activity of ice skating.
This year, the Stettler Figure Skating Club (SFSC) has 30 kids registered in the pre-CanSkate program, which is being taught by coach Lisa Johnson.
“We have a really great coach for our pre-CanSkate program,” said President Amanda Lucki. The kids in the class are just learning how to stand up on the ice and take those first tentative steps, she explained, and Johnson uses soft mats on the ice so kids can step onto the ice when they feel ready. Until then, the soft mat pads any tumbles.
The club’s skating programs started on the first day of the 2016-17 school year, Aug. 29, with the six-week-long fall programs of pre-CanSkate, and two levels of power skating. The figure skating program, StarSkate, also starts at this time and runs until March.
Johnson, who will also coach the CanSkate and JumpStart programs, which start in mid-October, is joined by coaches Annette Lee, who teaches powerskating and StarSkate, Danielle Mohn, who teaches StarSkate and the adult skating program (which also starts in mid-October), and Christy Rivett, who assists in various classes and also runs the affiliate CanSkate program at the Big Valley arena.
The skating programs culminate with a carnival at the end of the season in March, where skaters show off their newly acquired and honed figure skating skills.