On Friday March 17 at 6 p.m. the Eckville Figure Skating Club will be hosting a showcase to highlight the work done by the club’s students.
Lead Instructor Nikki Bystrom explained why the club will be hosting a showcase, rather then a carnival.
“In previous years, the carnival has been a bigger deal - this year it’s much more scaled back,” she said. “We’re calling it a showcase and it’s an opportunity for the kids to have a chance to be on the ice, doing something special in a costume and showing what they have learned this year.”
The club will showcase the hours of work that students have put in this season.
“It’s a culmination of what they’ve done all year,” Bystrom said. “I have such a great group of Canskaters and they all work really hard. Our Learn to Skates are all up and moving and they’re enjoying being on the ice. Our older girls and boys have learned lots of new difficult skills and are very confident out on the ice.”
Continuing the tradition of the Eckville Figure Skating club is important, as the club is one of the oldest in Alberta.
“Eckville is very special that way,” Bystom said. “There have been generations of families that have gone through the program and are still involved. They still come back and help out.”
The club is continually facing a shortage of Skate Canada - an issue that clubs all over the province are facing.
“It is very hard to get coaches for small clubs with a shortage of Skate Canada coaches,” Bystom said, adding this was one of the main reasons why she agreed to coach this last winter session.
The showcase is very important to Bystom’s students.
“It’s so special to all of them,” she said. “They all look so fantastic and our theme this year is all food related, so all the songs are food related and my older girls are skating solo routines as part of their assessment requirements.”
“They are skating solo music for those ones,” she added”
The showcase is the most important day of the year for the club and Bystom encouraged the community to come out and support these young skaters.
“It is a chance for the kids to show off to to families and friends and have their special moment int he spotlight,” she said.
reporter@eckvilleecho.com