Registration:
September 10, 2011: 12:00-3:00 PM
Sun Gro Centre, Beausejour, MB
Discount Available: Skaters 8 & under will receive a discount off the regular member rate (about a 25% savings). Age determined as of June 30, 2011. Discounts are also available for families with more than one skater (a 20% savings).
Practice Ice Times:
We will be skating twice a week at Sun Gro Centre in Beausejour.
- Wednesday 6:00 – 7:15 PM starting Oct. 12, 2011
- Saturday 8:45 – 9:45 AM starting Oct. 1, 2011
(click the Calendar tab on left to verify... sometimes our times may vary) Note: Calendar needs to be updated.
Equipment:
You will need the following equipment to speed skate (short track).
- Short track speed skates (club-owned speed skates are available for rent)
- Helmet. For practice, this can be a speed skating helmet, cycling helmet, hockey helmet or ski helmet. For competing at meets, only a speed skating helmet will be allowed.
- Gloves. Leather or Kevlar gloves.
- Neck guard. The type with a bib is required.
- Shin guards and kneepads. You can use soccer shin guards as they provide good protection, and are small and light weight. The hard plastic type provide the best protection. Kneepads can be the soft type that are used for volleyball (best) or the hard type that are used for roller blading and skate boarding.
- Clothing: Comfortable fitting clothing. Tight but stretchable material is best. Speed skating skin suits work great. To start with, running tights work well for the bottom half. Skin should not be showing (only the face). We have a club-designed skin suit available for just over $100.
AGM:
We held our last Annual General Meeting in 2011 Spring.
Upcoming Speed Skating Meets:
There are several speed skating competitions in Manitoba throughout the winter that all members are invited to attend. There are ability and age class meets.
- Ability Meets:
The majority of meets are developmental in nature. This means that kids skate with kids their own speed. Age and gender do not matter at the ability meets. Adults will skate against adults only. The first ability meet is October 16 in Selkirk. There will be a small fee charged per ability meet (about $20/skater).
- Age Class Meets:
Age class meets are utilized at the provincial and national levels.
Ages are determined as of June 30th prior to competition.
Short Track vs. Long Track:
We are a short track club because we will be skating on arena ice on 100-meter and 111.11-meter tracks. However, much of the skills you will acquire on the short track can be used for long track speed skating. An outdoor long track 400-meter oval is located in Winnipeg at Sargent Park, Susan Auch Oval and consists of natural ice that is ready for use in early December. We will have access to skate long track at that time. More details on long track will be provided to members at a later date.
Fundraising:
In 2007, we were fortunate to receive $16,000 grant funding from Speed Skate Canada to start our club. This money was used to purchase speed skates and safety mats. However, to be a successful club we must continue to use fundraising as a source of income.
This year we will participate in a few fundraising activites. We are required to send seven volunteers to work a Bingo at Winnipeg Casinos approximately 2 times per year. We will be selling raffle tickets in conjunction with Fort Whyte Center for awesome vacation packages. There will be a Bud-Spud-Steak dinner in Winnipeg on TBD. Depending on our funding needs, there may be other events planned, and we welcome any fundraising ideas that members have worked with at other times, and look forward to working together to make our fundraising projects successful.
"Come Try Speed Skating":
We will be holding two "Come Try Speed Skating" sessions at Sun Gro Centre. Please join us to try speed skating. There is no fee to try. Just bring a helmet, gloves/mitts, clothing to cover all skin... we supply the skates. If you decide to join after you try, new members will receive a 50% discount on the season skate rental (savings of $42.50). The dates and times will be announced soon:
Session 1: Wednesday, Sept 28, 2011 at 7:15-8:30 pm.
Arrive 20 minutes early.
Session 2: Wednesday, Oct 5, 2011 at 5:30-6:45 pm. Arrive 20 minutes early.
Call Stuart at 755-2922 to pre-register and to verify that we have your skate size. Or just show up... we will have lots of speed skates.
We accept new members at any time during the season (rates can be pro-rated after Nov. 1).
Welcome