Christmas Ice Update – Dec 13

Given the overwhelming popularity of Christmas ice, we were able to book a few more hours of ice at Jimmie Condon and add in the Wednesday as well. We would have liked to book more, but it’s full!!

Given these changes, Scott and Diana have had to review each of the sessions to ensure skaters have adequate skill level and we can maintain a safe ice surface.

The sessions have now been renamed to ‘Sectional Skaters’ and ‘Junior to Intermediate’ which will be less confusing for all.

Please review the Christmas ice 2015 Schedule – note the time changes as well as the dates. We did our best to ensure a level of fairness to everyone. As you can see some sessions are not full – this does not mean that a junior skater can pick up on a “Sectional Skater’ session nor can a Sectional Skater pick up on a ‘Junior to Intermediate’ session. This means that other skaters that have not had the chance to reserve ice yet, have the opportunity to do so now.

If by chance you are at the rink on your session and the next session is not full, there may be an opportunity to pick up that session. That would be at the discretion of Scott and the skater would be asked to skate appropriately for the level – in other words if we have 16 skaters on a Jr/Int session and a Novice skater wants to pick up, they would be asked to not do their jumps nor skate aggressively but they could practice their step sequence. It is important we keep all of our skaters safe especially the little ones who have not developed the maturity or awareness to stay out of the way yet.

If your session no longer works for you, please advise Natalie by email. She will keep the sheets at Jimmie Condon updated. If you want to skate on the Wednesday or one of the new sessions and there is room for your skater on the right session, please email Natalie.

Thanks

Diana and Scott

Challenge Wrap Up

The 2015/2016 Skate Canada Challenge was an eventful weekend for everyone! The event wrapped up on December 6 and was a smashing success for Calalta!

Competition Background

For those new to the figure skating world here’s a bit of background:

The International Skating Union is the governing body for figure skating world wide.

Each country has their own organization and Skate Canada is our national governing organization.

Each province is represented by a Section – or make up a part one. BC is paired with the Yukon; Alberta has North West Territories and Nunavut; and Ontario has 4 sections (it’s a big province after all).

Each of these sections has their own Championships (also known as Sectionals).

The top 4 skaters in each event from each section, from Pre-Novice and up through to Senior (male and female, singles, pairs and dance) advance through to Challenge (the semi-finals).

Quebec is the only province that gets to send their top 8.

Challenge was held in Edmonton last weekend and over 500 skaters from across Canada attended!

The top 18 skaters for Singles, top 12 Pairs, and top 15 Dance Teams, from Novice through to Senior, then advance to the Canadian National Championships which are being held in Halifax in January 2016.

Skaters who perform well at Nationals may get selected to represent Canada in various events including the Junior Grand Prix Series, Grand Prix Series and if it is an Olympic year, might get the chance to represent Canada in the Olympics.

The Pre-Novice Level skaters do not advance to Canadians – which is why we can say that Shay-Lyn Jackson and Josh Venema are the new Bronze Medal Canadian Champions in Pre-Novice Pairs! A big congratulations to Shay and Josh!

How did our club do?

Calalta was very well represented – we started by sending 86 skaters to Sectionals that were held in early November.

Of these, 28 qualified to go to Challenge (they were in the top 4 in their respective events) and of these 28, 14 skaters made it through and will represent Alberta at the National Championships in Halifax in January!

Congratulations to the following skaters who will be heading to the Canadian National Championships!!

Junior Women
Nicole Joe

Novice Men – Alternate
Yujin Armstrong

Junior Men
Kurtis Schreiber

Senior Men
Dustin Sherriff Clayton

Novice Pairs
Kurtis Schreiber & Katrina Lopez

Junior Pairs
Davin Portz & Keelee Gingrich
Bryce Chudak & Bryn Hoffman

Novice Dance
Janine Rho & Vali Baimoukhametov
Natasha Collier & Malcolm Kowan
Jessica Behiel & Jackson Behiel

Novice Dance – Alternate
Jolie Che and Kyle Pearson

December and Christmas Ice Reminders

Updates for December ice at JCA and COP:

Sunday Stroking dates for December

December 6, 13, 20

JCA: Last day of regular skating is Sunday December 20, skating resumes January 3 (no stroking or off ice)

COP: Last day of regular Skating is Friday December 18, skating resumes Monday January 4.

Sign up at JCA (beside the music room) for Christmas ice:

This is what is confirmed for Christmas ice:

Monday December 21,28
11:15-12:15 Dance
12:30-1:30 Juv to Senior
1:30-2:30 Open

Tuesday December 22,29
11:15-12:15 Dance
12:30-1:30 Juv to Senior
1:30-2:30 Open

Springbank Fall Freeze!

Calalta skaters had a wonderful presence at the Springbank Fall Freeze Competition hosted by Springbank Figure Skating Club.

See the detailed results published on the Skate Canada AB/NWT/NUN site.

Thank you to our roving club photographers and parents, for capturing these photos on behalf of the club.

There were some medal finishes and personal bests – from Star Level skaters to Pre Novice. Congratulations everyone – skaters and coaches! And keep competing!

Here is a montage of photos from the weekend! For more photos, please visit our facebook site!

 

 

Congratulations – Calalta Skaters going to Challenge!

A huge congratulations to all Calalta skaters who will be competing at the Skate Canada Challenge event in Edmonton, AB (December 2-6, 2015).

Good luck everyone! We are cheering you on!

skaterssect

Pre-Novice Women Michelle Wong Calalta FSC
Pre-Novice Men Jackson Behiel Calalta FSC
Pre-Novice Pair Shaylyn Jackson/Josh Venema Calalta FSC/Calalta FSC
Pre-Novice Dance Pearl Kang/Cael Elford Calalta FSC/Calalta FSC
Isabel McQuilkin/
Jacob Portz
Calalta FSC/Calalta FSC
Mia Saunders/
William Oddson
Calalta FSC/Huntington Hills SC
Novice Men Yu Jin Armstrong Calalta FSC
Novice Pair Katrina Lopez/
Kurtis Schreiber
Calalta FSC/Calalta FSC
Novice Dance Natascha Collier/
Malcolm Kowan
Calalta FSC/Calalta FSC
Janine Rho/
Vali Baimoukhametov
Calalta FSC/Calalta FSC
Jolie Che/Kyle Pearson Huntington Hills SC/
Calalta FSC
Jessica-Lee Behiel/
Jackson Behiel
Calalta FSC/Calalta FSC
Junior Women Bryn Hoffman Calalta FSC
Nicole Joe Calalta FSC
Junior Men Kurtis Schreiber Calalta FSC
Josh Venema Calalta FSC
Junior Pair Bryn Hoffman/
Bryce Chudak
Calalta FSC/Calalta FSC
Keelee Gingrich/
Davin Portz
Calalta FSC/Calalta FSC
Senior Men Dustin Sheriff-Clayton Calalta FSC

 

 

Calalta supports Toy Angels!

We are encouraging all our members to support Calalta’s initiative for the Salvation Army and Kiss 95FM’s TOY ANGELS campaign.

Toy_Angels_Donate_2015

All you have to do is bring an unwrapped, new toy and drop it off at JCA or COP. See details as to how and who to look for below!

COP skaters and families — Our Board Members will be collecting your toys from COP if you do not have the opportunity to drop by JCA. Please contact these board members or approach them directly and they will be happy to receive your gifts on behalf of the campaign.

Mon, Tues, Thurs afternoons — Terra Lee Behiel

Wednesday afternoon – Diana Peters

Friday afternoon – Gayle Stobie

all morning ice – Terra Lee Behiel

 

JCA skaters — you can do a drop off at the office directly. Look for the Toy Angels box in the upstairs office!

 

Donations will be collected until Saturday December 19.

 

If you would like to volunteer to help with this toy drive, please let us know!

Thank you for your generosity!!

 

Calalta Board of Directors

Upcoming Seminars (October – April)

And she’s back! Clare Fewster, (M. Counselling, CCC, Sport Performance Consultant
) will be joining Calalta again this year to instruct our senior and elite skaters in the fine art of mental toughness!

Sessions are held every two months on the following dates from 10:05 to 11:05 am at Jimmie Condon arena (Rose Kohn meeting room to be more specific) and are part of the Senior/Elite sessions.

October 18 – Mental Training 101
Clare will teach the basics of mental fitness and the impact of mental fitness on performance. Throughout this session, athletes will develop an awareness of their own mental fitness attributes and evaluate what their strengths and areas they may need to work on. They will begin to understand the interaction between the mind and the body and how their thoughts, feelings, and physiological responses impact their performance.

December 6 – Motivation and Goal Setting
Through this session, athletes will look at what drives them to train, to be challenged, and to compete. Through the experience of a simple goal setting exercise athletes will develop their goal setting skills and strategies that can enhance their motivation.

February 7 – Self-Talk and Imagery
By developing an awareness of what athletes are saying to themselves through training and competition, they can start to make positive changes to their self-talk. Through the understanding and development of imagery skills, athletes can improve their training and competition by utilizing visualization on a daily basis.

April 17 – Performance Anxiety, Relaxation and Activation
Athletes will develop an understanding of how their body responds to performance stress. Various relaxation and activation strategies will be discussed and demonstrated that can be incorporated directly into training and competition enhance performance.

Please note that these sessions are geared toward the senior and elite skaters that have registered in the Sunday Off Ice class at Jimmie Condon. Once per month, we have a seminar rather than an off ice class such as ballet, physical literacy or gymnastics.

If you have any questions, please call the office at 403-245-2425.

The Parent’s Role on the Team

By Scott Davis
Director of Skating

 

The role of the parent is probably one of the most important on the team, which is made up of the skater, coach and you the parent. You provide the means (money to pay for the sport, transportation, nutrition etc) amongst many other things! But the most important role a parent can play is to be the cheerleader or support system of the team.

Your role becomes that much more important during a competition.

Remember you have hired your coaches to do the best job for your skater and you need to trust them as they are the experts.

When arriving at a competition, please have your skater register, hand in their music, find out where the dressing room is and review the starting orders (usually posted or ask a ice captain). Have them head to the dressing room, get their warm up gear on and then find their coach. One hour before the competition or practice, as coaches we are at work to get your skater focused on the task at hand. This means they should be fed (please don’t give them food an hour before they skate – we want the blood going to their legs and not trying to digest food in the stomach), hair and make up should be done and they should be ready to warm up. You should have already provided verbal support and told them how great they are. Please don’t talk too much about skating, or ask about specific things regarding jumps or spins, or comparing them to other skaters or even what they have been doing in practice or previous competitions. Keep it light, supportive and encouraging.

If we think they need something that you can offer, we will come find you or text you.

I can only think of how my parents treated me and what they did to support me. It was my sport, they knew how much I loved it, and gave me the opportunity to do so. We hardly ever talked about skating, ever.  My mom still doesn’t know what the difference in jumps is.

After the competition, be there for support. Don’t forget you pay us as coaches to critique your skater’s performance and ask why things did or didn’t happen and to plan for the next competition. Please don’t ask them ‘Where the double axel went?’  or ‘Why can’t you make it through your long program?’  or ‘Why did you get a level 3 instead of 4?’. Skaters are their own worst critics on what they did or did not do out on the ice, and then they have us the coaches who will provide plenty of feedback. They need you now to support them whether that is a big hug, words of encouragement or a shoulder to cry on.

Don’t forget we are all on the same team!!

Happy Skating!