Athletes have need for speed
Speedskating club's open house attracts participants
Shawn Giilck
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, October 23, 2014
INUVIK
The ice at the Midnight Sun Recreation Centre was the place to be Oct. 19 if you had a need for speed.
Emma Gagnon concentrates as she takes part in an open house for the Inuvik Speed Skating Club on Oct. 19 at the Midnight Sun Recreation Complex. - Shawn Giilck/NNSL photo
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Problems with the ice-making equipment at the arena were solved with a bit of time to spare for the Inuvik Speed Skating Club to hold an open house for anyone interested in the sport.
From noon until late afternoon, interested skaters were invited to come by, gear up and hit the ice to try out the sport and receive a few tips from members and coaches such as Paul MacDonald.
After the open house MacDonald estimated the club might have picked up a welcome number of members from the event, which he was quite satisfied with. No one turned out for the adult skate to end the afternoon, but MacDonald said that enabled the club to spend some time with the youth who did come out.
"I won't know how many are joining yet, but I estimate we picked up five for the first group and four for the second group. It was zero for the adult skate but it was worth a try. (There was) lots of interest but no one came out for the adult skate."
The club currently has about 18 members between its competitive division, which has been quite successful, and its learn-to-skate division. All of those are youth skaters.
The learn-to-skate segment is open to skaters from age five to 11, MacDonald said.
That's a more-than-adequate number to make for a viable club, he said, but there is always room for expansion.
"I'm hoping to double those numbers by the end of the day."
He was particularly hopeful that the new adult program would fare better.
"We've just introduced an adult program to the club, which is just one hour a week. We're going to see how it goes. It's the first of its kind here in Inuvik. We're hoping to get some people, learn the sport and get some exercise.
"We're willing to work with whatever skills they have or lack thereof, and it doesn't take long to learn to stay up on the skates, and go from there.
"Today is an open house that's all about allowing the general public to try speed skating," MacDonald said, "and hopefully recruit some new kids and adults."
Emma Gagnon was one of the new skaters hitting the ice. Her family has recently moved to Inuvik from Hay River, where she had occasionally tried speedskating over the last two years.
"I like it because it's a fast sport and I like to go fast on skates," she said. "That's pretty much it.
It's fun and we do games," she added. "I haven't done real competitions, but I have been to Yellowknife sometimes."
Yannick Gagnon, Emma's father, said he was keen on the idea of the open house by the club.
"We wanted to keep her doing it here," he said. "It seems like the coach is pretty good at working with them."
