By meadowlakeNOW

Carnival caps off another season for M.L. skating club

Mar 26, 2018 | 6:00 PM

More than 60 members of the Meadow Lake skating club celebrated at their year-end carnival Sunday, March 25.

Skaters from three years old up to 13 strapped on their blades and showcased the skills they learned throughout the year. The youngest group goes through the CanSkate cirucuit, and then as the athletes progress they end up in the StarSkate level and qualify to figure skate competitively at various contests province-wide.

Coach Jackie Gilroyed said all the skaters had a great year, learned a lot of new abilities and had a lot of fun. She said the club is a young one, so there will be a lot of room for development in the next few years.

“Everyone’s worked hard this year, all showed great improvement,” she said. “It’s a changing club, they’re a fun group of kids.”

A few StarSkaters recently participated in the Jean Norman competition in Swift Current in early March, where Gilroyed said a number of skaters from all over the province were graded on various skills.

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“We’re at a level competing with big city clubs,” Gilroyed said.

Two members of the local club made the junior development team for the province. Claire Knelson, 11, and Jorja Hamilton, 10, will be participating in seminars over Easter and in the summer months. Both said they’re looking forward to learning new moves and both love the activity.

“I like skating because of the jumps, working and learning how to do all these cool things,” Hamilton said. “With solos, we get to let out our creativity.”

“I love the jumps and spins and solos,” Knelson said. “I like to work hard. When I went to summer school I landed my axel, which is one of the harder jumps. I also landed a double sal-cow and a double loop. We also teach CanSkaters, which I like doing.”

Knelson also participated in the Saskatchewan Winter Games, and recently learned she won a provincial Rising Star Award. Gilroyed said she and fellow coach Janelle Roenspies nominated Knelson for her improvement over the year and for giving back to the sport.

The new season starts in the fall.

kathy.gallant@jpbg.ca  

On Twitter @ReporterKath