By Lisa Skubovius
Three Fernie Skating Club athletes have struck gold by completing the highest levels in the Skate Canada testing system.
Emma Nieuwesteeg passed both the Gold Freeskate and Gold Dance tests, while Kaitlyn Poirier completed the Gold Dance test, and Abby-Anne Hughes completed the Gold Skills test. These achievements are the pinnacle of many years of training and testing within the Skate Canada system, which requires athletes to complete a progressive series of tests that are assessed by trained evaluators.
Nieuwesteeg was also recently selected for the Skate Canada BC-Yukon Prospect team.
“It’s a chance for Skate Canada to monitor upcoming competitive figure skaters and help them achieve their goals,” the 12-year-old explained. “For example, I’m expected to go to skating camps like the ones in Whistler and Kelowna, and also go to a competition in Burnaby.”
This upcoming weekend she and several other Elk Valley figure skaters are headed to Rossland for the West Kootenay Invitational competition. As well, many more skaters are preparing for the Kootenay Regional Championships at the end of this month to be held in Fruitvale.
Over the same weekend, Skate Revolution, a synchronized skating team from Elkford, will be competing at the Mountain Region Synchronized Skating Championships in Lethbridge. This competition will bring together teams from Alberta, B.C., Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and the Yukon.