They would’ve skated to the competition.
On January 22, through the fog and slick roads, skaters from nine clubs travelled to Teulon for the 2017 Interlake Regional STARSkate Championships to vie for medals and ribbons.
The competition went “All and all pretty smooth,” according to club president, Audra Nesbitt-Hume. “Nobody cancelled due to weather surprisingly,” said Nesbitt-Hume, as she sat near on a bench across the changing rooms – appearing calm and relaxed. “They (the skaters) look happy. Seem to be having fun.”
Approximately 81 skaters competed in free skate, elements and spins. A CanSkate element was also part of the competition.
The Interlake Regionals are an qualifying competition for the 2017 Skate Canada Manitoba STARSkate Championships in Virden, Manitoba at the Tundra Oil and Gas Place on March 4th. The Interlake is one of six regions competing around Manitoba for the provincial event.
Nesbitt-Hume said she’s “enjoying the day … we learned so much about hosting a competition. I would do it again in a few years.”
The Teulon Skating Club is relatively small with only 21 skaters. Despite this, they accommodated clubs from Arborg, Ashern, East St. Paul, St. Andrews, Selkirk, Skate Interlake (Gimli), Stonewall, Stony Mountain, and of course, Teulon, plus coaches, officials, and a crowd of over 150
Nesbitt-Hume said organizing the event took “Countless hours … I couldn’t even give you a number.”
Those hours weren’t without glitches, such as a size issue with the judges’ stand. Luckily, Nesbitt-Hume’s husband is a carpenter. By competition day, all was repaired.
Volunteers from Stonewall and Skate Interlake (Gimli) stepped forward to assist with the event as ice captions and runners. Plus they donated their podium and flowers for the medal and ribbon presentations.
The Skate Manitoba officials have been amazing,” Nesbitt-Hume, leaning her head against the brick wall. “Music, technical reps, judges, the volunteers. Everyone.”
Regionals were also held in the Central and Parkland Regionals, and Winnipeg and Eastman regions teamed up for their competition. The Norman Regionals are from February 3rd through 5th, 2017 in Thompson, Manitoba while South and North Westman Regionals are from February 3rd to 4th, 2017 in Deloraine.
(By Tammy Karatchuk; Originally published by Interlake Publishing, a division of Postmedia)
Skating Scene 