It’s Thursday afternoon at the Clearwater skating rink and the Raft Mountain Figure Skating Club is training. Morgan Dobi and Hana Sauvé are eager to get going. Under the experienced and patient direction of Coach Raymond Naismith, they start their practice. Morgan and Hana start slow, to warm up their muscles, but soon are swirling around on the ice, perfecting their skating skills. Morgan is trying to memorize her new figure skating sequence and Hana is working out some moves she wants to use in her performance.
So far, highlight of the 2011-2012 figure skating season has been the Lake Country Invitational Competition on Dec. 4, where Robyn Kreke, Emily Newel and Hailey Griffin competed in the Pre-Preliminary Ladies Free Skate. Much to everyone’s surprise and delight, Robyn competed in Group 6 and won first place. Emily Newel and Hailey Griffin competed in Group 5 and came in third and a very respectable fourth place. Given the fact that the club has limited ice time and a relatively short figure skating season, these girls did extremely well. They stood up to some serious competition and their performances exceeded everyone’s expectations. Their achievements are something to be very proud of. Coach Raymond certainly is!
The next great event, the Okanagan Regional Competitions will be held in Armstrong March 2 - 4. Robyn Kreke and Hailey Griffin will be competing in this competition and they hope to repeat their recent successes.
Also, everyone at the club is practicing for their great performance at the Ice Show on Friday, March 9. This year’s theme will be Dr. Seuss. Looking at what Morgan and Hana were showing during the training, it will be worthwhile to go to this event and see what the figure skaters in Clearwater can do. I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised.
– Margot Venema