The Smithers Figure Skating Club is looking forward to an exciting season with a new program and hosting their first competition in almost a decade.
The season kicked off last Monday and recreation programs start in October.
One of the biggest changes is that they’ve added a new 10-week PowerSkate program.
“It’s just geared mainly toward hockey, which is something new for us in the community, so we’re pretty excited about it,” said Tyler Dykens, head coach with the club.
There are two levels in the program: level one for hockey players of all ages currently in the minor hockey season that focuses on forward and backward strides, an introduction to crossovers in both directions and pivots.
The second level is open to pee wee, bantam and midget house players and will cover more advanced movements, such as first three-step quickness and lateral movements, and an emphasis on stride length and proper form.
In addition, the club will also continue to offer the StarSkate programs for figure skaters, which began on Sept. 15, and the CanSkate program for juniors, which will begin on Oct. 20.
Though registration has been slow so far, Dykens said with kids going back to school, it should increase their numbers.
“It always seems to be a little bit of a slow go, especially since kids [weren’t] in school yet people are a little bit out of routine and with no snow yet, people aren’t really thinking skating or hockey at this point,” she said.
Local skaters can also look forward to a fun regional competition, the first the figure skating club has hosted in almost 10 years.
The Northwest Jamboree is from Nov. 15-16 at the Smithers Civic Centre.
“It’s probably been close to 10 years since we hosted a competition, so we’re pretty excited about that and the second sheet of ice coming into play. We encourage people to come out and cheer on the skaters,”said Dykens, adding that the town will welcome skaters from as far away as Prince Rupert and Vanderhoof in the competition.
“I enjoy seeing kids stay active and encourage them to keep active and progress as people,” she said, adding that they will also host the annual carnival in March.
“We’ve got a lot of new faces in the pre-junior program this year which is geared toward figure skating,” she said, noting that they have anywhere from 65 to 130 people who join the club annually.
The PowerSkate program will begin on Oct. 14.
For more information or to register, visit www.smithersfigure
skatingclub.com or email smithersfsc@gmail.com