Happy Holidays:
We hope all CSSA members have a great holiday season. As there were missed practices in December due to the Oval hosting the World Cups, optional practices are available during the holidays.
Canada Winter Games Team – Team Alberta:
Congratulations to the CSSA athletes and coaches nominated to the Canada Games Team. All Long-Track (LT) athletes and alternates are CSSA skaters! (most have now graduated to the Oval program). We will look at doing a team send-off in the new year:
LT Women : Maya Lueders, Zoe Lueders, Isabelle Champagne, Tatiana de Vlieg; Alternates: Camille Alford, Kendra Hawkins
LT Men: Yankun Zhao, Jalen Doan, Daniel Hall, Andre Erasmus; Alternates: Brock Gilbert, Matthew Medlicott
ST Women: Elise Prpich, Lewis Spence, Prahbnoor Grewal and Mikka Eaves
ST Men: Alternates: Erik Angelozzi, Marek Chomin
Alberta Long Track (ABLT) Jan 7 – 8 at the Olympic Oval:
Registration closes Friday December 23 on IceReg: https://icereg.ca/#!/events/alberta-long-track-ablt-january-7-8-2023
This is great opportunity for skaters to participate in their first long-track meet. All practices will be canceled that weekend and skaters are encouraged to sign-up for the race.
We still have a few volunteer positions to fill (each role has allocated credits you can use towards your volunteer hour commitment)!
Volunteer links: volunteersignup.org/DHAHR
Link for Hospitality (food): volunteersignup.org/4YBQJ
Coaching Assignments for Youth Championships:
Congratulations to CSSA coaches Marika Nadal for being named as Head Coach for the Canadian Youth Short Track Championships (CYST) and Ryan Hickman for being named Team Manager of the Canadian Youth Long Track Championships (CYLT).
Oval News:
Mark Messer will be the new Director of the Olympic Oval, effective on January 1, 2023. Mark has been with the Olympic Oval for 35 years, holding a variety of positions including being our Interim Director since June of 2022, Operations Manager, and Facility Specialist. Mark has also led staff and projects at countless facilities across the world including five Olympic Games. Congratulations Mark!
UR Store – CSSA Gear now available:
Looking for jackets, hoodies, T-shirts, headwear, etc.? The new CSSA branded items are now available for purchase on:
https://urstore.ca/calgary-speed-skating-association_527601
Order and pay by credit card and your items will be delivered directly to your home.
Technical T-shirts to be distributed in January:
Based on the T-shirt size you provided at registration, technical T-shirts will be distributed to all skaters registered in CSSA programs (Youth, Adult, Seton).
Speed Skating Alberta (SSA) Performance Badges:
SSA Performance Badges were distributed in December. Please see link for an explanation of the program as well as the short-track and long track time standards: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TBm-MDpl-X1oSuync_IQ3HuZVIBgDB35/view
Oval Schedule Online:
Just a reminder that the Oval schedules are available on-line, should you ever want to confirm a CSSA practice. Short-track schedules are identified by Group (A, B, C, D, E & F) while long-track schedules are simply identified as “C” ice times (Club ice times): https://oval.ucalgary.ca/bookings/bookings
Competition Results:
Congratulations to our CSSA winners:
Canmore Dec. 3, 2022
Neo-Juniors & Masters:
Division 1: Ian Smibert, 1st; Caleb van der Merwe, 2nd; Chloe Cameron, 3rd
Division 2: Ryan Zheng, 1st
Youth 400m
Division 1: Osa Chomiak, 2nd; Jiaqi (Rikki) Lin, 3rd
Division 2: Madden Thomson, 1st; Kate Folmer, 2nd
Division 3: JJ Hill, 2nd
Division 4: Jake Buitelaar, 1st
Division 5: Jun Xu, 1st ; Joel Lough, 3rd
Youth 200m
Division 1: Jiaqi (Rikki) Lin, 2nd
Division 2: Kate Folmer, 1st
Division 3: Jake Buitelaar, 1st
Division 4: Maddex Chomin, 3rd
Division 6: JJ Hill, 1st
Other Distances
1500m: Jiaqi (Rikki) Lin, 2nd; Maxine Volstad, 3rd
500m: Maddex Chomin, 1st; Joshua Chan, 3rd
Edmonton Outdoor Long Track Winter Classic Dec. 17, 2022
Top 10 include:
Division 1: Justin Aasen-Courtemanche, 6th; Maxine Volstad, 8th
Division 2: Angus Hicks, 4th; Kate Folmer 6th; Zimu Wang, 9th
Competition Schedule
Jan. 7-8: Competition CSSA ABLT – Oval (CYLT back-up Qualifier)
Jan. 14-15: Red Deer Outdoor Long Track – Canadian Youth Long Track (CYLT) Qualifier
Jan. 28: Rocky Mountain House Competition – Lime Series #4
Feb. 4-5: Canadian Youth Long Track Championships (CYLT) – Fort St-John, BC
Feb. 25-26: CSSA Competition RU Fast – Oval, Calgary
Mar. 4-5: Edmonton Competition – Lime Series #5 & CYST Qualifier/Season Finale
Mar. 25-26: Canadian Youth Short Track Championships (CYST) – Saskatoon, SK