September update from the Board
· Upcoming Key dates
Sunday October 1st at 7pm: Zoom meeting on navigating your 1st competition: More info to come.
October 5th – 8th: Canadian Long Track Championships at Oval
Sunday October 8th: Practices as per regular schedule
Monday October 9th: Thanksgiving – No CSSA practices
Sunday October 15th: Practices will be moved to long track due to competition
· SkinSuits: Skinsuits are expected to arrive by the end of October. We will let everyone know as soon as they do.
· Band Communication Tool: Please make sure you have signed for your groups (A – F only) Band Communication tool so that you may connect with other parents, get reminders of important announcements & other. If you did not receive your invitation, please contact Chrissy at vc.marketing@calgaryspeedskating.ca.
· New CSSA advertising banner at Oval: The Oval has put up a new CSSA banner on the long-track cushions. It invites skaters to try speed skating with a QR code linking to our website.
· Air Canada discount codes for competitions: Air Canada is offering discounted flights for National competitions, such as the Canadian Youth Short Track (CYST) and Long Track (CYLT) and others. See the list from the Speed Skating Canada website: https://speedskating.ca/air-canada-offering-discounted-flights-to-national-and-international-speed-skating-competitions-during-2023-24-season/?fbclid=IwAR3NKIfkVrbvYxHbrywczuRl2NVt82Kii25c_0zVIRkTABi62FQkf-I_ns0
· Hotels for out-of-town competitions: Our VC Marketing, Chrissy is putting together team hotels for all the out-of-town competitions. We’ve tried to keep hotel costs reasonable and with a pool, waterslide and breakfast, if possible. Note that to benefit from special CSSA rates, there will be deadlines by which to book hotels. The information will be shared on Band in the next few weeks.
· Personal Bests for CSSA – looking for a statistician – volunteer opportunity: Unfortunately, the personal best database that Speed Skating Alberta had been maintaining has not been functional in almost a year. At the end of last year, volunteers and coaches put together a spreadsheet with personal bests from every CSSA skater that raced or that had times from coaches. For 2023-24, we are again looking for a volunteer to maintain and update the personal bests of CSSA skaters. If you are interested, please contact president@calgaryspeedskating.ca and we will get you trained.
· Next Casino Tuesday Dec. 26 & Wednesday Dec. 27: Our next casino is coming up! If you are available, please sign-up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/ACA59207. For those signing up as GM’s, bankers, cashiers, and count room supervisors, Casino Volunteer Applications (5400) attached, which must be filled out and e-mailed to president@calgaryspeedskating.ca.
· Updated Competition Calendar: A Western Elite Competition has been added in late January in Richmond, BC. Please see attached. We are also looking to add some fun mini-meets at the Oval. More details to come.
· National Team Members that are CSSA members: Follow your fellow CSSA members as they begin racing internationally at World Cups and other events: Anna Bourgeois, Heather Carruthers (nee McLean), Jalen Doan, Daniel Hall, Laura Hall, Anders Johnson, Tyson Langelaar, Brooklyn McDougall, Frank Roth, Yankun Zhao
· UR Store – CSSA Gear now available: Looking for jackets, hoodies, t-shirts, headwear, jackets, etc.? The new CSSA branded items are now available for purchase for kids, women and men 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.