DIDSBURY - Skaters from the Didsbury Figure Skating Club have been doing very well lately at events around Central Alberta.
Christie Jensen, who coaches the club along with Shannon Black, said the team skaters have been hard at work practising twice a week since October.
The club has 15 skaters in the CanSkate program, which is coached by current and former club skaters, respectively, Madi Holuk and Brielle Leaver. There are eight in the Intro to StarSkate program and nine in the StarSkate program. Ages range from four years old up to 18.
Jensen said that all the skaters have really improved throughout the year so far.
"From what I've seen, the CanSkaters have gone from kids who can't skate at all to now when all the kids are up and moving around on the ice," said Jensen. "The two coaches there (Holuk and Leaver) have done an amazing job. We've seen lots of improvement in the older kids as well."
Jensen said the skaters have done very well at the competitions so far, grabbing numerous medals.
"It's kind of a nerve-racking thing, being in competitions," she said. "But they've had really good results. Everyone skated their best and did really well."
Most recently, club member Laura Jansen competed in the Sylvan Lake Central Region StarSkate Invitational and came away with a silver medal.
Club members have also done well at a couple of other meets, including one in Olds and one in Stettler:
Didsbury skaters return to the ice for the Cremona Fun Skate event on March 6 and the Going for the Gold Banff FunSkate event on March 15. The club hosts its own year-end carnival this year on March 21 at 2 p.m. at the Didsbury Memorial Complex. Everyone is welcome and admission is by donation.
"It's our showcase at the end to show off all the hard work that everyone has accomplished this year," said Jensen. "The theme this year is Aladdin the movie. It has plenty of great music."
