Shaping our Tomorrow 124th AGM / AGA 124 Façonner notre avenir
June 16-19, 2011 | | 16-19 juin 2011 The Westin Calgary, Calgary, AB Table of Contents / Table des matières
President Report / Rapport de la présidente 2
National Office Report / Rapport du bureau 6 national SSC Commitee Reports / Rapports des comités de 15 PVC
Branch Reports / Rapports des associations- 42 membres
Organizing Committee Calgary Report / Rapport du 64 comité organisateur de Calgary
1 President Report
I am always pleased to see you at the Annual General Meeting and to submit the 2010-2011 report by the Board of Directors of Speed Skating Canada.
Another year draws to a close, a year that passed too quickly, that we hoped would be quieter than the year before, but was not. We naively thought that the post- Olympic year would be less demanding and hectic. We were wrong. Like every other year, this year forced us to exceed our limits.
For this transition year, the theme chosen for our annual general meeting seems quite fitting. Now that the Vancouver Olympic Games and our "Vision 2010" strategic plan are behind us, our thoughts turn to how we want to "Shape our Future" as an organization. Not only have we started a new Olympic cycle that will take us to the Sochi Games in 2014, we have also reached the important stage of implementing our Long Term Participant and Athlete Development Model, and creating a new long-term strategic plan for Speed Skating Canada.
The past season and the start of the current season confronted us with major changes and forced us to adjust quickly and deal with a new set of circumstances. Between April and November 2011, Rose Mercier took over as acting Executive Director and we transitioned between the departure of Jean Dupré for the Canadian Olympic Committee and the arrival of John-Paul Cody-Cox, selected in August as Jean Dupré’s successor to lead SSC. Rose, who has worked with us for over fifteen years, shouldered us in completing the 2010-2020 strategic plan, which we discussed and developed together at the last two annual general meetings. Rose also joined in the Board’s brainstorming on the roles and responsibilities of a BoD in this new, demanding and complex environment of sports in Canada. Together with her, we explored the best forms of governance for our organization and gave extensive thought to how we could better serve our clients and our members.
We also wanted to turn these changes and departures into opportunities to take a fresh look at our organization in order to move forward and do better. Because we know that we must act and plan our future together, this brainstorming and analysis activity also included committees and chairpersons from every province and territory. The work we intend to submit at this year’s AGM is work in progress and will therefore continue in 2011-12. We must proceed properly, take time to analyze and discuss and of course, plan for the future together with all of our stakeholders, employees and volunteers.
I’m sure you know that the reason we changed our meeting calendar and the list of activities involved in analyzing our association and the review procedures and rules announced last June is because the many projects underway demanded it. Not only did the clubs have to cope with the increased registrations generated by the Vancouver
2 Olympic Games (the kind of problem we like!), but our committees and member associations were deeply involved in creating the new Athlete and Participant Development Model as well as the new competition format. Implementing the model, which we agreed must be versatile and accommodating, demands support and education as well as a significant amount of energy to change approaches to training and competition. The Canadian Short Track Championships held in Montreal, Toronto and Kelowna, nothing but ideas and intentions only a few months ago, were carried off with success and pay tribute to the commitment of members and the sincere desire to offer a renewed format adapted to the skaters in our clubs.
To top it off, in 2010-11 we also prepared for the Canada Games. What emotion we felt at the short track in St. Margaret’s arena and what a thrill to see our young people skate in the Commons on the magnificent oval that the local public fought to win. Their support and confirmation that the oval is being maintained is a serious boost to speed skating and to the Atlantic Provinces. The Canada Games were successfully celebrated in Halifax last February, not to mention the many other events: two short track World Cups held in Quebec (Quebec City and Montreal), the World All-Round Speed Skating Championships in Calgary, many local, provincial, national and international competitions, and more.
The annual report is always an excellent opportunity to underscore the achievements of our members and congratulate our volunteers and employees for their outstanding contributions. For a reason I cannot fathom and that still impresses me, we have the exceptional good fortune to have sustained the commitment of many volunteers in all areas of our activities, and the privilege of having many athletes join our committees, clubs and boards of directors once their careers end. The level of commitment and quality of work accomplished by these many people is allowing our sport to grow and stand out. Although difficulties sometimes arise, they are not the outcome of persistent conflicts or ill-willed conspiracies, but more a symptom of communications in need of improvement or simple blunders.
Among our noteworthy successes, after an Olympic year and the departure or absence of high performance athletes, I would like to mention the athletic achievements of two outstanding women who set our hearts racing and filled us with pride to be Canadian: special thanks must go to Christine Nesbitt and Marianne St-Gelais! Christine won 11 individual medals on the World Cup circuit this year including 9 gold medals, and was crowned World Sprint Champion, World Allround runner-up and World Champion in the 1000m. Marianne St-Gelais also proved that the two Olympic silver medals she won in Vancouver last year were well-deserved; she dominated the 500m at the World Cup this season, winning every 500-metre race she entered. Overall, Marianne won seven individual World Cup medals this season, including five gold medals. I would also like to mention medals won by Charles Hamelin, Olivier Jean, Lucas Makowsky and our relay and pursuit teams at the World Championships. The list of individual Canadian medals won at this year’s World Cup is long! In addition to the athletes already mentioned we
3 would also like to congratulate Valérie Maltais, Valérie Lambert, Marie-Ève Drolet, Guillaume Bastille, Jessica Gregg, Michael Gilday, François-Louis Tremblay, François Hamelin, Rémi Beaulieu, Cindy Klassen, Kristina Groves, Brittany Schussler, Denny Morrison and Jamie Gregg. I would also like to underscore the success of Laurent Dubreuil and Kali Christ who climbed the podium at the World Junior Long Track Championships for individual distances.
With the many changes and major modifications in our financial landscape in 2010-11, the Board of Directors turned its attention to the future of SSC with special intensity and urgency. I would say that 2010-11 forced us to take stock, establish priorities and develop a plan over a longer term than the usual four years. To illustrate what I mean, the Board of Directors examined the following priority issues this year:
1) Safety and security (of skaters, facilities, competitions, etc.), which demands planning, research, benchmarks and standards; 2) The budget for the year in progress, causing us concern because of a deficit, and the budget for future years, which we hope to balance; 3) Shrinking government funding and sponsorships despite our outstanding performance; 4) Structures, procedures and human resources (employees and volunteers) that demand analysis and possibly some reorganization to allow our sport to advance; 5) LTPAD follow-up because we collectively made it a priority and firmly believe in it; 6) The transition between the 2010 Olympic Games and now because things have changed and we must adjust; 7) The SSC position concerning our participation in the 2012 Olympic Games for young people under 19 years of age and the athlete development philosophy; 8) The support we must provide to coaches and clubs to ensure they can deliver high-quality training; 9) The review of our decision appeal procedure because our policies must be revised and respond to situations more effectively; 10) Infrastructure maintenance and development to support speed skating in Canada and promote its growth; 11) Our relations with partners, sponsors, governments, etc., because we need the support and expertise of many people; 12) The succession for key persons in director positions (BoD or committees) in charge and of concern to us; 13) Review of the rules and procedures concerning the association governance review, necessary after more than 15 years; 14) The arrival of a new Executive Director with whom we must discuss, share the association’s history and culture, develop priorities, modify approaches, support and shoulder to give him a clear picture of who we are and allow him to take his place.
4 During the general meeting, we will explain the various issues we addressed this year in more detail. You will also see that our work will continue next year, and that we are relying on our members to ensure that our efforts are consistent with their aspirations. The association has attained a level of maturity and sophistication that demands a stricter and more critical approach, but also our commitment and unity.
In closing, I would like to thank all of the volunteers who worked or still work on behalf of the clubs, provinces and territories and committees or as officials in 2010-2011; their commitment is simply outstanding and inspiring. I would personally like to thank members of the BoD and SSC employees for their availability and support through every challenge. I would also like to thank the partners and sponsors who support and believe in us. Thank you for putting the wind in our sails and for nurturing our dreams. Finally, I would like to thank all of our athletes at every level for their characteristic determination to triumph, and for the joy and passion they share with us, but most of all, the opportunity they give us to support their goals in life and become much better people for it.
I hope you gain a great deal from the general meeting and I sincerely wish all of you a wonderful summer.
Marie-Claire Rouleau President, SSC
5 National Office Report
SHAPING OUR TOMORROW
The post-Olympic year has brought about many changes both within SSC and across the sports community. New people, new challenges and with it also comes new opportunities.
There is a lot to be excited about moving forward and obviously with that, there is a lot to do. My goal as CEO is to work with our partners to create the most dynamic sport system in the world.
Our success at the High Performance level has put our sport on the map and propelled it to being the most successful Olympic sport in Canada’s history, which is a lot to live up to and build on. This success has been the result of dedicated staff and community volunteers that have helped support the people and programs leading into each Olympic Winter Games. As we move forward I am focusing on 5 objectives to build on our dominance:
1. Evolve SSC into a self-sufficient business with minimal reliance on gov’t funding 2. Capitalize on Winter Olympic Games to build participation and membership 3. Develop the most stable and robust sport development system in Canada 4. Make SSC an events-based, sponsorship-driven, and participant-focused organization 5. Sustain and enhance High Performance excellence with enhanced efficiency
Ensuring that our branches, clubs and individual members have access to the resources needed to grow is imperative. Through each point I listed, our success at the grassroots level – whether adding more members, clubs, coaches, officials and club administrators OR addressing gaps in access to infrastructure, programming, partners or securing consistent funding – drives our ability to meet those objectives.
We are blessed as a sport with a passionate and committed volunteer and staff base, determined and extraordinary athletes and a sense of family that binds us together like no other sport. The challenges and opportunities we face moving forward are just another chapter in our development as the most revered sport in our country.
I look forward to our journey together!
All the best
John-Paul Cody-Cox CEO, Speed Skating Canada
6 STAFF LIST
National Office – Ottawa
John-Paul Cody-Cox Chief Executive Officer Patricia Brennan Director, Finance and Operations Mark Mathies Executive Director, Sport Douglas Duncan Director, Education and Leadership Vacant Manager, Communications Emilie Archambault Manager, Marketing Programs Kanika Thakar Manager, Events and Membership Mariamanda Espinoza Finance and Operations Coordinator Andréanne Lefebvre Operations and Officials Coordinator Graeme Carbert Student Intern
National Team Training Centre – Calgary Sean Ireland Long Track Program Director Xiuli Wang Coach Michael Crowe Coach Mark Wild Coach Bart Shouten Coach Jonathan Cavar Coach – Short Track Amanda Froese Long Track Program Coordinator Mike Marshall Regional Development Mentor
National Team Training Centre – Montréal Yves Hamelin Short Track Program Director Frederick Blackburn Coach Sebastien Cros Coach Derrick Campbell Coach Jeffrey Scholten Coach Jennifer Cottin Short Track Program Coordinator Vacant Regional Development Mentor
National Team Training Centre – Québec City Gregor Jelonek Coach Robert Tremblay Coach
7 OPERATIONS
Probably the biggest news on the operational side has been in staffing. Since the beginning of this last fiscal year we have incurred many changes in the area of staffing including the departures of Jean Dupré, Brian Rahill, Yanna Moncion, Krista Benoit, Ashley Scott, Dawn Currie, Mylène Croteau, the interim role of Rose Mercier and sadly the passing of Sylvie Bourdon. All have had a profound impact on the organization and will be missed.
That amount of change has meant a major transition and learning curve for not just new staff, but older staff now in new positions (i.e. Mark Mathies and Douglas Duncan). During all of that, our committees have had to roll with the punches and take the brunt of the bumps along the way in this process. This has created both confusion and frustration at the volunteer level at various points in the year. From a management perspective we will ensure that moving forward into this next fiscal year we will alleviate these transition pains.
In the meantime, operationally our goal is to lay out clear planning processes and tools to be used by committees/staff to provide greater transparency and context in the programming year. In addition, building better communication channels to members and within our work structure will in our estimation help keep everyone aware of on- going business. This means ensuring all committee/BOD minutes get distributed, this also mean developing Sport Development and HP Councils to give staff and chairs an opportunity to share their ongoing work and plans together around issues or opportunities developed from those conversations.
This will require a revised committee/staff working process, but will be very useful in the implementation as well as monitoring of programs plans with the goal of strengthening our ability to deliver and meet our objectives as a sport.
GOVERNANCE/STRATEGIC PLANNING
The year started with a review of the SSC’s governance model and strategic plan. The goal was focused but very ambitious with the amount of change occurring at all levels. Eventually the process was halted to allow everyone to catch their breath and provide an opportunity to take two steps back so the community could better digest what the change would mean. The 124th AGM will provide a re-booting of sorts to help clearly articulate next steps and timelines around this process leading into the 125th AGM.
MARKETING/COMMUNICATIONS
In an effort to better establish a benchmark for marketing/communication results, SSC embarked on an analysis of total impact of our visibility in the media.
8 The following overview is based on visibility data for a Premier National Sponsor of Speed Skating Canada.
Speed Skating Canada in National Newspapers (2006-2010)
Premier National Estimated Newspaper Circulation Sponsor Readership Impressions La Presse 215,142 451,798 23,041,708 Globe and Mail 315,272 662,071 40,386,343 Le Droite 36,210 76,041 3,117,681 National Post 156,646 328,957 5,592,262 Calgary Herald 124,607 261,675 32,971,012 Toronto Star 314,173 659,763 41,656,088 Speed Skating Canada Total 1,162,050 2,440,305 146,674,095
Speed Skating Canada in Television (2006-2010)
Speed Ska ng Broadcasts on CBC (2006-2010)
250,000 201,125 201,125 200,000 159,500 159,500 159,500 150,000 105,000
Viewers 100,000
50,000 14,500 0 World World World World Cups World Cups Other SSC CBC Late Champs LT Champs ST Champs LT (4) ST (16) Events (2) Night (3) (3) Combined Highlights (2) (16)
Televised Event (# of broadcasts)
9 Media Visibility Summary for Premier National Sponsor role 2006-2010
Newspaper Television Web Total Impressions 519,642,142 134,282,000 130,784,828 Sponsor Value $18,140,622 (based on cost per impression) Estimated Return-on-Impressions $12.09 per $1 invested (ROI) for Sponsor 1,210% ROI
Next Steps
Moving forward, SSC is committed to upping its game in terms of developing more linkages with its community and focusing more resources on telling the stories/having the dialogue with its community on an on-going basis. This will include:
- Re-vamping www.speedskating.ca to be better able to run programs/activities online with a goal of having more value added products – club resources, social media, webcasting, etc. - Renewing our effort to cover domestic events, clubs, our people and their stories on our website and in the media - Investing more time in providing our members the opportunity to interact and show their support for the sport through social media avenues such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and others - Webcasting – the national office is looking to be the central conduit for all webcasting of domestic events. We are looking to build out webcasting of our domestic events as we bring back more sponsors over the next year with the goal of running all events off www.speedskating.ca.
SPONSORSHIP
Focus
As with most of the winter sports, we are going through the post home games renewal process. We started the year with Krista Benoit managing the relationships and sales processes on a part-time basis. Upon discussions with our sponsors who were adamant that a more full-time resource be added to allow for practical day-to-day as well as annual planning/implementation, we did not renew Krista’s contract and hired Émilie Archambault as full-time Manager, Marketing Programs.
On the flip side, TrojanOne was hired to assist in looking at our sales processes, tools and strategies. TrojanOne is regarded as the leading events and sponsorship consulting firm in the country. Big picture, their role is to work with the CEO to look at SSC longer
10 term and develop programs and tools to help build a self-sufficient organization (in the model of a Curling, Hockey or Figure Skating) through re-vamped marketing, sponsorship and overall revenue generation strategies.
Renewals
INTACT: at the moment of writing this it is progressing very well. We are in the stage of their internal marketing/sponsorship team reviewing and selling the potential deal internally. We expect Intact to return for the quad leading into Sochi.
GENERAL MILLS: Negotiations are on-going, but current inflationary pressures on General Mills cost structures are slowing their decision making process. They are keen to return but must take direction from the costs/sales situation.
BELL: Bell has removed itself from all NSO sponsorship. There is a chance for a return in a year based on some of new offerings, but nothing for 2011/12.
APOGEE: This was a gruelling process. Descente took a long time to decide on its renewal. The company decided to focus on the Asian market. Our process of replacing Descente has brought us together with Apogee. Apogee was short listed with 2 other companies but they came out far ahead in terms of offering both product and servicing. We are delighted to build a long-term relationship with Apogee!
AUCLAIR / USANA / TIMEX: All will be returning
HUDSON’S BAY COMPANY: Their contract does not expire until Dec 31st, 2011.
Next Steps – Strategies and Targets
Programs:
We are developing a story around our sponsorship that delves into the message that working with SSC is connecting to the best of Canada.
Within that message we are developing/selling programs in the following areas: - Grassroots – extensive programs around developing national skating festivals, contests with current athletes and alumni of the sport, SSC 2.0, etc. - Expanded Events – selling national Championships as a television property, developing new spectator friendly events, etc. - Technology – all sponsors (both current and potential) are clamouring for better ability to leverage technology – website, social media and online tools for athlete development, etc.
Targeted Categories:
11 Canadian Leaders –The message is resonating. We are at different stages of discussion with the likes of CN, Bombardier, Tim Hortons
Big Categories – Banking (CIBC, Scotiabank, etc.), Telecom (Bell, Telus, Rogers, etc.), Automobile (GM, KIA, Toyota, etc.) are always companies on any sponsorship list.
Regional Sponsorship – we are looking at delving into more regional sponsorship around national team training centres to provide them not just more resources but local partners to help promote our athletes and centres in their community.
International – With our media visibility in Canada and abroad we have an opportunity to leverage this untapped category. Research is underway to look at viable targets.
MEMBERSHIP 2010/2011 National Membership Skating Members 10,351 Associate Members 3,576
Total Members 13,927
2010/2011 Membership Breakdown Membership Categories # of Members Associate Member 3233 Competitive Skater 3643 Lifetime Associate 60 Recreational Skater 6386 Special Events Associate 283 Special Events Skater 322
Club Size Breakdown 2010-2011 Club Size # of Clubs Under 25 Members 20 26-50 Members 41 51-99 Members 38 100-250 Members 38 250+ Members 10 Total # of Clubs 147
12 SSC Annual Membership: 2010/2011
5828 6000
5000
4000
3000 2577 Members
2000 1733 1136 1000 614 478 627 324 275 32 105 100 41 30 0 AB BC MB NB NFLD NS NU NWT ON PEI QC SK YK SSC Provinces/Territories
Average Provincial/Territorial Club Size: 140 2010/2011
120 114
99 100 96 89 90 88
80
62 60 55 53 50 Members 41 41 40
20 16
0 AB BC MB NFLD NU NWT ON QC SK NB NS PEI YK Provinces/Territories SSC 124 Annual General Meeting 2nd Package – English Reports
Annual Membership: 2000/2001 - 2010-2011 16000 13927 14000 11785 11465 12000 10295 10232 9633 9970 10000 8672 7728 7542 8000 7449 Members 6000
4000
2000
0 00-01 01-02 02-03 03-04 04-05 05-06 06-07 07-08 08-09 09-10 10-11
Season
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Committee Chair Reports
Competition Development Committee
Committee Members Far West – Nancy Goplen (Chair) West – Kathy Gregg Central – Sandra Chenard Québec – Robert Bourassa Atlantic – Steve Harris SSC Staff – Kanika Thakar
The committee met on a monthly basis by conference call and most recently, Skype. We held our in person meeting in August 2010 in Moncton and April 2011 in Calgary. We are very pleased to welcome Robert Bourassa to the committee who filled the yearlong vacancy as the Québec Representative. After 6 years, Kathy Gregg will be stepping down from her position as the Western Rep. Sharon Zorman who resides in Calgary will be joining the committee. The committee is very thankful for Kathy’s contributions as a meet coordinator, former athlete and current coach to the committee. Sharon brings a wealth of experience to the committee, especially in the area of the Meet Manager.
Section 1 Highlights of the year
LTPAD - The majority of our focus was on the development of a Competition Bulletin. Upon adoption of the new P & R’s at the AGM, the committee met in August to develop the Draft Bulletin. By September, the Bulletin was ready for distribution to the Branches and on the website. In the past, racing formats were entrenched in our P & R’s. With the 2010 AGM changes, the latitude was given to make adjustments in the Bulletin format. Throughout the year, we listened to the feedback and made adjustments in time for the Championships.
The committee also developed a “Request for Age Reclassification” process that was used if a skater wished to move from the T2T division to the L2C division. This process was exercised this year. The committee granted the request after reviewing the relevant documentation. The committee did not consider any requests for a L2T requesting to be moved to the T2T division.
This also marked the first CWG cycle without an Age Exemption request.
Hosting Manual - Prior to our August meeting, Sandra Chenard, Dawn Currie and Chantal Brideau revised the Manual in time for our meeting. (Note: Sandra was vacationing on the East Coast at the time.) Many thanks go to them for their time spent revising the document. Each year, the updated manual is sent to all SSC Championship Meet Coordinators. It is also posted on the website so organizers can print relevant sections.
15 SSC 124 Annual General Meeting 2nd Package – English Reports
Sanction Package - Graeme Carbert assisted the committee with on line sanction package forms. We also eliminated the sanction fee, requested information on facilities and safety information such as emergency action plans. We trust this made it easier for the Meet Coordinators to complete the paperwork.
Meet Manager - The Meet Manager software still needs work. With so many changes to the racing formats, Guy Jacob was not able to get all the “glitches” out by the time the Championships were held. We hope to have this remedied over the summer, and test the software in the fall before hosting some training sessions. The Committee is fortunate to have Sharon and Sandra advise us how small changes to racing formats can impact the software.
Records - As per the Racing on Skaters document, fewer records are now recognized by SSC. There is also an on line application process to ease the process. Masters records are being compiled by two Master’s reps and then submitted to the SSC office for posting.
Canada Winter Games - Special thanks are extended to Dennis Duggan (LT Tech Rep) and Sandra Chenard (ST Tech Rep) and Dawn Currie (SSC Liaison) for their time spent working with the Host Sport Chairs and Meet Coordinators. We would be remiss in not recognizing the efforts of the local organizing committees for running fantastic events. Unfortunately, the location of the short track venue was not on par with our original expectations or venue requirements for seating capacity so many of the spectators were from the existing skating fraternity. However, the site of the Oval made up for it with enthusiastic spectators who witnessed numerous CWG record performances. Our media coverage was greater than ever which is so important for elevating the profile of our sport. We all hope that the oval will become a permanent fixture in the Commons that can see action from local residents and neighboring communities in the Atlantic and Eastern regions of the Country. The 2011 CWG marked the first time we brought SSC Equipment Technicians to the venues. We look forward to the 2015 CWG in Prince George, BC. The appointments of our 2015 Tech Reps will be confirmed in the fall.
SSC P & R’s – The Committee reviewed the P & R’s at the conclusion of the season and submitted housekeeping and small changes to the rules for marathon racing. Again, since racing formats such as distances are now in the Bulletin, there should be far fewer changes to review at the AGM.
NALT – The 2011 NALT was held in Milwaukee with approximately 65-70 Canadian athletes competing. This was far below other years due to the timing of the CWG. Next year, Calgary will be hosting the event on Feb 10-12. It is hoped that the 2010 medals will be at the AGM for distribution to the athletes, as they were not awarded in SLC in 2010.
Competition Calendar – Once again, the committee has felt some frustration trying to generate a calendar for 2011-12 with such a late date for the HPSTC meeting. The office and committee are working to gain access to the Richmond Oval for the Canadian ST/Selections #2 event in
16 SSC 124 Annual General Meeting 2nd Package – English Reports
March. The only other gap is the need to find a host for the National Qualifier in mid- December.
Masters - Dawn and Nancy have worked with the Master contacts. The Can Open Masters Championship was held in conjunction with the CWG Test Event in Halifax in mid-January. While numbers were somewhat lower than the past few years, the energy and excitement racing in Halifax was tangible by those in attendance. In February next year, Fort St. John will invite Masters to their venue.
Marathons – The committee has worked with the Marathon community to revise some racing rules. This is an area that has great potential for growth in membership and participation at the Active for Life Stage as well as the L2C/L2W stages of development. Additions to some of the World Cup programs may see more 10k mass start events on the world stage. Sylvan Lake will host the 2012 NA/Canadian Marathon a few days after the Edmonton Silver Skates. This type of scheduling can create a nice circuit for the “skating tourist”.
Webcast - It was very exciting to be able to broadcast the Canadian Open ST, Canadian ST Championships/Selection #2 and Canada East and West across the country. This is an area that can greatly enhance the profile of the sport.
Championship Attendance – With the new format changes, the SSC involved over 350 skaters at the Canada West, Canada East and CST/Selections #2 events. Normally, we would have seen approximately 64 at the Selections #2 and 150 at the CACST. We are expecting higher numbers next year that requires us to be vigilant when creating racing formats. The meets must be manageable in terms of the use of human and financial resources. Positive feedback clearly outweighed any negative feedback from these events. Slight changes to the quotas will be made for next year.
Section 2 Committee Decisions
As mentioned above, the Committee decided to meet in early April while impressions and feedback were fresh after the season. We developed the draft of the 2011-12 Competition Bulletin, reviewed the P & R’s and revised sections of the Hosting Manual. We felt this was timelier so other committees and branches had the information at the beginning of the new season.
Section 3 Financial Update
Refer to the 2010-11 budget. Our committee came under budget.
Section 4 Committee Operational Guidelines
The committee will continue to meet on a monthly basis by conference/Skype call. We usually meet on the second Tuesday of the month. We have changed our meeting time to 6:00 pm EST.
17 SSC 124 Annual General Meeting 2nd Package – English Reports
Section 5 Requests and Recommendations
• The CDC recommends that the HP committees (especially ST) confirm their HP selection events at least two-years in advance. Exact formats do not have to be defined but the number, duration and month is most appreciated from the HP committees. This same request has been heard from the Branches. • The Committee has not recommended any increase in competition fees. • That a review of the NA Alliance be undertaken to reflect what is currently occurring. This recommendation comes from both the USS and SSC reps.
I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge are heartfelt thanks to Dawn Currie who supported this committee with all her heart. She was a great friend to all our volunteers and we wish her well in her new work environment. SSC was very lucky to have such a dedicated employee who attacked each day with a great passion for sport development and volunteerism. We now welcome Kanika Thakar as our new staff liaison and look forward to working with her.
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy Goplen Chair, SSC Competition Development Committee
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Club and Membership Development Committee
Committee Members Far West – Margret Krieck West – Peggy Poole (Chair) Central – Kathy Elliott Québec – Louis Forget Atlantic – Derrick MacLeod SSC Staff – Kanika Thakar
Section 1 Activity Report
The 2010-2011 season, while starting off on a very slow and somewhat negative note, ended on a positive one. We welcomed Louis Forget as the new representative from the FPVQ. He has great insight and has been a valuable addition to the group. Changes within the office as well as staff portfolio changes have had some adverse effects on our ability to be proactive this past season. Two conference calls were held and the CMDC just concluded its in-person meeting May 16-17.The meeting was an excellent way for the new SSC staff to learn what this committee is about, what it has accomplished in the past, and to share in our future plans. We welcomed Kanika Thakar as our new contact with the SSC office and feel optimistic knowing that she shares in our enthusiasm for Club and Membership. The CMDC was shown some new and exciting web site changes that will be taking effect for the 2012-2013 season. The membership will be extremely impressed when they see what the future capabilities of the new site are.
Section 2 Key points from the CMDC for the past season
Festivals – Given that this was a post-Olympic year, clubs did not embrace the Festival Grant to the same extent as they did during the Olympic season. Adhering to the LTPAD principles, it is an opportunity to celebrate participation, introduce speed skating in a fun atmosphere and to showcase everything that our great sport has to offer. Participants can learn that speed skating programs can offer cross training possibilities as well as a competitive and an Active for Life option. Across the country many Clubs and Branches have had festivals and can attest to the success of the program.
Grants - At the time of this writing, the CMDC budget has not been confirmed but we are optimistic that the following Grants will continue:
• SEED - Two $16,000.00 SEED Grants to be awarded. • SEED Lottery - Four clubs names to be drawn for $4,000.00 each for the purchase of mats. Draw during the 2011 AGM.
19 SSC 124 Annual General Meeting 2nd Package – English Reports
• SPORT4LIFE Grant – This Grant has been very successful. With only a budget of $32,500.00 the CMDC had requests for over $100,000.00. It is clear that there is a need for this grant to continue as it offers flexibility to its applicants.
Cutting Edge Pin Program - In accordance with LTPAD and our commitment to this program, changes will be taking place within the next few years. Change is dependent on budget and time constraints.
Video - The CMDC committed funds to assist in the production of a LTPAD video. The intent of this video was to introduce and explain the LTPAD in simple, user-friendly terms so that new parents, coaches, and officials are introduced to the concept in a meaningful and uncomplicated manner. Upon review of the video (to be released at the 2011 AGM), the CMDC concludes that the final product was well worth the wait and money spent.
Section 3 Committee Decisions
LTPAD – The CMDC is committed to making sure that all its current and future programming reflects the LTPAD.
Grants – Continue with SEED, SEED Lottery, Festivals Phase II (post budget approval). Promote the new Sport4Life. Due to the delay in reviewing our grants for the upcoming season, the date set for submitting all applications is July 15, 2011. At the start of the 2011-2012 season, all grants will be looked at carefully to make sure that they are still reflecting the current needs of its membership.
Festivals – Committed for the long term if Sport Canada funding continues. At the time that this report was written budget approval has not been formally accepted. In the event that it is not accepted, the CMDC will seek to have funds added to the Sport4Life Grant to make sure that it continues.
Newsletter - The CMDC would like to revisit providing our members with a newsletter. It is felt that this could be used to introduce parents to the LTPAD in a user friendly way. It would also allow SSC to introduce its new staff, explain program/grant initiatives all that our committees offer. It would be available on line but would also be available in print limited quantities for Clubs and Branches. We are cognizant that paper reduction is one of SSC’s mandates.
Cutting Edge Pin Program - Revisions are temporarily on hold. Will be redesigned as budget and time allows.
On the Edge Curriculum – Needs to be edited in order to better reflect the LTPAD. Will be done in stages as budget allows.
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Parent Guide - The CMDC is still committed to producing a revised parent guide that better reflects SSC’s ongoing commitment to the LTPAD. Budget and time restraints are the contributing factors to the delay.
Membership Cards - A request was initially made for the CMDC to look into a new membership card system. The SSC office is now directly responsible for handling this project. Look for some exciting initiatives.
Communication - At our in-person meeting, the issue of communication with the Clubs and Branches was discussed. With Branch approval, the CMDC would like to directly contact the Clubs regarding grant initiatives, concerns etc. It is just another way that we could assist the Branches as we realize that they are sometimes overloaded with other projects etc. Please note: This will only be done on approval from the Branches.
Section 4 Requests and Recommendations
Festivals - The CMDC strongly encourages the clubs and branches to implement the Festival program. It is vital if Clubs and Branches want to grow their membership base.
Grants - We encourage all clubs to apply for our grants. The CMDC’s purpose for being is to assist clubs in developing their programs and in turn increasing their numbers. When applying for any grant, please read the requirements that are requested. The main reason a grant application is rejected is because it is incomplete. If there are any questions, please contact you CMDC rep as they can guide you through the process.
Section 5 Summary
The CMDC certainly has had its challenges this past season. It is not necessarily due to the people at the office but rather to the newness of them and the timing of when they took on their SSC role. I feel confident that after finally meeting with those responsible for dealing with our committee that the 2011-2012 season will be back on track. Things take time and while change can sometimes be difficult, it often allows new insight into issues that perhaps we take for granted and never thought of changing. On behalf of the CMDC, I would like to thank J.P. and Kanika for taking the time to meet with the committee and for being involved in the meeting. The CMDC looks forward to working with you and predicts positive change for the future.
Respectfully submitted,
Peggy Poole Chair, Club and Membership Development Committee
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Coaching Development Committee
Committee Members Far West – Sandi Vyse West – David Gilday Central – Mike Rivet Québec – Annie Sarrat Atlantic – Peter Steele (Chair) SSC Staff – Douglas Duncan
Section1 Introduction
The 2010-11 skating year was a difficult one for the Coaching Development Committee. Affected by the major staffing transition that faced Speed Skating Canada following the Olympic year and with Committee members busy with preparation of Canada Winter Games athletes, the Committee had difficulty arranging meetings and is disappointed with its annual results. We look forward to much greater achievement in the coming year, results based on well- considered work plans and collaborative operations.
Section 2 NCCP Course Development
The new NCCP training system has caused the Coaching Development Committee a great deal of concern as it seems fewer courses are now being provided and of those who take the courses the numbers achieving certification is thought to be significantly down. The Committee has repeatedly called for a quantitative analysis of course deliveries and resulting certifications spanning the last 4 or 5 years. The Committee is concerned with the long-term impact on volunteerism in skating that the New NCCP may have if its perception of the results trend is not turned around. The issue will be addressed at the face-to-face meeting being held in Calgary prior to the AGM. This issue is deemed by the Coaching Development Committee to be urgent.
While the inclusion of theory as part of the SSC-delivered coaching program, encouraged by the Canadian Association of Coaches (CAC), was thought to be a good idea when the new NCCP was under discussion, in retrospect the Committee has concerns with the outcome and needs to reflect on what combining the theory and practical programs has done to SSC’s ability to deliver coach training. The Committee must determine what steps need to be taken to correct the situation.
Under the Old NCCP system, where theory was delivered by provincial/territorial sport bodies to coaches of all sports, the courses were delivered with greater frequency and the cross-sport discussion was beneficial to all participants. Now, with courses limited to speed skating coaches, the delivery frequency is low and the numbers of coaches available for courses is restricted resulting in fewer and higher cost-per-participant deliveries and no cross-sport discussion.
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The new system has also put a strain on Learning Facilitators (LF) who now must deliver a broader scope of training. The Committee recognizes that LFs with the skill to teach both theory and speed skating-specific material can provide quality training but the broader scope of workload does not appear to be generating any additional training opportunities for coaches.
The Committee is also concerned with the additional cost to speed skating for the development of materials and for the additional travel required of LFs in the new system, costs that SSC has recently suggested may be passed along to the coaches taking the training. While the Committee recognizes the need to generate funding for training, it is sceptical that adding higher costs to volunteers, in addition to the time they are away from work and family for training, is the appropriate path to follow.
Without the Competition Development program being completed, a task that has drawn out longer than anticipated, CAC is now proposing a program review cycle (timelines to be determined) to ensure that courses are maintained up-to-date. While supportive of the theory behind cyclical program review and update, the Committee is frustrated that this proposal is upon us before the continuum of courses has even been developed at all. It is the position of the Committee that CAC is getting ahead of the NSOs, certainly SSC, with this discussion and that SSC human and financial resources should be focussed on completing the initial training products to the committee’s satisfaction, before moving on to new things. This review cycle of CAC materials is deemed another reason to separate CAC Theory and SSC Technical materials to their respective courses again.
Section 3 Coaching Dev. Committee/Coaching Association of Canada Relationship
The Committee would like to meet with a CAC representative to try to understand what drives the CAC. While our Staff Liaison is our mandated connection to CAC, there is an apparent disconnect between Coaching Committee desires and CAC direction. The Committee feels meeting face-to-face with the CAC might help that organization better understand the realities of workings in a predominately volunteer, grassroots based coaching system.
Section 4 Coaching Survey – University of Alberta
The Coaching Committee was disappointed with the process leading to the distribution of the coaching survey recently circulated by the University of Alberta on behalf of SSC. However, the Committee is encouraging Branches and Clubs to complete the survey so that coaching baseline data can be developed for future use. More importantly, and a step that is being taken, is the compilation of data comparing the success rates of the old and new NCCP courses so that the Committee can address issues that may be found with the current system respecting course completions and coach certifications.
Section 5 Competition Development Training Program
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Progress continues with the Competition Development program and it should be noted that the theory component will be delivered by CAC theory course facilitators. It should also be noted the CAC Theory program includes a substantial increase of 13 hours in content beyond the old NCCP Level 3 course.
The Coaching Development Committee is deeply concerned with the proposed increased time commitment required for the new NCCP Competition Development versus the old NCCP Level 3. This new proposal would apparently require volunteer coaches to commit greatly increased time to in-class or on-line work. Projected time frames for courses have been suggested by staff to be up to 6 extra days in a workshop setting and the course would run over a two year course timeframe. The Committee does not support these increased timeframes and cannot understand why the path to accreditation has become so much steeper than under the old NCCP system. Coaching is not opposed to introduction of new information into the course but is not in favour of the lock step approach of CAC to just lengthening the course. For those living remotely from course delivery centres this will require much more time off work to get to and from courses, and for volunteers generally, increased out-of-pocket expenses if they wish to attain certification at this level, if at all. It must be recognized that for branches, this will be your minimum standard for your Canada Games Coaches. That is a concern for the Coaching.
Section 6 SSC/Committee Communications
As new staff came to SSC this year and the organization recovered from the Olympic year, from the perspective of the Committee, communications were a clear casualty. The Committee looks forward to the coming year reviving communications protocols and the re-establishment of solid relationships between the volunteers and staff of SSC.
Section 7 Gaps Analysis
The Committee was disappointed that the Gaps analysis has been delayed. By having substantial input from all partners into some proposed SSC transitions into the future, is a valuable tool in recognition of what we do well and what might need work. . We look forward to this initiative being completed as soon as possible.
Section 8 Policy Governance
The roles and responsibilities of staff and Committees are not yet clear to the Committee under the proposed future SSC Policy Governance model. However, having had discussions with staff respecting a collaborative approach to operations, recognizing that Speed Skating Canada is founded on a volunteer base, the Committee is encouraged that volunteerism, an SSC Core Value, will be appropriately featured in ongoing discussions.
Respectfully submitted,
Peter Steele, Coaching Development Committee Chair
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Officials Development Committee
Committee Members Far West – Ted Houghton (Interim Chair) West – Dave Thomson Central – Rocky Lamontagne Québec – Yvan Patry Atlantic – Roger Cole SSC Staff – Andréanne Lefebvre
Section 1 Activity
ODC has completed a very busy and successful year, having carried out its mandate on numerous fronts in the service of speed skating in Canada. The 2010-2011 season has drawn to a close and ODC was able to appoint top quality officiating for all of the designated competitions at the national level. We were pleased to have been actively engaged with the introduction of some new formats at several new SSC competitions. While there were some concerns, these were not unanticipated and ODC is looking forward to continued cooperation with other SSC committees as we move forward in implementing the LTPAD recommendations. We are very aware that there will be some fine tuning over the next few seasons, but ODC supports the direction taken by SSC with regard to competition formats.
ODC was very disappointed at the loss of Dawn Currie as our liaison person. Dawn was an outstanding asset for speed skating and a wonderful resource for ODC. Her positive outlook and her remarkable character will be greatly missed, both by those who have had the pleasure of working with Dawn and by our sport in general. We wish her the very best as she moves on to new challenges.
ODC is pleased to welcome Andréanne Lefebvre as our new liaison with the board. She seems to be fitting in very well and we anticipate the development of a positive and fruitful relationship with her as we move forward.
We were delighted to have had the opportunity to speak with our CEO, J.P. Cody-Cox, during one of our conference calls. His approach is refreshing and it appears that he is attempting to be very inclusive in terms of inviting comments from the many dedicated volunteers within our sport. We look forward to continuing the dialogue.
ODC has held conference calls almost monthly (and at times even more frequently) to deal with the normal issues which arise during the season. This season we have been involved with the SSC initiative related to governance, through participation in the webinar and the selection of Rocky Lamontagne as the ODC representative to attend SSC information sessions. We also developed and forwarded a list of questions regarding the proposed governance changes for our sport, and we look forward to continued participation in the on-going consultative process.
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We have recently completed the upgrading process, which is quite intensive and time consuming. We were once again disappointed by the fact that some branches did not provide the required information to allow us to consider a significant number of applicants. We are trying to find new ways of stressing the process and its value with branch colleagues. Those who have merited advancement should have been notified by the time of the writing of this report.
We also completed a review of the P&R’s as they relate to officials and we will put forward several recommendations for changes to be implemented prior to next season. There may be several changes in the makeup of ODC. One certain change is that Committee Chair, Laurie Murchison has resigned his position with ODC and retired from officiating. The term is up for Hans Terstappen and Yvan Patry and we are not certain about their status at this time. Longstanding ODC member and current Vice Chair, Ted Houghton has accepted the position of Interim Chair and will fulfill that responsibility until the annual face to face meeting which will be held this August in Ottawa.
Section 2 Finances
ODC is pleased to report that we were able to carry out our mandate within the constraints of our budget. We are somewhat disconcerted with the potential for budgetary cuts which seem to be looming ahead as SSC attempts to make fiscal adjustments. We at ODC are hopeful that we will have access to appropriate levels of funding to allow us to continue providing the necessary leadership in the process of developing world class officials.
Section 3 Development & Mentorship
We are very pleased to report that we have completed another very successful year with both our Development and Mentorship programs. Despite budgetary constraints, we have found innovative ways to increase the number of participants, and all who took part were very pleased with the process and the outcomes. These two programs are fundamental aspects of ODC’s ongoing attempt to assure a steady supply of quality, well trained officials to meet the future needs of our sport. ODC has also agreed to participate in an ISU development incentive program designed to encourage former athletes to engage as officials. The search process has begun and we will be focusing on Long Track, since that is the area of greatest need.
Section 4 Clinics
We are very pleased to say that we have been able to get a bit ahead of schedule with our clinics; largely due to the offerings provided at this year’s Officials’ Symposium in Montreal, which included clinics for Level III Referees, Level III Competitors’ Steward and Level II Referees. We anticipate that we will be holding a starters clinic during the upcoming season, but the details are to be determined.
Section 5 Comments
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In closing, I would like to say that it has been a great pleasure for me to have had the opportunity to work with my fellow ODC members, both current and past, who are, without doubt, an outstanding and dedicated group of volunteers and a true asset to our sport. I also want to express my sincere thanks to Dawn Currie for her wonderful counsel over the years, and to Andréanne Lefebvre, as she steps into her very demanding position.
Respectfully submitted, Laurie Murchison
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High Performance Committee Long Track
Committee Members Gregg Planert (Chair) Gregor Jelonek Vincent Labrie (Athlete Representative) Robert Tremblay Keith Sulzer (Athlete Representative) Bart Schouten Derrick Auch Xiuli Wang Sean Ireland Mike Crowe Dennis Duggan Mark Wild Amanda Froese (SSC Staff) Mark Mathies (SSC Staff) Sean Ireland (SSC Staff)
Section 1 Activity Report
The HPCLT held their Annual Review Meeting in April, 2011 in Ottawa. A number of conference calls were held throughout the season to deal with World Cup and World Championships selections.
The first year of the Quadrennial normally produces change in the Team Structure and in the Staff. We welcomed Bart Schouten and Mark Wild as new coaches to work with Mike Crowe and Xiuli Wang respectively. Sean Ireland took over as LT High Performance Director and Amanda Froese as LT Program Coordinator filled out the SSC Staff list. Derrick Auch was elected in June at the AGM and replaced Mark Knoll, who did not run again for the position.
The National Team for the past season consisted of skaters that competed in the 2010 Olympics. A few skaters retired including Jeremy Wotherspoon, Mike Ireland and Clara Hughes. It left a few gaps in the program, but also gave some of our younger skaters the opportunity to step up and compete in the World Cups and World Championships.
During the spring meeting, a lot of the discussion centered around the High Performance Bulletins and distributing them in a timely manner. This past year the HPCLT had a difficult time meeting the deadlines due to lack of staff. I can report that we are going to have the first two Bulletins out on time this season with all of the necessary information for Team selections for the Fall World Cups and the World Championships included. The later Bulletins will have the Competition formats for the Canadian Championships, Canada Cups and the North American Championships.
All Coaches and Skaters’ Representatives gave a short review of the past season and we were able to discuss any items that arose from these discussions. Prior to the meeting, a Conference Call was held with all members to confirm the 2011/12 National Team and Development Team and will be listed in Bulletin #158. The 2018 Talent Squad composition will be finalized following the Sport Canada carding meetings.
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At last year’s meeting a decision was made to change the schedule for the Canada Cup series and the Canadian Championships. This was put into place with the first Cup in Quebec in December followed by the combined Canadian Championships/Canada Cup in Calgary in January. The combined Canadian Junior Championships/Canada Cup was held in Winnipeg and was very successful despite the frigid temperatures. The North American Championships in Milwaukee were run simultaneously with a Regional Junior World Cup where we had some of our Junior World Team participate as part of their preparation for the Junior Worlds. The Canada Cup Final was run as part of the Olympic Oval Finale in mid-March. This was the first attempt at running this with the Finale and was well received by all skaters.
Other major Long Track events held in Canada were the Regional Junior World Cup in Calgary with the Can/Am competition and the Canada Games in Halifax in February. The Long Track HPC is very much in favour of having a Canada Cup in Halifax in the future, but this must be coordinated through the Competitions Committee and only will be considered when the infrastructure is satisfactory for this major ranking event.
The current plan for the 2011/12 competition season has the first Canada Cup in Quebec, followed by the Canadian Championships/Canada Cup in Calgary in early January. The Canadian Junior Championships/Canada Cup will be the first weekend of February in Saskatoon and the North American Championships/Junior World Cup will be the second weekend of February in Calgary. This will allow some skaters to attend both competitions without having to purchase two airline tickets. The Canada Cup Final will once again be held in Calgary in March.
Selections for the Fall World Cups will be held in late October in Calgary. The Winter World Cup Teams and World Championships will be selected at the Canadian Championships and the Junior World Team will be at the Junior Canadian Championships in Saskatoon.
Section 2 Competition Results
The Regional Qualifier for the World Championships was held in Salt Lake City in January where we qualified skaters for the World All Round Championships that were held in Calgary. The World Sprint Championships were held in Heerenveen, Netherlands where we saw Christine Nesbitt crowned as the 2011 World Sprint Champion. She followed that up with the Overall Bronze medal at the World All Round Championships and the World Single Distance Championship (1000m) in Inzell, Germany in March. Lucas Makowsky also medalled at the World Single Distances. He finished third in the 1500m for his first World Championship medal. Both Team Pursuit teams medalled with the Ladies (Christine Nesbitt, Brittany Schussler, Cindy Klassen) and Men (Denny Morrison, Lucas Makowsky, Mathieu Giroux) attaining a Gold and Silver respectively.
We had a number of our Junior Skaters medal at the Junior World Championships in Seinajoki, Finland. Laurent Dubreuil won Silver in the 500m, while Kali Christ took the Bronze in the 1000m. The Ladies team (Kali Christ, Brianne Tutt, Kate Hanly) won the Bronze in the Team Pursuit
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Section 3 Competition Quotas for the 2011/2012 season
World Sprint Championships – Calgary, Canada Men – 3, Ladies – 3
World All Round Championships – Moscow, Russia Determined at Continental Championships – Men – 8, Ladies 6, Max of 4 per country
World Single Distance Championships – Heerenveen, Netherlands Determined from World Cup points and Time Ranking
World Junior Championships – Obihiro, Japan Men – 4, Ladies - 4
(Quotas may be revised pending ISU World Championships announcements.)
Section 4 Summary
The HPCLT was in a transition state early in the post-Olympic season until all of the Staff positions were filled. As the season progressed, everyone seemed to settle into their roles. With the retention of the complete Coaching and Administrative Staff for this season, we are well on our way to more stability in all areas.
High Performance Bulletins should be out on time to allow all skaters, (both National and Provincial level), the opportunity to read the Selection Criteria for the 2011/12 season. The addition of Derrick Auch to our Committee gave us the benefit of having a legal perspective during our discussions and decision making.
I would like to thank the Skaters, Coaches, IST Staff, SSC Staff, the Board of Directors and Dennis and Derrick for their contributions this past season. We all look forward to the new competition season on the road to Sochi 2014.
Submitted by, Gregg Planert Chairman, High Performance Committee Long Track
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High Performance Committee Short Track
Committee Members Tom Overend (Chair) Derrick Campbell Guillaume-Blais Dufour (Athlete Representative) Sébastien Cros Liam McFarlane (Athlete Representative) Bryce Holbech Frédéric Blackburn Jonathon Cavar Andrew Lahey Jeff Scholten Yves Hamelin (SSC Staff) Mark Mathies (SSC Staff) Jennifer Cottin (SSC Staff)
Section 1 Overview
The HPCST held two in person meetings and conducted three conference calls this year. Decisions and discussions of significance at these meetings will be referred to in other parts of this report. Liam McFarlane and Guillaume Blais-Dufour provided much-valued input from the athletes at our two training centres. We appreciate Liam and Guillaume stepping forward to represent the skaters this year. We also recognize and appreciate the excellent work of Yves Hamelin as the Program Director and staff lead for the committee, Mark Mathies in providing guidance and counsel in his new role as Executive Director, Sport and Jennifer Cottin in recording the minutes of Committee meetings and providing administrative support.
Kenan Gouadec and Mike Marshall were appointed as Coach Mentors for the LTPAD Train to Train stage in the East and West respectively. They helped SSC with the LTPAD implementation phase as well as talent identification and coaching skills mentoring. Kenan has since moved on to coach the Italian National Team so a replacement is being sought for the eastern Coach Mentor position. Jennifer Cottin was hired as the Short Track Program Coordinator working closely with Yves, the coaches and the athletes at the Montréal NTC as well as supporting the Calgary NTC. Laurent Daignault was hired as the new NT Short Track Equipment Technician.
We thank the meet coordinators, organizing committees and officials who collaborated so well to conduct our national selection events and championships in Calgary, Chicoutimi and Montréal. We appreciate their essential contributions to our high performance program.
Marc-André Monette and Steve Robillard have retired from our short track program. Steve and Marc-André represented Canada at FISU Games, World Championships and World Team Championships and many World Cups. We thank them for their dedication to our sport and we wish them all the best in their futures.
Section 2 Committee Decisions
1. Tom Overend was nominated and elected as the Chair of the Committee. 2. Andrew Lahey was nominated and elected as the Vice-Chair. 3. Committee representation at National Selection events for 2010-11:
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a. Canadian Junior Championships, Chicoutimi, Tom Overend b. Fall World Cup Selections, Calgary, Bryce Holbech c. Canadian Championships, Montréal, Bryce Holbech d. National Selections #2, Montréal, Yves Hamelin 4. The committee dealt with 3 bye requests for entry to competitions this year secondary to athletes who were injured and hence unable to compete at National Selection events. We granted 2 of these requests on condition that the athletes in question were able to show full training fitness by a specified date. The other request was not approved. 5. The committee dealt with 8 bye requests for National and Development Team positions, again relating to athletes who were injured and unable to compete for a spot at one or more of the National Selection events. We granted 4 of these requests, 2 were deemed not necessary because the athlete had already qualified for the team to which the bye was requested, and 2 were not approved. 6. The committee continued to utilize discretionary selections during the season, including 2 each for all of the World Cups, 2 for the FISU Games team and 2 for the World/World Team Championships team. The discretionary selections enabled the committee to ensure many athletes benefitted from international racing experiences during the first year of the Olympic quadrennial. 7. The process and practice of making discretionary selections was reviewed at our annual review meeting in May and the committee decided to continue to utilize discretionary selections. The purpose of discretionary selections can vary depending on the competition, for example to confirm the strongest possible team to represent Canada (e.g. World Championships, Olympic Games), or to meet the committee’s annual objectives for the high performance short track program, e.g. provide more international experiences to our athletes (World Cups, FISU Games). It will be important to clarify and articulate the intention of discretionary selections in all instances. The committee is currently working on the appropriate procedures to follow in situations where multiple bye requests and a discretionary selection are both under consideration. 8. The committee dealt effectively with conflict of interest issues this year by implementing the procedures announced at the 2010 AGM. We did not receive any negative feedback or concerns arising as a result of conflict of interest this year and will continue to remain vigilant with respect to this issue. 9. The committee established a rotation for the next three years for sites for our Fall World Cup Selections and the Canadian Championships. We hope the identification of a schedule through to the Sochi Olympic Games will greatly assist in the identification of hosts for the important competitions throughout each season. 10. We do not recommend sending short track skaters to the 2012 Youth Olympics because the age range targeted through the ISU criteria for this competition (15/16 yrs) is not congruent with SSC’s LTPAD. However we support the general concept of a Youth Olympics and would support any steps to raise the age level.
Section 3 Financial Forecast
The short track program operated approximately $60K under budget this year. It should be
32 SSC 124 Annual General Meeting 2nd Package – English Reports noted that it can be very difficult to budget accurately for the season as the budget is submitted early in the calendar year before we have received confirmation of all revenue streams. The financial management by our coaches and program staff continues to be thorough and within the guidelines of SSC.
Section 4 Committee’s Operational Guidelines
The High Performance Bulletins detail the operational guidelines for the conduct of our selection competitions, and the selection criteria for Athlete Assistance Program support, National Team, Development Team, World Championships’ Teams, Junior World Championships’ Team and World Cup Teams. These operational guidelines are revised on a continuing basis depending on a range of factors including proximity to the Olympic Games, input from members of our Teams, and international competition regulations and schedule.
• Bulletin #147 was published in early August, containing information on selection criteria and National Selection Event formats. • Bulletin #148 was published in January, containing information on selection criteria for the 2011-12 National and Development Teams as well as the Athlete Assistance Program, and the Bye Policy. • Bulletin #149 will be published during the summer, containing information on the 2011- 12 National and Development Team members, the competition schedule and national rankings.
Section 5 Requests and Recommendations
1. The issue of neck guards vs. integrated neck/chest protection in skin suits requires a resolution before the next competitive season. To that end we support the formation of an SSC Safety Committee and will work with them as necessary to come up with a solution.
2. We recommend that the Board review the current Appeals policy, particularly with respect to appeals in the high performance area. It became clear this year that the policy could be improved for clarity and appropriate flow of communication. Our experience with the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada (SDRCC) highlighted some issues with our current policy that need to be addressed before the next competitive season.
Section 6 Next Season’s Budget
The proposed budget is based on current knowledge about next season's competition locations, dates, and opportunities. As always, it contains a degree of uncertainty. The budget reflects the same basic program components as for every year (World Cup circuit, Junior and Senior World Championships, National Selection events, training camps, coaching salaries). In recent years, it has also included an expansion into the development side of the sport, funding the regional mentor coaches and intended regional training centres. The impact of funding through the OTP program continues to be considerable. We remain fortunate that OTP funding will
33 SSC 124 Annual General Meeting 2nd Package – English Reports continue in this post-Olympic period and in fact increased for the 2011-12 fiscal year, allowing most of the planned activities to proceed. The SSC contribution to the HP budget, although small in proportion, continues to be critical for the success of the program. We encourage SSC to pursue additional sources of funding to enhance the HP programs.
Section 7 Plans for Next Season
1. Three National Selection events are planned for 2011-12; Fall World Cup Selections, September 16-18 (Montréal), Canadian Championships, January 20-22 (Montréal), and final National Selection event, March (location and date TBC) 2. There will be one National Qualifier competition (December 10-11) to select up to 16 skaters to fill the competition field for the Canadian Championships in January. Qualification for this event will be by means of seed times. 3. The Canadian Junior Championships will be held December 3-4 in Calgary. 4. The teams for World Cups 1-4 will be chosen from the results of the Fall World Cup Selection event in September. 5. The teams for the World Championships and World Cups 5 and 6 will be chosen from the results of the Canadian Championships in January. 6. The entry field for the National Selection event held in conjunction with the Canadian National Short Track Championships will be reduced to 24 from 32.
Section 8 Results from 2010 – 2011
Montreal – Oct 22-24, 2010 Gold Silver Bronze Valerie Lambert, 500m Marianne St-Gelais, 500m Marianne St-Gelais, 1000m (first individual WC medal) Charles Hamelin, 500m Michael Gilday, 1000m Valérie Maltais, 1500m Guillaume Bastille, 1500m Marie-Eve Drolet, 1500m Guillaume Bastille, 1500m (first WC gold medal) Men’s 5000m relay Women’s 3000m relay
Québec City – Oct 29-31, 2010 Gold Silver Bronze Marianne St-Gelais, 500m Women’s 3000m relay François Hamelin, 500m François-Louis Tremblay, 500m Marianne St-Gelais, 1000m Charles Hamelin, 1000m Guillaume Bastille, 1000m Michael Gilday, 1500m (first WC gold medal) Men’s 5000m relay
Changchun, South Korea - December 3-5, 2010 Gold Silver Bronze
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Men’s 5000m relay Remi Beaulieu, 500m Marie-Eve Drolet, 1000m
Shanghai, China – December 10-12, 2010 Gold Silver Bronze Jessica Gregg, 500m Olivier Jean, 1500m Men’s 5000m relay
Moscow – February 11-13, 2011 Gold Silver Bronze Marianne St-Gelais, 500m François Hamelin, 1000m Michael Gilday, 1500m Women’s 3000m relay
Dresden – February 18-20, 2011 Gold Silver Bronze Marianne St-Gelais, 500m Marie-Eve Drolet, 1500m Michael Gilday, 1500m Marianne St-Gelais, 500m Guillaume Bastille, 1000m Marie-Eve Drolet, 1000m- Men’s 5000m relay Women’s 3000m relay
World Junior Championships – Courmayeur, Italy, February 26-27, 2011 Gold Silver Bronze Women’s relay Men’s relay
Overall Men Women Alexandre St-Jean – 14th Ann-Veronique Michaud – 12th Patrick Duffy – 17th Laurie Marceau – 13th Pier-Olivier Gagnon – 78th (injury) Cynthia Mascitto – 16th
World Championships – Sheffield, England, March 11-13, 2011 Gold Silver Bronze Men’s 5000m relay Charles Hamelin, 1000m Women’s 3000m relay Charles Hamelin, 1500m Olivier Jean, 500m
Overall Men Women Charles Hamelin – 2nd Marie-Eve Drolet – 9th Olivier Jean – 6th Marianne St-Jean – 10th François Hamelin – 8th Jessica Hewitt – 11th
World Team Championships – Warsaw, Poland, March 19-20, 2011
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Overall Men - 3rd Women - 4th
FISU Games Erzurum, Turkey, January 29-30, 2011 Gold Silver Bronze Liam MacFarlane, 500m Valérie Lambert, 500m Men’s 5000m relay
Section 9 Team Selection – 2011-2012 Season
National Team – Selection Events in Montreal (twice) Men Women Charles Hamelin Marianne St-Gelais François Hamelin Marie-Eve Drolet Olivier Jean Jessica Hewitt Guillaume Blais-Dufour Valérie Maltais Michael Gilday Jessica Gregg Rémi Beaulieu Caroline Truchon Guillaume Bastille Marie-Andrée Mendes-Campeau François-Louis Tremblay Gabrielle Waddell Kalyna Roberge
Development Team – Selection Events in Montreal (twice) Men Women Maxime Fortin Laurie Marceau Liam McFarlane Kassandra Bradette Alex Boisvert-Lacroix Ann-Véronique Michaud Gabriel Chiasson-Poirier Sabrina Bourgela Pier-Olivier Gagnon Valérie Lambert Alexandre St-Jean Vanessa Bélanger-Marceau Vincent Cournoyer Andrea Do-Duc Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu
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Long Term Participant and Athlete Development Working Group
The LTPAD Working Group Dennis Duggan, Chair Nancy Goplen Robert Dubreuil Yves Hamelin Mark Mathies Douglas Duncan
The Working Group acknowledges the role of the SSC Board of Directors for their unwavering support, and that of all of SSC’s standing committees, and the member Branches, who have contributed significantly to this process of moving forward in the transformation toward developmentally appropriate programming. The Competitions Development Committee again played a leadership role in operationalizing a new system of SSC National Competitions including the new format for the Canadian Long Track Age Class Championships, Canada East/West Championships and Canadian Short Track Championships based on the recommendations of Racing on Skates. In all the Working Group’s activities we have been ably supported by Douglas Duncan. His efforts continue to be important in achieving success in ensconcing SSC’s commitment to developmentally appropriate programming.
As a consequence of the changes that have occurred post Olympics with our professional office staff, the progress we had anticipated in moving the agenda forward has been somewhat tempered. It has taken some time to acclimate to the new environment. However, the commitment remains and it is anticipated that the energy that was evident previously will re- emerge.
This past year was a learning year. As was noted previously, this process is an evolutionary one characterized by review, integration and alignment of all speed skating programs. This is a continuum. Moving forward, the LTPAD Working Group will continue with its strategy for cooperation and implementation supporting SSC committees, branches and clubs to fully incorporate the principles of LTPAD into their everyday programming and decision making. To that end, Kenan Gouadec and Mike Marshall were engaged to provide advice and guidance and act as facilitators to support branches and mentors to coaches. Unfortunately, Kenan has recently accepted a coaching position with the Italian national team. His contribution will be missed. However the position will be filled.
In addition to the work of the standing committees we would like to acknowledge some of the important activities that took place this season.
• SSC Regional Development Mentors held a series of formal and informal meetings and information sessions with coaches at provincial and national events including at Canada Games and all SSC events with major format changes;
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• There was a strong commitment of club and branch volunteers who exerted major efforts in integrating new competition formats into Training to Train events and made significant efforts, also, to try different skills formats. Those involved shared their experiences with others across the country; • The team of national meet coordinators exchanged experiences frequently throughout the season finding more efficient ways to manage event formats; • Because all officials were open and willing to make things work with new formats, a great deal has been learned which will make the program stronger; • A significant aspect this year was the engagement of both the Short Track and Long Track High Performance Program Directors and Coaches in providing input in identifying critical developmental gaps that remain. This engagement is critical in the process of developing a technical referent model for speed skating.
The following priority areas remain focal points for the Working Group:
Communication and Education: The experience this year illustrates clearly the need to enhance our efforts to provide educational opportunities with regards to the principles of LTPAD and to improve our ability to communicate information. This need remains to develop specific strategies to provide more and better learning opportunities for coaches, officials and parents. We have made some progress toward achieving this goal. A primary education resource, a video introducing the principles of LTPAD, has been completed. It will be presented at this year’s AGM and is already being used in NCCP workshops. Activities in other more specific areas has commenced particularly as it relates to coaching and through SSC’s commitment to develop a new web based platform as well as the engagement of a communications specialist to support the development of the communication and education strategy. It is a priority now to be reaching directly to the club level. The use of webinars was piloted this past season and will be part of the strategy for the coming seasons.
Integrated LTPAD and Strategic Planning: SSC, Branches and Clubs are all equally important in the long term development of participants within our sport. Each has a different role to play in supporting the development of participants at different stages of development. The key to successful LTPAD implementation is an alignment of programs within the sport system, ensuring a continuum of participation within a sport. For this to occur, we all need to be working from a common plan with clearly stated strategic imperatives at each stage of development and for every stakeholder within SSC. This remains an objective toward which we will be focused.
Monitoring and Evaluation: To satisfy this requirement, it is critical that we monitor and evaluate their impact with an eye towards continuous improvement. To achieve this result a project has been initiated for which we hope to receive funding from Sport Canada. The purpose of this project is to develop and implement a sustainable formative assessment strategy. This can easily be adapted from year to year to track the implementation of new program initiatives. It will also measure their impact on the delivery of a quality sporting experience and developmentally appropriate programming in relation to each stage of an
38 SSC 124 Annual General Meeting 2nd Package – English Reports athlete’s development. The basic objectives will be to identify what program changes have occurred since the structural changes based on the recommendations of Racing on Skates; to use self-assessment and self-reporting as a means to inform and educate SSC stakeholders about developmentally appropriate programming; to reinforce positively and celebrate the efforts of Branches, Clubs and individuals who have led significant change initiatives within speed skating; and, to create a source of information which can be used to analyse programs with the intent of sharing success stories and lessons learned from changes made. As method of review, this is a unique approach which should serve all stakeholders well since it is an iterative process designed to support continuous improvement.
Respectfully submitted, Dennis Duggan
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Sustainability Committee
Committee Members Sustainability Committee Advisory Committee Sean Maw (SSC Board rep) Wendy Walker Keith Sultzer (LT athlete rep) Tom Overend Dave Thomson (Officials rep) Kristina Groves Mark Mathies (Staff rep) Glenn Holmes Kristina Krieck (Member rep) Christine Nesbitt Paul Daeninck Kim Weger Graham Wilkins
This past season was the second season for SSC’s Sustainability Committee (SC). The SC and its Advisory Committee (AC) members met about half a dozen times via phone. The season began by identifying a number of projects that members wanted to undertake. Given the busy season, not all projects came to fruition. Here are some updates on some notable project and accomplishments:
1) Video meetings: The SSC Board built upon last year’s video teleconference meeting and had another equally successful video meeting. Indeed, the question now is which Board meetings will be video teleconference, not whether there will be any. And more than one a year is being considered to save money, GHGs and time. As in 2009/2010, half the Board met at Intact in Montreal while the other half met at Intact in Calgary. In the end, approximately $4000 was saved, along with 4 tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as several person days of traveling/being away from family (versus a normal January meeting in Montreal).
2) Club facility survey: The survey was assembled, translated, and transferred to Survey Monkey this past season. More than 100 clubs responded which is an excellent return rate. The data has now been analyzed and will be shared with Branches and with all members at the SSC AGM.
3) Video teleconferencing infrastructure: The COC decided that it did not want to lead this effort, which put it back in our hands, again. SSC’s CEO is going to discuss this idea with the Winter Sport Caucus (or specific members thereof) to see if there is enough interest to put an initial system together in Ottawa and Calgary.
4) Green power: Some members of the SC/AC belong to Bullfrog Green Power and the suggestion was made that SSC could also do this, at the organizational level. While that proved difficult, given the way we are billed for power through our office, a further suggestion was made to encourage individual SSC members to join Bullfrog. Several SC/AC members have since done so, and we encourage all SSC members to support the
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development of green energy production by joining Bullfrog. For more information, check out www.bullfrogpower.com.
Given that SSC will be undergoing a corporate reorganization soon, the SC/AC has engaged in discussions with SSC’s CEO regarding how the SC/AC might function in the future. It was decided that the Committee functions will be replaced by two complementary approaches. First, as the SSC Board moves towards a new governance model, the existing Sustainability Policy will be incorporated into means and limitations policies that will require staff to consider sustainability in all of their actions and decisions. Second, for discrete projects like the Video teleconferencing infrastructure, the CEO will strike “task forces” of experts and key staff/volunteers who will plan and execute the projects. Until such time as SSC’s reorganization takes place, the SC/AC hopes and intends to continue its activities.
Submitted by,
Sean Maw Chair, SSC Sustainability Committee
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Branch Reports
Alberta Amateur Speed Skating Association
Alberta 2011 Highlights
Mike Marshall has played a pivotal role in improving coaching skills within the Alberta clubs. He organized a one day coaching seminar which was held on April 30, 2011, in conjunction with the AASSA AGM. The seminar attracted 30 participants. Mike also began working this past season with Speed Skating Canada as one of its Regional Development Mentors.
AASSA introduced the “Racing on Skates” program and our coaches, skaters, officials and volunteers have worked diligently to implement the changes into our meets, training and coaching. There have been challenges, but everyone was committed to making it work. Great progress has been made. Sharon Zorman was instrumental in transitioning in Meet Manager to the new racing formats.
AASSA hosted 28 skaters and coaches/leaders from Hokkaido, Alberta’s sister province in Japan. The delegation visited Alberta as part of an international sport exchange which was sponsored by the Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation. The Japanese skaters competed at the Oval Invitational and toured around Alberta for ten days. These teenage skaters connected with Alberta skaters in training, racing and in social activities. Coaches also exchanged insights and perspectives. Alberta will send a group of skaters and coaches/leaders to Hokkaido this November.
Alberta skaters attended the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax and came home with 3 gold, 4 silver and 5 bronze.
AASSA continues to focus on Club and Membership Development this season. Two new clubs began skating; Linaria and Veteran. A third club, Spruce Grove, is currently operating as part of the Edmonton Club, with a view to becoming its own Club in 2-3 years.
AASSA sent seven officials to the SSC Officials Symposium in Montreal in September 2010.
The Edmonton club has expanded their club to two arenas.
AASSA is working with other western Branches and the Oval Program on ideas to improve the short track racing circuit in Western Canada.
AASSA experienced a 17% overall reduction in the base funding we receive from the Alberta government. This funding supports all of our programs and staffing. We have made some of that up in profits from our online equipment store Speed Skate Cellar and increased memberships in the current year.
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Three Alberta clubs were the recipients of the Intact Insurance Podium Tracker Program.
Almost all of the Alberta clubs experience an increase in membership this season.
AASSA continues to work with the Olympic Oval, the Calgary Speed Skating Club and Speed Skating Canada regarding long-term speed skating plans and commitments for the Olympic Oval. AASSA congratulates Kam Kiland and Catriona LeMay Doan of the Olympic Oval on achieving their goal of updating the legacy funding model for the Oval, in conjunction with our partners at Winsport and the Government of Canada. This has, among other things, permitted a complete roof overhaul in the summer of 2011.
We continue to look for ways to increase the presence and participation of our most northern clubs; Peace River and Peace Wapiti
AASSA was well represented by the age class skaters who attended the Canadian and North American and Age Class Long Track Championships. AASSA was the largest contingent at the Canada West Short Track event in Kelowna.
The Alberta Long and Short Track Provincial Teams remain strong and competed at all Canada Cups and Trials. The ranks of the Provincials Teams has been thinned somewhat by skaters advancing to National teams and squads, but new skaters are moving up and will meet our time standards in the coming year.
Our National Long and Short Track Team Members currently are;
National Long Track Team National Short Track Team Jamie Gregg Jessica Gregg
National Long Track Development Team National Short Track Development Team
Anastasia Bucsis Liam McFarlane Nicole Garrido Gabrielle Waddell Sarah Gregg Gilmore Junio Kaylin Irvine Kirsti Lay Jennessa Kemp Tamara Oudenaarden Brianne Tutt Danielle Wotherspoon
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British Columbia Speed Skating Association
President’s Report
I am pleased to report on activities from British Columbia during the past year. The challenges presented by our grant funding being reduced post the 2010 Olympics resulted in our moving the branch office into the home of our administrator and the Board of BCSSA taking other significant measures to address budget shortfalls. Our goal was to minimize disruptions to our program areas and by working as a team; we were able to accomplish that goal.
Our Officials Development program is very strong in BC. This year senior, long serving officials were acknowledged with duffel bags customized with the BCSSA Logo and the recipient’s name. This was well received by the most deserving recipients. The BCSSA ODC committee has worked on recruiting and developing officials from around the Province with great success. With a new data base being developed the committee will be better able to track the work of the volunteers to assist with ensuring that they are able to work a variety of types of meets needed to enhance their training.
Our results at the Canada Winter Games were the best ever thanks to a great work of our High Performance Committee and our CWG team of coaches and their support network. BC has embraced LTPAD and our member clubs have hosted meets using a variety of formats. BC was proud to host the Western Canadian Championships in Kelowna. This was a great event and the organizing committee from Kelowna did an outstanding job.
Membership has grown thanks to the Olympic hangover. Our association is challenged with a mandate from our funders to grow our membership in all areas including coaches, officials and skaters. Failure to do so will significantly impact our funding moving forward. Therefor the Board be working very hard to on developing programs to enhance membership in all areas.
Our thanks to the SSC Team for their ongoing support of the programs within BC.
Respectfully submitted,
Jim Allison BCSSA President
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Manitoba Speed Skating Association
President’s Report
This season had its share of challenges and reasons for celebration for Manitoba speed skating. Our challenges included starting out the year with a deficit, which required us to look closely at our finances, and prioritize some budget items while reducing others. We reorganized some meets, cancelled 2 outright, and we were fortunate in securing some sponsorship for our Provincial Championships. We are working with Sport Manitoba to reduce our deficit, but will continue to be careful in our budgeting.
Incorporating the LTPAD model in our meets also became a challenge for our skaters and parents. Although we had run a series of education sessions for volunteers and athletes, our first short track meet using the new model was met with many comments and suggestions. With input from many people, MSSA and our clubs were able to come up with a competition model that appeared to satisfy most skaters. New plans are in place for this upcoming season, and we have already seen enthusiasm on the part of our members.
Some of our challenges at the beginning of the season became celebrations by season’s end. We committed to running two major LT meets in Winnipeg; Canada Cup 3 and the Canadian Age Class Long Track Championship. To ensure these ran smoothly, we needed to bring in lots of active volunteers, which looked like a daunting task early in the season. Our meet coordinators worked hard at bringing on board our current officials as well as several new parents and families. The weather was predictably cold, but we did complete both meets, with many personal bests and provincial and national records being set. We were recognized by SSC for the enthusiasm, dedication and skill of our volunteers. These meets allowed many of our officials to look for promotion; MSSA approved 16 applications for Level III certification and forwarded them to the ODC. We are hoping this enthusiasm leads to a process of renewal of our group of officials, as we are always open to new volunteers. This also applies to coaching at the club level, which looked a bit thin at the beginning of the season, but saw lots of enthusiastic participants in our development programs. We hope to see the benefits this next season.
We ran 10 meets in Manitoba this year. The Annual Prairie Dog Classic was again held in Souris, and attracted skaters from various parts of our province as well as from Saskatchewan. We hope to attract athletes from even further away next season! The majority of our meets were held in Winnipeg this year, but our Provincial ST Championships were in Selkirk, where our Interlake Club did a great job hosting. MSSA is excited to be the host for the Canada West Short Track Championships next season. We plan to use our expertise in running LT meets to ensure a good time for all!
Manitoba speed skaters had a great Canada Winter Games experience. Halifax warmly welcomed our athletes and parents, and the facilities were great-their LT oval was a fantastic sight! Our skaters’ efforts were rewarded with a gold medal in the Women’s 100 m, a silver
45 SSC 124 Annual General Meeting 2nd Package – English Reports medal in the Men’s 100 m and an unexpected but well deserved bronze medal in the Men’s LT Pursuit. Our short track team had an excellent showing, recognized by many as showing improvement with many promising skaters! Thanks go out to our coaches and managers who made the experience memorable for our athletes.
I would like to thank Todd Landon for his excellent work as our Provincial Coach and Technical Consultant. His dedication to the implementation of the LTPAD as well as the Provincial Program has again resulted in great performances for many skaters this year. He was instrumental in putting together our great Canada Winter Games teams, and was in Halifax to see them excel. We hope his ongoing work with our athletes and coaches will result in further success next season.
Our Executive Director, Nicolle Moskven, had several challenges throughout this season. Financial pressures, club turnover, two national meets and a new baby contributed to anything but a boring year, and we are pleased to have her excellent skills at the head office. Many of us are looking forward to seeing her son Dillon on the ice as a “just-out-of-the-cradle” skater next season!
Finally, a special thanks to all of our skaters, parents and volunteers without whom we would not have MSSA. I wish you all much fun and success in your future on the ice and off. Thanks to all for a great year, and I look forward to our next season!
Respectfully submitted, Paul Daeninck
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Speed Skate New Brunswick
President’s Report
The 2010 – 2011 speed skating season brought many joys, successes and positive milestones for speed skate New Brunswick’s athletes, coaches, officials and volunteers. The year included many challenges for the province, specifically with implementing the competition changes passed down from speed skate Canada. Additionally, being a Canada Winter Games year was of no help to our break-even budget. It also added a lot of stress on our coaches and volunteers who already give up so much of their time.
1. Learning Curve I was elected as Chairman of the Board of Speed Skate New Brunswick after a chaotic summer of trying to find a candidate for the position. After I stepped up there were still some political issues to work through which lead to the forceful resignation of our Vice Chair. Finally, in mid- September the dust settled and our board of Directors was ready to being work under new leadership. I, Ray Harris, assumed the position of Chairman, and Mary McCarthy was the newly appointed Vice Chair. Fortunately, we had a very experienced and knowledgeable board to work with. They were very patient with me while I learnt the ropes and always able to help when things got over my head. As the season progressed I grew more comfortable with the position and was able to leave the board to their work while I took care of mine.
2. Positives for the Season This season branches were given the challenge of implementing the new competitions format. This includes the new age groups as well as the racing formats. It proved to be a big challenge for Speed Skate New Brunswick, but not one that we shied away from. Even in the midst of a chaotic Canada Winter Games season, a topic I will address shortly, most committees dedicated their time and resources to a successful, progressive beginning to the new format. Unbelievably, some of our volunteers took the time to reprogram the software to allow for the use of Meet Manager with competitions combining 100 and 111m tracks. This was a necessity for our Province as we already tap out on volunteers per meet and manual tracking would be all but impossible. Further, at a club level, volunteers discussed the best way to run the meet, they set up 100 meter tracks and bravely ventured outside of their comfort zone to comply to the message being passed down. Sure, not everyone was happy, but the effort at a provincial and club level assured the best transition was being attempted. The volunteers in this province proved themselves. They went well beyond the call of duty, wondering into the unknown. It was frustrating, very much so at times, but no one quit. We worked together to deliver the best result to our skaters. In the end we delivered a working product. It was progressive, but it has put us in a great position to fully comply with this year’s competition format. We were also able to work out a few kinks in the process, areas to look at and discuss before next season.
The major single event of the year was the Canada Winter Games, held in neighboring Halifax. New Brunswick saw amazing success in short track speed skating with three different athletes picking up medals in individual events and our relay team chiming in for a fourth
47 SSC 124 Annual General Meeting 2nd Package – English Reports podium finish. There was also a lot of maritime love and seeing the large crowd cheering on New Brunswick skaters was definitely a treat. Our long track skaters also did very well and were applauded by large crowds who came to check out the unique event at the commons. Success as a province at these games will hopefully prove to be crucial in the coming year. Still riding off of the publicity wave from the Olympics, we look forward to seeing club memberships grow and welcoming curious spectators who want more than a bleacher seat. Further, we hope to turn this success into a bit of sponsorship money to help offset the higher costs that face our organization.
Following the Canada Winter Games we received the fantastic news that the City of Halifax have decided to keep their Long track ice surface for the years to come. This means great things for our province. Up to this year, we have had to travel seven hours to Quebec for long track ice time and the sport has not had the chance to grow. We hope that if this facility is able to stay permanent that we can begin development of a long track team.
3. Room for Improvement There are a couple of areas within the organization that can still be developed and improved. The most notable is volunteer recruitment and retention. Our volunteers did a fantastic job this year, especially considering how understaffed some of the committees were. This is our biggest need for improvement and the job that I have taken closest to heart. We need to find a way to get our members interested in giving back to the sport. Unfortunately, in previous years, there have been many reasons for volunteers to quit and stop contributing to the sport. We have, and will continue, to take steps to eliminate the issues and advertise the joy of operating on the board. Hopefully as soon as this next season will we see empty spots on our committees disappear as parents get more involved in the organizational side of the sport.
Our finance side this also saw its struggles as our Financial Director found himself a new, more demanding job. Our budgets often came late, expense checks were delivered after the fact and financial reports were inexistent. I take a lot of the blame for this. The entire financial side was new to me and it was also quite mysterious. On top of this was the fact that our Director of Finances was very busy with frequent travels, heavy workloads and heavy workloads at his place of employment. Now that I have a grip on things, I have hopes that finances next year will be met by smoother seas. Other than the financial operations, our finances also need help. With the Canada Winter Games this year we knew we were going to spend more. However we completely spent our surplus from last year and are under a hundred for our season total. Fortunately we are still in the positives, but it is getting a bit close for comfort. I have struck a committee to search for an organizational sponsor and hopefully that will deliver a bit of cash. We do not wish to charge the clubs any more as they are struggling financially as well.
Lastly, one of our achievements lies in the club that just won't quit. Faced with unfair demands from the city for the third straight year, demands that included an exclusion from their own rink, the club of Caraquet perceived with the help of passionate volunteers who bickered with city council to get scrapes of ice time. They then made their program work in such stressful
48 SSC 124 Annual General Meeting 2nd Package – English Reports conditions. Although considered a win, this is an area that needs improvement, and I plan to, the club willing, help them throughout the summer to re-establish their deserved presence in the city.
4. Future Plans and Goals A few goals for the next season have already been mentioned: the filling of committees and finding a sponsor for some extra cash flow. I strongly believe that there is a lot of room for development in this province. This includes helping some clubs reach their full potential and finding new opportunities across the province. However such ventures are impossible without a function, populated, domestic development committee. Other committees are also not reaching their full potentials due to lack of volunteers. One of my goals for the upcoming season, as it was for the past season, will be finding the people to fill these vacancies.
Another area I would like to improve involves the day to day operations of SSNB. Gradually, we need to return to our constitution and by-laws for our operations. We have spent a great deal of time discussing issues at board levels when the problems really belong to the committees. We second guess each other and repeat work. In the upcoming year I hope to restore the power of decision to the committees and focus on positive, helpful communications between committees to ease the development of speed skating in the province. Further, issues shouldn't be discussed at length during board meetings. This leads to tangents that needlessly increase the meeting length. In the future I will try to create ad hoc committees as necessary who will look into issues and present that at board meetings for a vote. Another goal I will take on is finding ways to increase our funds and lowering our costs. As a summer project I plan to look into potential funding for our organization. Another plan is finding new ways to host our meetings as conference calling is getting expensive.
5. Final Word My first term as chairman of the board has been very rewarding and I hope to be continuing in this position after our AGM. Working with all the members of Speed Skate New Brunswick has been a great pleasure, every member contributes to this province and I can't thank the volunteers enough. This season, more than others, has been very hectic and busy but luckily that only brought the best out of our volunteers who thrived under the challenge. I enjoy this position and hope to get the opportunity to put my ideas into motion in the following years.
Sincerely, Ray J. Harris Chairman of the Board, Speed Skate New Brunswick
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Newfoundland & Labrador Speed Skating Association
President’s Report
Introduction In reviewing the past season as president of the association, I must say I am happy to have gotten through it with relatively little damage done. This past season saw me on a major learning curve as I took over the role of President. There are many things I still don’t know about speed skating in general let alone running a provincial sport organization. I experienced a few hurdles along the way but managed to struggle over them and hold things together fairly well with help. I also am not well versed in report writing but I will try anything once.
I would like to thank past president Arch Alexander, Carl Sparrow, HVSSC director and Glenn Littlejohn, director of Culture and Sport NL and Lab., without whose continued support and guidance, I never would have made it. Also, I would like to thank Speed Skating Canada and its staff for being so helpful and supportive as well.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, we have only one club. I therefore find myself being president of the Provincial Association by becoming the president of The Humber Valley Speed Skating Club. This sometimes makes the jurisdictional lines a little fuzzy and confusing at times but I am learning to distinguish them a little clearer.
I am pleased with the season and the momentum we managed to achieve as a club and as an overall provincial association. There is still a great deal of work to be done to grow both organizations, but I strongly believe that it is not an impossible mission.
2010 – 2011 Registration In 2009-2010 there were at total of 26 skaters registered with the Humber Valley SSC. 18 were males and 8 were females. This has been an average number over the last few years and in the 2010-2011 season, we saw similar numbers. Registration was held in September at the Pepsi Centre in Corner Brook where 25 skaters signed up for the 2010-2011 season. 11 were female and 14 were male. I recognize that these numbers could very well be increased and I will begin to build an action plan with some of the HVSSC parents to implement a strategy.
Competition There are no competitions held in Newfoundland and Labrador and for all competition, we travel to the mainland. The cost is quite high and travel due to the ferry is never guaranteed. This is the main reason that many NFLD speed skaters do not attend meets. We are working to make travel more affordable. Carpooling is one way we managed to reduce travel costs this past season. We achieved our goal of getting more skaters to more meets this year than in the last three. This is sparking more interest with other skaters and our goal next season is to increase the number of skaters again. Next year we will be looking at other fund raising opportunities to offset travel costs.
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The opening competition of the season was The Atlantic Cup held Charlottetown PEI. In Dec. we travelled to Fredericton to the Harold Joyce memorial meet. Jan. we packed up and went to St John NB for the Maritime Championship. The St Croix all points meet in St Andrews NB was held in February.
Canada Winter Games At this point, the HVSSC does not have a level three coach as the previous level three coach was no longer with the club. Being a prerequisite for the Games, the board did not consider sending anyone to Halifax. As a result, the Director of Culture and Sport was informed last year that we would not be sending a team to the Games. I was not involved with the board at this time and was not aware of this decision. I was approached a little later in the season by Bronwyn Woolfrey who at that time stated her wish to attend the Games.
I felt it was important for NFLD and LAB. to be represented at the Games and we approached Peter Steele and Derrick Macleod, to ask if they would consider coaching and training Bronwyn while at the games so that she may attend. They graciously accepted, and with the help of Glenn Littlejohn, (culture and sport nl) all the necessary arrangements were made before the final deadlines. This was to be Bronwyn`s second Canada Games Competition of her career. During the season, Bronwyn trained and competed with the goal of achieving a specific time in her 500m. She did not win the gold medal but she did achieve her time. Watching Bronwyn set herself a goal and attain it, makes me proud of her. She is a great athlete and coach on and off the ice, an exemplary student, and a tremendous mentor to all the kids in the Humber Valley Club. Congratulations to Bronwyn.
Coaching Bronwyn, Aubrey and I provided on-ice instruction. Bronwyn lent her expertise to the older skaters and deserves special recognition again this year. Aubrey and I tended to the younger skaters. We endeavoured to make it as fun and enjoyable as possible for all and I feel we succeeded.
Coaching is one area that needs attention in NFLD and we will begin by getting myself, Charlotte Woolfrey, and Bronwyn Woolfrey our fundamentals in coaching next fall with plans to have at least two level three coaches by the next Canada Winter Games. I will be investigating any grants through government organizations to help pay the cost of bringing someone to hold a coaching clinic in NFLD. It may prove cost prohibitive so travelling to the mainland might prove the only feasible route to take in this event.
At Christmas, former HVSSC skater, Matt Taylor came out and skated with us, giving some valuable instruction to the older skaters. Matt skated for NFLD at the Canada Winter Games in Whitehorse. It was greatly appreciated as me and all the older skaters benefitted from his experience. We are always looking for feedback from the skaters and parents to bring new ideas to the ice so that we can maintain a high level of interest and enjoyment for our members.
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Finances Our treasurer reported that the Humber Valley club finished the season in the black. Its registration revenues were not enough to cover the forty hours of ice time costs, but significant financial donations by local business and private individuals, helped to cover costs for the season and leave a small surplus.
In the upcoming season we hope to strike a committee that will focus on generating revenues for the HVSSC. We plan to implement a strategy to bring more corporate and business donations to the club as well as a fundraising committee that will organize events throughout the year to increase club revenues. Finding and applying for grants is also an area that we plan to look further into. Perhaps an individual or a committee could be appointed to this in the future.
Special Projects 1. The NFLD and LAB. Speed skating association made a request to the Pepsi Centre management to construct and install a new display case in the lower lobby at the arena. Permission was granted and local businesses were approached for support. We were given all necessary materials to build the new cabinet and in early May the cabinet was mounted on the wall in the lower lobby. This new cabinet will allow HVSSC and the NFLD and LAB. SSC to display information, meet results, or anything else to improve speed skating awareness in Corner Brook and the rest of the province.
2. HVSSC vice president, Aubrey Sanders, in conjunction with me, applied for the Speed Skating Canada Festivals Grant. Our application was approved and a committee was formed to organize the Winter Carnival `Racing on Skates` event. The event was a great success not only for the HVSSC but for the parents as it brought them closer together in hosting on such an event. This event brought a chance for the public to try speed skating as well as raise public awareness of the sport as we look to increase the number of new members each year. We receive a great deal of radio and print media because of this event and we look forward to hosting another event next year.
3. Louis Garneau contacted HVSSC in December to offer a chance to buy new skins. With a great deal of salesmanship, the club president and the branch president, convinced parents to purchase more than enough new skins to meet the minimum order. We ordered eighteen new units but received them too late in the season to allow the kids to wear them. Speedy Automotive agreed to sponsor the new skins with a cash donation to be made each year. Hopefully having the Speedy Automotive logo on the backs of the new skins will convince other businesses to become involved with speed skating and support it more actively in the future.
Election of Officers Due to low participation at the AGM, we deferred voting until September. I spend May to Sept in Ontario and could not be available to work on this at any other time.
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Goals It is the goal of the NFLD and LAB. Speed Skating Association to increase the number of skaters attending more meets in 2011- 2012. This will improve these skaters’ abilities and improved results will benefit all areas of the sport in the province. As the province works to adopt a more healthy and active lifestyle, I would like to see speed skating join with elementary schools in offering a school program for grade three or four students. This would be a good area to start building and regenerating speed skating in the province. Having more clubs is also a goal in which we need to achieve in the future. I believe that we should have at least a west, central and east club on the island and two clubs in Labrador.
Overview By remaining focused on our priorities, having strong leadership, tools and resources available, I believe we can achieve our goals of growth. More skaters attended more meets and we achieved a great deal of exposure from radio, television and newspaper. The Western Star contacted me in the fall to do a story. Results were posted in the Western Star from all the meets we attended and there were CBC radio interviews with Bronwyn and myself. Having someone dedicated to media relations, may be something to look at for us. Hopefully this will lead to increased registration in speed skating and I believe that starting with the athlete is the best place to start rebuilding.
Over the course of the year, I was impressed at how much each of the skaters improved. It was exciting for me to watch them grow and mature. The efforts of the executive, coordinators, parents and coaching staff are all required to ensure a successful season. I will work to recruit more volunteers to fill more positions within speed skate NL and LAB hoping that “many hands make light the work”, will work to make the growth of speed skating in NFLD and LAB easier and more rapid.
I would like to thank Speed Skating Canada, Peter Steele NB, Derrick Macleod and everyone else who helped to make the past season a big success for NFLD and LAB.
Have a safe and enjoyable summer.
Roger Zilkowsky President 2010-2011 Newfoundland and Labrador Speed Skating
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Speed Skate Nova Scotia
President’s Report
Speed Skate Nova Scotia has had a very busy and positive season. Our membership, both past and present, came together to take advantage of many opportunities that arose as a result of events leading up to the 2011 Canada Winter Games. Media coverage for speed skating in Nova Scotia in newspapers, television, local magazines and radio was extensive. Our athletes were invited to participate in many promotional events during the last year, raising the profile of speed skating.
The public response to the Halifax Oval was beyond anything we could have anticipated and efforts of very dedicated volunteers allowed us to promote the sport. Learn-to-Speed Skate Clinics were hosted by the local club with 322 special event members participating. Dedicated speed skating hours were set aside by the city for the Dartmouth Club and as a result they grew their membership from 37 to 89 skaters. The decision by Halifax Council to make the Halifax Oval a permanent facility opens the door to many exciting new opportunities for us. Membership numbers in the Cape Breton clubs remained steady at their previous season numbers. Try Speed Skating Clinics were held in the Annapolis Valley Region with 51 participants. Local community development officers are currently conducting community interest sessions to encourage the development of a club in that region. In preparation for the 2011 Canada Winter Games there were three Level 1 Official Clinics held over the past season. Our number of officials has increased from 39 to 84. We also had two officials in attendance at the SSC Officials Symposium. We would like to acknowledge Laurie Murchison for his many contributions and are proud to have had him as our representative on the Officials Development Committee.
There were three events held in Nova Scotia this season. The Skate the Common Marathon had close to 300 participants and was a huge success. The Canadian Masters Championships and Halifax 2011 Canada Games Invitational Test Event had 47 participants. The 2011 Canada Winter Games in February was the high point for us and a truly rewarding experience. The support of the speed skating community from other provinces was incredible and we truly appreciate their efforts to help us make the 2011 Canada Winter Games a success.
Emphasis on coaching development has been identified as a top priority for next season and the board will be focusing on creating coaching development opportunities for the clubs.
I would like to express my gratitude to the membership for their support and efforts during my term as President. The outlook in Nova Scotia is very promising and I wish them well as they explore their possibilities under new leadership.
Respectfully submitted, Terri Dixon, President Speed Skate NS
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Speed Skating Nunavut
President’s Report
This past season has been an exciting and rewarding year for Speed Skating Nunavut. We have participated successfully in several competitions, made significant advances in coaching development and have recruited a remarkable bunch of younger skaters.
An all-girls team from Iqaluit skated at the Fifth Eastern Ontario Regional Ability Meet in Brockville, Ontario. We were fortunate to have a very rewarding experience there and we would like to express our gratitude to the organizers and athletes in Brockville.
We sent a small but very motivated team to Canada Winter Games 2011 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Speed Skating Nunavut would like to acknowledge and thank all the participants in that event for a wonderful experience. Congratulations!
And finally, at the end of season finale, the Canada East Short Track Championships, in Toronto, Ontario, we once again had an amazing opportunity to compete against some of the best young skaters in Canada. We learned a lot and were fortunate enough to win two medals in the Two Person Relay. We loved all the new events and we congratulate Speed Skating Canada for the new developments in short track speed skating. These new innovations will help keep our sport exciting and appealing to all ages – both for athletes and spectators. Thank you to the organizers of this event for a great experience.
We are now preparing for Summer Camp activities, in preparation for Arctic Winter Games 2012, Canada East Championships 2012 (we will commit to participating again!) and we are now in a long range plan to develop a team for Canada Winter Games 2015.
Our two clubs, in Iqaluit and Cambridge Bay, extend our cordial greetings to everyone connected with Speed Skating Canada.
Good news for those who surf the web: Speed Skating Nunavut is proud to announce our website. Check it out: http://www.nunavutspeedskating.ca/index.html
Thank you very much.
Respectfully submitted,
John Maurice President- Speed Skating Nunavut
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Northwest Territories Amateur Speed Skating Association
President’s Report
The mission of the NWTASSA is to deliver programs and services that promote the sport of speed skating to residents of the NWT.
Membership and Programs: • Our membership experienced a 4% growth. • We continued our strong Special Olympics program in Yellowknife and added several new skaters to the program. At the Alberta Provincial Championships, NWT Special Olympians skated away with 10 medals. • Skater development programs included training camps in all 6 clubs, and a territorial summer camp. • Successful school programs were offered on a long-term basis in Yellowknife and short-term basis in four other communities.
Financial: • We are in a strong financial position at our year-end and received support grants for sport development from the territorial government, which will continue through next season.
Competitions: • All clubs attempted to integrate the new LTPAD age groups and distances into their practices and competitions. • The NWT Championships attracted 120 skaters. A combination of old and new formats was successfully incorporated into the program. • Skaters had successful experiences attending CWG, National Championships and Canada West Championships plus 3 other out-of-territory competitions. • Two skaters qualified to attend national short track team trials. • One skater was returned to Canada’s National Short Track Team and finished his season with 12 world cup medals and 2 world championship medals.
Coach Development: • Coach training occurred in three community clubs (Fundamental Leader, and Fundamentals) • One member sits on SSC’s Coaching Development Committee. • There is an increasing challenge to find qualified Learning Facilitators to deliver our coaching courses. We are looking forward to the completion of the Comp-Dev models, which we hope will allow our interested coaches to complete their studies in the NWT. Officials Development: • This area needs to become a priority next season.
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Summary: • This was a successful season for the NWTASSA and its many volunteers. Effort and hard work has been directed to improving communications and providing increased opportunities for skaters in our smaller, more isolated clubs. Programming for all ages of recreational skaters, adult programs, and increased developmental of officials will need to receive higher priority in the coming seasons. My thanks go to our very dedicated board members and tireless club organizers.
Pam Dunbar President, NWTASSA
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Ontario Speed Skating Association
President’s Report
Skater and Membership registration in Ontario has increased again for the fifth straight year and during the 2010/2011 season Ontario registered over 2,500 members. Clubs across Ontario worked to offer additional skating times, programs for students and were able to take advantage of the wide spread awareness and interest in speed skating created by the Vancouver Olympics and the 2011 Canada Winter Games.
Ontario undertook a major change to its competition format a number of years ago and minor improvements continue to be made both to satisfy the needs of the members and to better adopt the principles outlined in the Long Term Athlete Development program. For short track skaters Ontario’s clubs hosted 12 regional ability meets as well as regional and masters championships. There were 4 Ontario Cup races for the province’s faster skaters and culminated with our Provincial Championship hosted by the London Speed Skating Club.
Ontario fielded a full team of skaters, coaches and managers who together represented Ontario at the Canada Winter Games in Halifax. The Gloucester Concordes hosted a separate competition to select the ST skaters for the CWGs team while I would like to acknowledge the Quebec Federation for allowing Ontario to use their fall race to select Ontario’s LT Team.
The Toronto club with support from both SSC and many coaches and officials from across Ontario hosted the first Canada East Short Track Championships. In the run up to this competition and during the weekend itself it became obvious that Ontario was alone in having altered its provincial championships to qualify the skaters who attend the new regional championships using the new race format and distances. The competition experiences from this past season confirm that there remains much work needed to determine the best practical methods to implement LTPAD into our existing competition and development format. Ontario was very happy to welcome a number of SSC Board and administration members to the competition in Toronto. It would have been great to also see some of Association leaders who have been pushing the LTPAD initiative in attendance at this LTPAD inspired competition.
Another important Ontario initiative designed to implement the principles of the LTPAD has been to create additional entry points for new members. A number of clubs in Ontario continued to implement student programs. Generating the necessary financial support for the programs and competitions in Ontario remains a major challenge as our Provincial Government continues to reduce the Association’s base funding support. Ontario’s growth in membership managed to offset the negative impact of less provincial government funding and our Association looks forward to continued growth and success on the ice in 2011 -2012.
Respectfully submitted, Graham Wilkins President, Ontario Speed Skating Association
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Speed Skate PEI
President’s Report
Membership and Program Speed Skate PEI experienced a very successful 2010-2011 skating season in terms of growth in membership. We had a total of 92 registered skaters in 2010-2011 compared to 60 skaters in 2009-2010, a 53 percent increase. This success was due in large part to an excellent marketing and communication strategy lead by two of our parent volunteers following on the heels of the 2010 Winter Olympics.
We offered skating programs for all levels of skaters including: Competitive A, Competitive B, Development 1, Development 2 and a learn to skate program. In addition, there was extra ice time and training for our nine Canada Winter Games speed skaters.
Financial We ended the year with a small surplus. The increase in revenue from registrations allowed us to purchase several new pairs of skates and blades. We also purchased new mats with the seed money that was won by our club at the last Speed Skating Canada AGM.
Coaches Development Phil Byrne continues to take the lead in coaching. As Head Coach, Phil provided tremendous leadership to our assistant coaches and on-ice helpers this past year and went the extra mile preparing our senior skaters for the Canada Winter Games. We still face challenges finding new coaches and continue to offer training and development opportunities to those parents and former skaters who have shown an interest in coaching.
Competitions and Special Events Skaters attended a total of 10 off -Island meets this past year including Maritime meets, Easterns, Ontario Cup 2 and Espoir. The high point of the season for our senior skaters was definitely the Canada Winter Games in Halifax.
The Club hosted two fun meets and a major meet, the Atlantic Cup, where the 115 skaters from across Atlantic Canada experienced the new meet format for the first time. Overall, it was a positive experience for the club and skaters alike.
Summary Speed Skate PEI continues to provide a quality skating program for skaters of all levels and abilities. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our volunteers for their time and commitment to speed skating in PEI. I also want to thank the Board and staff of Speed Skating Canada for their ongoing support to our Club.
Respectfully submitted,
Wendy Francis, President, Speed Skate PEI
59 The 2010-2011 Report of la Fédération de patinage de vitesse du Québec
1. Introduction
As we say, a big season always follows another big one and the 2010-2011 season kept the tradition alive. We call it a big season because we had to cope with two big games: the Québec Games in Valleyfield-Beauharnois and the Canada Games in Halifax which occurs every four years. Also, in this post-Olympic year, our membership attained another peak with an historic record of 5822 members.
2. Sport development
After having passed the 5000 members threshold, the Fédération de patinage de vitesse du Québec (FPVQ) goes beyond to reach the new goal of 6000 members. This fast growth is due to the Vancouver Olympic Games but also due to the passionate volunteers in the field who quite often accomplish the impossible to take care of these new skaters.
We registered a constant growth in Montreal suburbs where most new families settle down. The challenge will keep increasing for a few years after the Games. It usually does.
The “Pentathlon des neiges” put our sport in the front row, having a temporary oval installed on the “Plaines d’Abraham” for the Québec City peoples to enjoy with skates on.
The FPVQ will probably greet a new club next year, in Ste-Anne-des-Monts, where there are only a few administrative procedures to be completed in view of the coming season. This is another good sign of a healthy federation along with a healthy sport. We acknowledge the active and efficient implication of Louis Forget, our FPVQ representative in the Clubs and Memberships SSC Committee.
3. Coaches
Many steps have been taken to implement the project of improving our program:
1. December 2010: Meeting with different participants to have a second look at the project. 2. January 2011: In order to meet with all member requests, we updated and sent the Coaches Training Guide. The major changes from the Guide were: - The accepted age for attending FUNdamentals’ Coach Training Stages and Introduction to Competition Stages. - The possibility of attending the stages according to the needs for intervention, overruling the proposed time laps between different stage levels. 3. A clear schedule has been issued so that non certified coaches could complete there stages according to certain deadlines. 4. February 2011: Sending for a second time the coaches Data base with the Coach Training Guide. 5. March 2011: We made a survey amongst coaches so to better orientate our interventions for the next season. 6. April 2011: A list of coaches who did not complete their FUNdamentals Coach and Introduction to Competition stages was sent to club presidents, to inform them.
Many stages have been given during this season. Here are details of the number of trained and certified coaches. The FUNdamentals stage held in Québec City is not shown because the B section will be given in August 2011.
Coaches Stages for the 2010-2011 season
FUNdamentals Monitor FUNdamentals Coach Introduction to Competition-Coach Dat Place Particip Da Place Particip Da Place Particip e ants te ants te ants Jun Au Se e- g.- pt. 201 20 20 0 10 10 Jun Oct Total e- .- 201 20 0 10 Sept Apr .- .- 201 20 0 11 Oct. Total - 201 0 Nov. - 201 0 Nov. - 201 0 Total
2010-2011 2009-2010 Courses Trained Certified Trained Certified FUNdamentals Monitor FUNdamentals Coach FUNdamentals Coach- direct Introduction to Competition Level 3 Technical-Level 3 Level 4 Total
Finally, many thanks to Annie Sarrat for her active role within the SSC Coaching Development Committee !
4. Competitions and events
Competitions:
On the competition side, season 2010-2011 has been quite loaded. We held competitions in our 5 regions on this post-Olympic year. Some were provincial competitions of “Development”, “Espoir” or “Elite” levels, long track provincial competitions Mass Start or Olympic Style, with some winter festivals like the “Festival de patinage de vitesse longue piste”, the” Marathon des maîtres” and the “Défi des plaines d’Abraham”, the Short Track National Trials, a Canada Cup, the “Jeux du Québec”, the Junior and Senior Short Track Canadian Championships, as a grand finale, two World Cups were held on the Québec lands. So with all these competitions, we really have lots of experience to transmit to new volunteers.
We would like to thank Events Organizing Committees like CODES (Comité organisateur d’événements-Saguenay), CODEPS (Comité organisateur d’événements de patinage-Sherbrooke), CODEM (Comité organisateur d’événements-Montréal), CODEC-AGB (Comité organisateur d’événements et de competitions-Anneau Gaétan Boucher) and the Speed Skating Events Office. The holding of all of these national and international competitions would have been impossible, without these committees.
The FPVQ is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, and competitions have become a big priority during these four decades of its history. Competitions have evolved under different formats. In spite of all these changes, be it positive or negative, our athletes’ performance and their desire to win and get better has become a constant value thought the years. This aim to win can be found at all levels: our coach training, the improvement of our officials, the experience of our volunteers, research on equipment technique and development, etc.
The coming years will become the turning point towards a more concrete and active implementation of the Long Term Participants and Athletes Development Model. There will be a new lease of life in the competition field.
We would like to express our thanks to Robert Bourassa for his work within the SSC Competition Development Committee.
Our officials:
Season 2010-2011 started with a National Symposium for Officials which was held by Speed Skating Canada (SSC) and its Officials Development Committee (ODC) and in which about thirty of our officials participated. This symposium consisted in information workshops between starters, discussions between referees and updates of International Skating Union (ISU) and Speed Skating Canada (SSC) rules. Then, the FPVQ annual referees and starters meeting was held to update the procedures.
Forty-four referees and starters shared the task of refereeing provincial and national competitions, for short track and long track meets. They always met with the highest expectations.
AT FPVQ LEVEL Function Level reached or Region of origin Name on standby Referee Level #1 West Region Referee Level #1 East Region Referee Level #1 East Region Starter Level #1 Québec Region Referee Level #2 Québec Region Referee Level #2 Québec Region Starter Level #2 Québec Region AT SSC LEVEL
Referee Level 3B West Region Referee Level 3B West Region Referee Level 3B Sag-Lac Region Starter Level 3B Sag-Lac Region Referee Level 3A Québec Region Starter Level 3A West Region AT ISU LEVEL
Starter Level #4 Québec Region Referee Level #4 Central Region
A few of those were promoted to a higher level in the province of Québec because they met with the established criteria and obtained good evaluations.
Officials’ record of levels 3B and 3A have been submitted to ODC from SSC and those of level 4 to ISU. We wish them the best of luck in obtaining their level in the pursuit of their development towards higher goals.
We would like to express our gratitude to Michel Dumont for his excellent achievement in the Québec officials’ file. Due to his regular attendance and his professionalism, he not only assigned the officials at competitions and kept a close follow-up but also, kept all officials’ curriculum vitaes up to date, thus permitting an adequate up-grading of officials in a more objective way.
We would also like to thank Yvan Patry for representing FPVQ in the Officials Development Committee (ODC) of Speed Skating Canada.
And finally, many thanks to Yves Michaud who represented the FPVQ at Sport-Québec, in the Officials Development Committee (ODC) where he worked on the “Formation multisports des officiels” (FMOQ) file during the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 seasons.
5. Élite development
On a post Olympic year, one could expect a slight slowing down from our champions but that was not the case. In Short Track, Charles Hamelin had the best cumulative results of his career at the World Championships. He finished second, with his two silver medals. We should also note that Olivier Jean brought a silver medal home in the 500m race and our talented relays teams performed well also at these same Championships. On the World Cup, Marianne St-Gelais dominated the 500m race throughout the whole season where she finished first, every time. We should also mention medals for the following skaters: Marie-Ève Drolet, Guillaume Bastille, François-Louis Tremblay, Valérie Maltais, Valérie Lambert, François Hamelin et Charles Hamelin.
On Long Track, Mathieu Giroux came back to where he left, with a 15th place in the All- around Championships and an 8th place in the 1500m at the World Championships by distance. At these same Championships, Philippe Riopel took the 10th place in the 1000m, further more, Vincent Labrie and Muncef Ouardi took the 12th and 14th place respectively, in the 500m which are impressive results for our Quebecers.
In the junior category, our Short Track Junior National Team is almost totally from the Québec province and the girls won a silver medal in the relay race and our boys brought a bronze medal home in the relays race also at the World Junior Short Track Championships, in Courmayeur, Italy. Laurie Marceau, Ann-Véronique Michaud, Cynthia Mascitto, Pier-Olivier Gagnon, Alexandre St-Jean and Maxime Gauthier were members of the team.
Laurent Dubreuil performed brilliantly on the international scene, in winning a silver medal in the 500m race at the Junior World Long Track Championships, in Finland. He was the only Quebecer at these Championships and he will still get another chance to win the 500m title, next year, in Japan.
The Canada Games gave our best junior skaters the opportunity to perform again at their best. The Québec team brought home none less than 35 medals which is a new record, beating the old record of 26 medals! A great performance from the team led by the gold medalists Ann-Véronique Michaud, Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu, Maxime Gauthier and Laurent Dubreuil. Our long track skaters were inaugurating a brand new 400m track on artificial ice, in Halifax, at these Canada Games. This is a grand heritage for speed skating.
Finally, our teams participated in the first edition of a new format of Canadian Championships by age group, in short track and long track. In Toronto and Winnipeg, our skaters perform well and showed their capability to adapt.
6. Safety
The Safety Committee worked on many files, one of which is to collect some statistics on accidents and injuries.
A Safety Guide will eventually be published before the next season and should become an important and useful tool aiming to increase safety in our sport.
7. The FPVQ staff
During the 2010-2011 season, our professional resources were structured according to the diagram below. It is important to mention that only three persons worked full time: the Competitions Coordinator, the Sport Development Coordinator and the General Director. The three others, worked half time, partial time or were seasonal.
Staff Organisational Structure – 2010-2011 season
General Director
Robert Dubreuil
Administrative Agent Assistant to the General Director Nicole Godbout Isabelle Gélinas
Program and Mentorship Competitions Coordinator Sport Development Coordinator Coordinator Maryse Poudrier Kenan Gouadec Frédéric Tremblay
Assistant to Competitions and Statistics
Guy Jacob
Thank you and have a great AGM !
Robert Dubreuil General Director, FPVQ
SSC 124 Annual General Meeting 2nd Package – English Reports
Saskatchewan Amateur Speed Skating Association
President’s Report
This past season has been a very exciting and busy time for speed skating in Saskatchewan. There were many new changes on and off the ice.
Club Membership: There are currently seven affiliated clubs in Saskatchewan (Humboldt, Melville, Moose Jaw, Nipawin, Prince Albert, Regina and Saskatoon). There has been a significant increase in our overall membership as our numbers have swelled from 541 in the previous season to 627.
Financial Status: SASSA continues to remain a financially stable through the oversight of the Board of Directors and our continued support from Sask Sport, our membership and Speed Skating Canada.
Staffing: SASSA employed two employees this season; Shawn MacLennan continues to be our part-time Executive Director and Bryan McSorley, our full-time Director of Speed Skating. As of May 1st Mr. McSorley has moved on to take a job position in Calgary, we thank him for all his hard work over the years and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavours.
Governance: Saskatchewan Speed Skating has done some major renovations as part of our effort to increase participation in our committee structure and strengthen our overall governance structure. Our Board Structure is now split into two areas: Standing Committees of the Board and Sport Development Committees. The Standing Committee structure is now made up of three standing committees - Governance, Human Resources and Financial Oversight. The Sport Development Committees — Active Start-FUNdamentals-L2T , Train to Train and High Performance — promotes a bottom-up approach to LTPAD implementation. It recognizes that Board members don’t have a monopoly on good ideas and will allow us to tap into the ideas and recommendations of our members.
Season’s Events: Our volunteers, coaches, athletes and officials once again represented our province perfectly. Canada Winter Games in Halifax was a memorable experience for all of our Saskatchewan speed skaters who earned the right to represent our province at this prestigious national event. The Games were especially memorable for the four young lads who brought home silver medals in Team Pursuit. Ryan Bernhard, Michael Wrubleski, Pieter Stoffel and Axel Morin earned silver on the last day of the long track competition.
On the international scene, our athletes and officials represented their province and country with great class and zeal. Kali Christ of Regina and Axel Morin of Saskatoon earned spots on Canada's World Junior Team, both represented Canada and Saskatchewan very well; Kali earned a Bronze in the 1000m and Team Pursuit. We had many athletes on the National and National Development Team. Lucas Makowsky was once again successful on the World Cup Circuit, most notably winning a bronze medal at the World Singe Distance Championships in the
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1500m. We also had William Dutton, Mykola Makowsky and Justin Warsylewicz on the Nation Development Team. We are very proud of all our athletes that compete and participate in all levels of speed skating.
Respectfully submitted, Steven Krueger, SASSA President
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Yukon Amateur Speed Skating Association
President’s Report
This season YASSA has supported our sport in a variety of ways. Some of the most important include: • Implementation of the new format of Racing on Ice, as recommended by LTPAD, including use of 100m track, shorter and longer standard races at monthly time trials, and inclusion of agility races in practice • Supported our CWG and AWG (Arctic Winter Games) eligible athletes to travel out to BC Cup, Winter Classic and RUFast as well as two camps; Top Blades in Calgary and an Alaska camp in the fall • Co-Hosted 3 camps in Yukon as well as fully funding 2 meets; CWG Trials and Yukon Championships • Continued to try to develop and encourage coaching by supporting our coaches in all their team travel as well as hosting a Level One Coaches Course this spring • Support and encourage Officials development especially in preparation of AWG 2012 which we have the privilege of hosting in Whitehorse • Sponsor National Level starter to attend SSC officials Symposium in Montreal • Supported one athlete in his continued goal to reach National Team status
Yukon has the continued challenge of a low population far from major centers which makes high level development with race experience a real challenge.
We have a very dedicated group of tireless volunteers who put so much into this sport that I feel a great big thank you is deserved. They really are what make our small organization what it is; a warm, inviting and family based group whose main goal is to promote and encourage our sport.
Respectfully Submitted,
Laini Klassen President, YASSA
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Organizing Committee Calgary
Annual General Meeting Report
I. Overview
The Essent IUS World Allround Championships returned to Calgary on February 12 & 13, 2011. The Organizing Committee Calgary was honoured to host and organize this prestigious ISU Championships which was the focus of another successful season. This was the 26th World Cup / Championships that OCC has produced on behalf of SSC.
II. Committee
The Organizing Committee Calgary (OCC) is a non-profit association registered under the Societies Act of Alberta. Activities are carried out by a volunteer-based group of approximately 200 dedicated volunteers. The Executive Committee consists of a Chairman and eight Vice Chairs. Part-time contract staff is also an integral part of the structure of the Committee.
Essent ISU World Allround Speed Skating Championships The top 24 ladies and 24 men from 14 countries competed in this event. From the teams’ airport arrivals and the Opening Draw to the Athletes’ Closing Banquet every effort was made to provide the participants with the best possible environment for their competition. The World Champions were Ivan Skobrev from Russia and Irene Wüst from the Netherlands. The top Canadian performance was from Christine Nesbitt who claimed the silver medal overall. Opening ceremonies were attended by MLA Lindsay Blackett and MP Rob Anders. The two world champions skated a final victory lap accompanied by a group of 13 very enthusiastic young skaters from the Calgary Speed Skating Association. This was wonderfully popular with the crowds and the champions as well as the young skaters who skated with their heroes. There were over 60 accredited media representing print, radio and television. CBC provided domestic host broadcast; international feeds went world-wide.
Partners Many corporate partners continued their ongoing commitment to the Committee with over $120,000 supplied as donations-in-kind. Local suppliers included Xerox, The Calgary Herald, Mediaco, Best Western Village Park Inn, CTV, West Canadian, Pepsi and McAra Printing. HBC and General Mills provided valuable support through Speed Skating Canada sponsorships.
Corporate ticket sales and corporate hosting opportunities were once again offered to corporate Calgary with several groups from last year returning. Several corporate partners used the event for hosting clients and employees. Essent, a Dutch energy company, held the title sponsorship through their long-term agreement with the ISU. The marketing rights for the World Championships were contracted by Referee Sportsmarketing in an agreement with the ISU which gave them the rights to all of the advertising in the rink area for their international partners.
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Funding was received from the ISU, SSC, Travel Alberta and the Alberta Lottery Fund. Other revenues were generated through ticket sales, merchandising, corporate sales and other sponsorships. The Travel Alberta support was part of a pilot project in association with the Alberta Government.
Officials’ Development The Committee continues to be interested in assisting with new recruitment and retention ideas for technical volunteers and supports the training and upgrading of officials at all levels.
III. Future International Competitions to Be Organized By OCC
The Committee is very much looking forward to organizing the Essent ISU World Sprint Championships to be held in Calgary on January 28 & 29, 2012. Some new marketing strategies are being developed to include speed skating clubs in fund-raising programs that will benefit the clubs and, in addition, enhance the numbers of spectators in the exciting atmosphere of the Championships.
In closing... Over the past 22 years, OCC is pleased to have developed an excellent working relationship with SSC, the Olympic Oval as well as with the ISU and their partners. These strong relationships will no doubt continue to provide a substantial legacy for speed skating in Canada as well as the positive environment required to develop world-class skaters. The Organizing Committee would like to acknowledge the support of the Olympic Oval staff at the University of Calgary. The Olympic Oval has maintained a very high standard for fast ice in an outstanding venue and together with the Organizing Committee continues to attract worldwide recognition for high caliber competitions.
Our team of volunteers is looking forward to the future. We always depend on the continued dedication and commitment of our experienced volunteers, as well as the new volunteers who have joined our team. We would like to thank them all for their exceptional contribution to the success of the World Championships. We look forward to working with them again next season.
Respectfully submitted,
Organizing Committee Calgary Executive: Alice Humeny – Chair
Vice Chairs: Nannette Ho Covernton – Vice Chair Sport Production Gregg Planert – Vice Chair Technical Russell Reimer – Vice Chair Communications/Marketing Jim Kelly – Vice Chair Finance Mark Messer – Vice Chair Telecommunications Lynn Nixon – Vice Chair Operations Janice Dawson – Vice Chair Administration Catherine Humeny – Vice Chair Event Support
Staff: Lynda Murch – Manager Administration Nathalie Smith-MacInnis – Manager Special Events Eryn Paterson – Manager Volunteers & Website Antonio Faiola – Manager Business Development
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