INNOVATE. INTEGRATE. MOTIVATE. 2015 -2016 Annual Report Inspiring all Canadians to embrace the joy of skating Chair’s Message Dear Members of Skate Canada: Alberta-NWT/Nunavut, The Skate Canada: Alberta-NWT/Nunavut Section continues to be a leader in the figure skating community. Through our innovative practices and integration of new technologies, we are motivating our members to Skate for Life in the sport that brings them happiness. The Board of Directors remains dedicated to the implementation of the Section’s Strategic Plan 2014-2018. This Plan is focused on moving forward in five Strategic Imperatives – Skate for Life, Skate to Win, Delivery Capacity, Brand and Partnerships. Skate Canada: Alberta-NWT/Nunavut assists clubs with the implementation of the new CanSkate program and has provided additional support through the CanSkate University Program. Through seminars and grants, the Section strives to provide opportunities for Inclusive Skating and Adult Skaters. The Section is committed to the implementation of Skate Canada’s Long Term Athlete Development model by providing competitive opportunities for younger skaters via the STAR competition model, in addition to encouraging our athletes to transition along the athlete pathway. The Section was fortunate to host major competitive events in the 2015-2016 season. The Skate Canada Adult Figure Skating Championships were held in Calgary from April 3 to 5, 2015. A very successful Skate Canada International was held in Lethbridge, October 30 to November 1, 2015. Edmonton was the host to the Skate Canada Challenge event from December 2 to 6, 2015 where over 500 skaters participated. We cannot express our gratitude often enough to all of the many volunteers who worked so very hard to provide these quality events. Our competitive skaters enjoyed success at the 2016 Skate Canada Challenge: Pre-Novice Pair Bronze Medalists – Shaylyn Jackson and Josh Venema, Novice Pair Gold Medalists – Katrina Lopez and Kurtis Schreiber, and Senior Men’s Bronze Medalist - Keegan Messing. Medalists at the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships include Novice Pair Silver Medalists – Katrina Lopez and Kurtis Schreiber, Junior Pair Silver Medalists – Bryn Hoffman and Bryce Chudak and Senior Women’s Bronze Medalist – Kaetlyn Osmond. We are extremely proud of all of our athletes. Officials and coaches play a large role in skaters’ success at all levels. Understanding the importance of skaters’ success, the Section provided professional development opportunities to all coaches. The Section remains committed to the recruitment and retention of officials as this is essential to the Section’s capacity to deliver programs and services to our members. In order to increase our Delivery Capacity, the Board has undertaken a review of our current Board Structure and is in the process of developing a Policy Governance Charter to be presented to the membership at the 2017 AGM. During the past year in regards to technology, the Section improved the website and increased our presence on social media. The Skate Canada brand was well represented at all Section events throughout the 2015-2016 season. Understanding the importance of branding, the Section office effectively embodied the Skate Canada brand at the Sectional Championships, STARSkate and Adult Championships, as well as the Mountain Regional Synchronized Skating Championships. The sport of figure skating is all about building and maintaining successful relationships. A big part of the Section’s success this past season can be attributed to the partnerships with Skate Canada, the Alberta Sport Connection and in particular the Alberta Figure Skating Foundation. The AFSF celebrated their 40th anniversary this season. The Section appreciates our sponsors: Triple Flip and Duso’s for continued support. With the help of these sponsors, the Section remains fiscally viable while providing programs and services to our members. In closing, I thank my fellow Board members, the Section Office and our volunteers for their time and commitment to our organization. Your efforts make us strong and will make our mission to be recognized as a leader in the delivery of skating programs, a reality. Sincerely, Donna Moses Chair Strategic Plan Report Card Mission Skate Canada will have a continuing legacy of champions and be recognized as a leader in the delivery of skating programs. 5 Key Strategic Imperatives Skate Canada has identified five key imperatives that give focus to the vision and mission and set the framework to bring them to life between 2014-2018. Skate Canada: Alberta-NWT/Nunavut has reviewed the Skate Canada imperatives and related strategic goals. The Section has prepared 2014-2018 strategic goals to align with those imperatives and goals. Skate for Life Expand our reach through the delivery of member and partner programs in the Skate for Life programming. Skate to Win Build the capacity to achieve success in all disciplines at Interprovincial and National levels. Partnerships Increase the number and variety of sustainable partnerships aligned with the Skate Canada: Alberta-NWT/ Nunavut strategic direction. Delivery Capacity Strengthen the capacity of the organization to deliver high quality initiatives and programs. Brand Promote the National brand within Skate Canada: Alberta-NWT/Nunavut. 2014-2018 Strategic Plan - Year 2 Report Card Objective Measurements 2014-2015 Baseline 2015-2016 Progress Financial/ Develop new $15,200 $26,350 Sponsorship Growth opportunities for financially beneficial partnerships Membership Growth Increase number of 23,718 23,838 registrants Coaching Growth/ Increase number of 568 615 Retention registered coaches in the Section Officials Growth Increase the number 12 29 of trained officials in the Section Membership Skate Canada: Alberta-NWT/Nunavut’s overall registrant numbers continue to increase each season. The Section continues to advertise and support the programs developed by Skate Canada and strives to ensure all clubs are working towards meeting the required program delivery standards. The Section has been working to expand its reach through the delivery of member and partner programs in the Skate for Life programming. Section clubs and skating schools support this goal through the advertising of all Skate Canada programs, especially CanSkate, CanPowerSkate, AdultSkate and Synchronized Skating. In addition, the Section continues to develop new initiatives to provide increased opportunities for participation in Inclusive Skating. 2015-2016 2014-2015 2013-2014 2012-2013 # of Clubs and Skating Schools 162 165 167 164 # of Registrants 23,838 23,718 23,094 22,438 # of Coaches 615 568 545 550 # of Officials 130 125 126 128 # of Synchronized Skating Teams 34 28 30 27 % of Male Registrants 40% 33% 33% 30% As of March 31 of each season. In 2015-2016 the Section approved the addition of one new skating school: Platinum Elite Edge Skating School. This school was approved to operate in Mundare and offering CanSkate and STARSkate programming in their area. As of March 31, 2016 Skate Canada: Alberta-NWT/Nunavut had 23,838 registrants in 162 clubs and skating schools Athlete Development Athlete Monitoring • Athlete Monitoring was ongoing throughout the season. Olympic and ISU official and Section alumni Sally Rehorick, ISU and International Section officials Pam Chislett and Lynne Dey, and Canadian level officials Leslie Lawrence, Karen Fetterly and Marg Andriuk all gave their time to monitor Section Select and Junior Development Team members. Junior Development Team • 54 athletes registered for the 2016 Junior Development Team: Pre-Juvenile – 6 U11 Women, 3 U11 Men, 4 U13 Women, 2 Pair teams, 3 Dance teams Juvenile – 6 U12 Women, 1 U12 Man, 6 U14 Women, 2 U14 Men, 4 Dance teams Pre-Novice – 5 Women, 2 Men Section Select Team – Athletes advancing from Sectional Championships to Skate Canada Challenge • 60 members of the Section Select Team: Pre-Novice – 4 Women, 6 Men, 2 Pair teams, 5 Dance teams (Wild Cards – 2 Men and 1 Dance team) Novice – 4 Women, 3 Men, 1 Pair team, 4 Dance teams Junior – 5 Women, 4 Men, 2 Pair team (1 Bye) Senior – 7 Women, 4 Men (1 Bye, 2 Wild Cards) Skate Canada Challenge Medalists • Pre-Novice Pair – Shaylyn Jackson and Josh Venema - Bronze • Novice Pair – Katrina Lopez and Kurtis Schreiber - Gold • Senior Men – Keegan Messing - Bronze Canadian Tire National Skating Championships Team • 22 members of the Section Select Team advanced to the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships: Novice – 1 Woman, 1 Pair team, 3 Dance teams Junior – 3 Women, 3 Men, 2 Pair teams Senior – 2 Women, 2 Men Canadian Tire National Skating Championships Medalists • Senior Women - Kaetlyn Osmond – Bronze • Junior Pair - Bryn Hoffman and Bryce Chudak – Silver •Novice Pair - Katrina Lopez and Kurtis Schreiber – Silver World Championship Assignments • ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships - Bryn Hoffman and Bryce Chudak (Junior Pair) – 8th International Assignments • Kaetlyn Osmond (Senior Women) – Nebelhorn Trophy 1st, Skate Canada International 11th, NHK Trophy 6th, overall finish 24th • Keegan Messing (Senior Men) – Ondrej Nepela Trophy 5th, Skate Canada International 11th, overall finish 39th • Bryn Hoffman and Bryce Chudak (Junior Pair) – Colorado Springs 4th, Torun 4th, overall finish 7th 2016 Alberta Winter Games • 8 coaches, 8 chaperones and 64 athletes attended • Anita Kohnen was the Sport Advisor Quest Event The Quest Event was a new initiative held in Toronto, hosted by the Skate Canada National Performance Centre and Skate Ontario. The purpose of the event was to provide an opportunity for Sectional level competitors that did not qualify for Skate Canada Challenge to attend a competition that was aligned with that event. The Section had 8 skaters at the Pre-Novice and Novice level attend. Athletes were accompanied by Greg Folk who attended as Coach/Team Leader. Seminars • Athlete Development hosted the 2015 Spring Development Camp in Edmonton in June 2015 with facilitators: Yvan Desjardins and Jeremy Ten - Singles; Anne Schelter - Edge Specialist; David Pelletier - Pair Guest; David Islam - Ice Dance; Robin Forsyth - Technical Specialist; Jan Ullmark - Musical knowledge; Ralph Burghart - Off Ice Jumps.