The Prince Albert Speed Skating Club (PASSC) welcomed some of the province’s fastest athletes when they hosted a provincial meet at the Art Hauser Centre on Saturday.
PASSC head coach Lambert Schwartzenberger said the event drew teams from around the province.
“Most of the clubs host one meet a year each,” Schwartzenberger said. “It’s all ages. We’ve got right from 4 year olds up to I think our oldest skaters in their 70s.”
The meet featured competitors from the Regina Speed Skating Club, Lloydminster Border Blades, Moose Jaw Kinsmen Speed Skating Club and Saskatoon Speed Skating Club.
“This is a development meet,” Schwartzenberger explained. “It’s just an opportunity for the kids to get some racing in.”
This will be the third straight year the PASSC has hosted a developmental meet, and the fourth time since Schwartzenberger became involved with the club about 10 years ago.
“We had a bit of a stretch there where it didn’t work out, but we’re back at it,” he said.
Schwartzenberger said that the PASSC has 45 skaters ranging in age from beginners to 17-years-old. He said the club is about fun but also focuses on personal best times.
“We’re having fun. The big thing that we track is our personal bests, PBs,” he explained. “You’re skating against people that are on the ice, but you’re just always on this linear improvement is what we’re kind of looking for.”
Schwartzenberger said he keeps a list of skaters and keeps tracks of their progress. They begin at the bottom and hopefully work their way up the list.
He said that the movement is proof of growth.
“There’s an exceptional amount of training,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun. It’s a good community. Kids have a lot of fun. To stick in it for the long haul, you have to be pretty intrinsically motivated because there’s not a lot of external recognition and to stay in it and be good at 14, 15, 16 years old. You’re basically training 11 months of the year in order to stay competitive.”
Skaters compete during the PASSC Meet at the Art Hauser Centre on Saturday.
The Prince Albert meet focused on short track speed skating, with younger skaters racing on the 100 meter track while older skaters skated at 111.
To extend the track the markers on the inside of the track are moved in or out when skating is in a location like the Art Hauser Centre. Prince Albert does not have the capacity for an outdoor oval track, which requires a 400 meter oval.
“The closest one is in Saskatoon,” Schwartzenberger said. “Moose Jaw and Regina have outdoor ovals and then Calgary has the Olympic camp, which is where we have skaters going to train.”
Schwartzenberger said it was nice to host an event in Prince Albert.
“I love it,” he said. “As the head coach, I’m not part of the organizing committee. It’s a huge undertaking to host some of these meets. There’s a lot goes in. There’s people working all over the place.”
The club currently has their top two skaters competing at the provincial level.
As far as results, Isaac Schwartzenberger of the PASSC finished fourth in the open category, which is mixed genders. Tori Korczak was 10th in the same category. Jasper Mackie placed fifth in the Club 4 category for ages 6 to 8. Bo Meyers was 10th in the Active Start. In the Club 2 category Sloane Henry placed fourth.
Schwartzenberger said that the club is always trying to promote itself as an option for people. He also noted that Olympic years are a huge thing for interest.
“You can come out and try it. We have a free trial. It’s fun. The kids love it and we always get a little bit of interest on an Olympic year because people watch it on TV. That’s kind of a big thing for us,” Schwartzenberger said.
Overall he said the club is doing well.
“We’re staying steady with our membership,” he explained. “It’s mostly been word of mouth. People who do join it, they tell all their friends and once you become a speed skating familyit’s a little obsessive.”
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
