The Ridge Meadows Speed Skating club will be participating in the National Open House hosted by Speed Skating Canada this month, to spread awareness of the sport.
The local club will be hosting the open house on Feb. 15, at 5:45 p.m. at Planet Ice in Maple Ridge.
According to Kyle Ludeman of the local club, short track speed skating is always very popular at the Olympics, and it is one of Canada’s most successful sports in terms of medal haul, but most people don’t know that you can do it at one of your local rinks.
“We have several clubs in the Fraser Valley and in every part of the province, but we are not nearly as successful as other provinces, such as Quebec, in terms of the number of skaters in the sport. Nearly the entire Olympic short track team is from Quebec and there is one skater from New Brunswick, largely because they have so many more people participating in the sport,” he said. “We’d love to have more people come out and try speed skating, and we’re sure they’ll love it! It’s fast, it’s fun, and it’s very social.”
People that come to the open house will have the chance to learn more about speed skating and to try it out and see if they like it. The club will also lend skates on a first come first served bases. However, participants can bring their own hockey or figure skates as well and get a sense of the kinds of things speed skaters do when they practice.
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“We are building on the success of our last open house - we’ve had several new skaters join and have noticed a significant increase in the number of people trying out the sport. Although we are ending our season soon, we are hoping to run a spring ice program in April and May if there is interest, and will continue again on the ice in September,” said Ludeman.
Mission Racers will be hosting their open house on Feb. 17, Sardis Fliers on Feb. 17 and the Langley Blades on Feb. 18.
“The sport provides so many opportunities and chances for young people to grow. You can approach the sport in any way that you want — for fitness, to hang out with friends, for the thrill of going fast,or to be as fast as you can be. We’d love it if more people knew about the sport and would give it a chance,” he said.
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