Thirteen Williams Lake Skating Club athletes will join upwards of 200 competitors this weekend when the lakecity plays host to the CNC Regional Championships.
WLSC head coach Joanne Macnair said her skaters have been working hard since the fall practicing their routines, and invites anyone in the community interested to come out and show their support this weekend, Jan. 20-22, at the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex.
From the WLSC, Emma Herrling, Bailey Jones, Haedyn Lens, Julia Bowman, Faith Ritchot, Kolbi Seterengen, Emma Penner, Georgia Jacobson, Ryanne Jones, Rebecca Fraser, Annaliese Hunter Owega, Reagan West and Alanna Walters will be competing against other skaters travelling from cities north of Williams Lake.
“There’s a variety of events like free skating, interpretive and elements, which is whatever your level is they have four elements (skills) they have to do, so that’s kind of a fun thing for them,” Macnair said.
Both arenas at the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex will be running at full capacity the entire weekend, she added.
“The skating club committee has been working so hard to put this on,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of help from past skaters and parents to help. Manning two arenas is a big job and we’ve had a lot of people step up. Even people who are friends of friends.”
The CNC Regional Championships leads up to the club’s year-end competition held on the first weekend of March in Kelowna, the Super Series.
“A lot of our skaters started new programs in the fall,” Macnair said. “A lot of them are doing interpretive and free skate.”
For their interpretive programs, skaters work on a program on their own time, however, Macnair explained it’s not about jumps and spins.
“You’re interpreting a piece of music for that,” she said. “The winner isn’t who does a bunch of great jumps and spins. It’s how you interpret the music.”
Macnair said anyone interested in coming to watch is more than welcome, and added it would be good to see some community support.
“It’s free, first of all,” she said. “You can come out and support our local kids and come see some good skating. Now’s the chance to see these girls you’ve been hearing about all these years. There will be a boutique, raffle table, all kinds of things.
“We’re hoping for a good weekend. It’s going to be a busy one.”