The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Twirls, jumps and sit-spins have started for the Flin Flon Figure Skating Club. Members began skating early last week at the Whitney Forum and coach Carla Wabick is pleased with how things are going. "It's always good to get back after a season off," Wabick says with a laugh. She is impressed with all her students because they work and the most important thing is for each person to strive for what they want. "I don't put any expectations on the kids at all, I put lots on myself," Wabick explains. "I never put any expectations on the kids because I want them setting their own goals, they have to want to achieve something. I give them incentive and motivate them in the direction that I think they should be going." Two students who Wabick is trying to do exactly that with are 16-year-old Shilo Baribeau and 10-year-old Dayle Nivon. Baribeau started skating when she was 14-years-old. The first year was basically spent learning to skate, because Baribeau had never actually skated before. "So in the next two seasons, she learned all of the jumps up to and including the axel, which is a huge accomplishment," says Wabick. "She's passed all her preliminary levels and some of her junior bronze skating levels and she won the regional competition qualifying her to go to provincials last year at pre-preliminary level. She has made phenomenal progress." Wabick added that somebody starting at 14-years-old is considered a late bloomer because many people start skating when they're four or five years-old. "She's actually achieved in two years what it usually takes other skaters about four years to accomplish. It's the dedication and the determination, plus the desire that she has to want to skate." So what is Baribeau's goal? "I just want to be a coach," she says. The young talent has been enjoying practice and her goal for now is to go to provincials and perform well at regionals. "Just getting my axel there for my program and maybe some flying spins and just to get everything solid for my programs," Baribeau says, on what needs work. "Émy jumps are pretty good, and my spirals." Her challenge is to eliminate her fear over falling. As for Nivon, she has more attention-grabbing aspirations. "I want to skate on national TV," Nivon says, with a big smile. To ensure that happens, Nivon plans to work on her jumps and she would like to earn a medal at regionals this year. "It's been pretty good," she says about practice. "Kind of hard though because I'm trying to overcome my fears, like going down to a sit-spin and falling on your butt really hurts." The figure skating club will be participating in Super Skate in Winnipeg at the end of November. Wabick says this is a stepping stone and gets the skaters motivated. "Come January when we have our regional competition, which is the provincial qualifier, they're already in competitive mode," Wabick explains. "During the fall sessions and early part of the season right now, what we're doing is working on programs, putting together their pre-skate programs, interpretive programs, and getting their elements, jumps and skills accomplished so we can add more to their programs." Rules have also been changed as to what elements can be put into programs. With all the preparation and work put in, is it important to win? "We never go to a competition to win, we always go to a competition to skate better than they did the last time they skated, and if they've done that, they've won," Wabick stressed. "The medal doesn't say that they've won or lost, so it's a personal achievement. "My philosophy is, everybody is a star, because everybody is out there trying and everybody is working," she says. "They're a star because they are doing something that is actually very hard, and a medal doesn't make them a star, it's their accomplishments and daily achievements that they make that makes them a star." This year the club has seven seniors and eight juniors. The juniors are starting the STARSkate program, which is the test-structured program. The seniors are at various different levels, which include ice dance, skating skills, free skate and interpretive skating.
