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Skating to Success: Carlyle Skating Club hosts Regional Competitions

The Carlyle Skating Club showcased their on-ice talent, their hospitality and their community at the Region 1 and Region 6 Invitational Skating Competition held Saturday, Jan. 14 and Sunday, Jan. 15 at the Carlyle Sports Arena.
Figure Skating

            The Carlyle Skating Club showcased their on-ice talent, their hospitality and their community at the Region 1 and Region 6 Invitational Skating Competition held Saturday, Jan. 14 and Sunday, Jan. 15 at the Carlyle Sports Arena. The club welcomed over 100 competitors, their families and friends-as well as local skating fans- to the two-day event, which featured free performances from competitors of all ages.

            Fourteen of the Carlyle Skating Club's 27 skaters competed in the Region 1 competition. They were: Nolan Cameron, Ciara Corrigan, Tiana Delalleau, Maizy Delmaire, Katie Desjarlais, Anna Doty, Kyla Fischer, Victoria Flynn, Nikki Lamb, Jessica Moffat, Ruby Parker, Brittany Rowe, Makenna Slykhuis and Halle Schutz.

            “Skaters from throughout the entire southeast corner of Saskatchewan came to compete in both the Region 1 and Region 6 competitions,” says Anita Delalleau, Region 1 and Region 6 Invitational Skating Competition chairperson and Carlyle Skating Club president. “In Region 1-where our local skaters competed- we also welcomed competitors from Alameda, Arcola, Bienfait, Carnduff, Kennedy, Kipling, Moosomin, Oxbow, Redvers and Wawota.”

            “For our Region 6 competition, skaters came from Esterhazy, Melville, Whitewood and Yorkton.”

            “All of them are StarSkate-level skaters, so they put on a great show. They competed in freeskate, spins, jumps, interpretive, adult freeskate and team events.”

            From the event's inception, Delalleau stressed that hosting a competition of this size and calibre simply would not be possible without the contributions from volunteers, businesses and organizations from throughout the area.

            “I am almost overwhelmed when it comes to recognizing everyone who made the competition a reality for Carlyle- especially with the short timeline we worked with,” she says. “My biggest fear is that I'll forget someone and if I do, it isn't because they weren't appreciated. It's because we were so overwhelmed with community support, that the sheer numbers of people we have to recognize is huge.”

            “From the skaters, the skaters' parents, the club parents who volunteered, the Carlyle Sports Arena for allowing us to host this wonderful event, the Carlyle Curling Club for use of their facility for our Paint Nights fundraisers, to the kitchen staff, to my fellow board members- Karen (Fischer), Dawn (Brady), Nickie (Doty), Katy (Soroka) and Mary (Moffat)- who all went above and beyond.There are just so many people involved in making such a huge undertaking happen.” 

            “The Carlyle Skating Club is so grateful to everyone who helped make this competition such a success,” adds Delalleau. “The sponsors, local businesses and volunteers who supported us, the officials, coaches and of course our skaters who made it all happen on the ice, our visitors and all of the spectators who came out to watch over the weekend.”

            “We'd also like to give a shout-out to Mike Brown, who did all of our weekend announcing, to Todd Brady who was in charge of the skaters' music and Brent Stillwell who always goes above and beyond for our club at the rink- including staying at the rink until 1 a.m. Saturday morning to make sure the arena was competition-ready.”

            “And from the Carlyle Hooters- Ryan Benjamin, Steve Schultz, Brian Isleifson and Clint Dunn were our muscle when it came up to setting up the judges' stand,” she says.

            “Throughout the weekend, we heard repeated praise about what a well-organized and welcoming event this was. People, businesses and organizations from Carlyle and our Club area really did us proud.”
            “Hosting Regionals was a once in every 30-years opportunity and our local area really made the most of it.”