Young skaters show off skills at annual fundraiser
A crowd of more than 150 came out to the Complexe Sportif St-Lazare on Sunday to cheer on skaters ranging from wobbly three- and four-year-old beginners to twirling ice dancers at the HudsonRigaud-St-Lazare Skating Club’s annual showcase and fundraiser. The Broadway-themed show included 30 short routines, from complex solos and duets by competitive skaters, to little ones whose most notable trick is mastering how to recover from a fall. Club vice-president Julie Caouette said the goal is to showcase the skills learned by all levels of skaters during the year. Not all are competition skaters, she said, and performances like the showcase provide not only motivation to learn new skills, but also teach resilience. In skating, she said, falling and failure is just part of learning. “There were a few falls and the kids stood back up and kept going,” Caouette said. “That’s what you do. Sport is a great way to learn how to fail. Your parents and coaches are always there to cheer you on.” Caouette said the CanSkate program offered for beginner and intermediate skaters teaches balance, control and agility skills that apply to all ice sports, including speedskating, ringette and hockey. “If you’re a good skater it’ll help you do better in other things later.” The club dates back to the 1960s, when it was known as the Hudson Heights Skating Club and met at the arena in Rigaud. When an indoor ice rink was built in St-Lazare in 2006, the club moved and changed its name to the HudsonRigaudSt-Lazare Skating Club. Although it is a small, volunteer-run club, Caouette noted all programs are taught by Skate Canada-certified instructors. As a non-profit, the club does all it can to keep costs low, relying on contributions from a coterie of parent volunteers to help with administration and organizing the annual showcase event and fundraiser. “We do it for the kids. It’s all for the children. When we see their smiles and we can see the kids on the ice and the little ones having so much fun, that’s what we’re doing this for,” said Caouette. The club’s spring session begins this week, but Caouette said new skaters are welcome to sign up throughout the year. For more information, visit cphrs.ca.