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'There's nothing better'
Ottawa-area figure skaters get a new opportunity to excel
More than ever, Ottawa-area figure skaters will now have that chance.
The City of Nepean and the Canadian Figure Skating Association announced yesterday that a training centre for elite-level skaters is being established at the Nepean Sportsplex.
Though the Centre of Excellence has started operating at the home rink of the Nepean Skating Club, its purpose is to provide extra training opportunities for top-level skaters from throughout Eastern Ontario. Coaches and their skaters can get extra training time outside their home clubs on a pay-per-visit basis.
"The biggest plus is that it's an opportunity for all the good skaters in this area to come together in the same place ... there's nothing better for training than that," said Louis Stong, the CFSA's director of skater development. "It's an opportunity to raise the level of expertise of competitive skaters in this (Eastern Ontario) section."
Pam Coburn, the CFSA's executive director, said skaters will benefit from a high-performance environment without having to spend large amounts of money to live and train elsewhere. Programs are available to help skaters with training on and off the ice, with the CFSA offering national performance monitoring, as well as coach and judge training.
"What this means for the local skating community is that there will be more exposure to the best skating in Eastern Ontario," said Pam Coburn, the CFSA's executive director.
The Sportsplex is now home to the third CFSA Centre of Excellence in the country. Other facilities are operating in Mississauga and Burnaby, B.C., with a fourth in the works for the Dakota Centre in Winnipeg.
"It's got it all," said Stong of the Sportsplex. "There's two great ice surfaces and all the off-ice facilities that you could ask for, and it's the only one of the three with a medical facility attached to it."
Added Nepean Mayor Mary Pitt: "We are ecstatic that the Sportsplex is only one of three facilities in Canada to receive this designation."