Veteran skaters Matthew den Boer, Tess Jones, Cedar Bridgewood and Lucas Pollard lead a strong contingent of Racquet Club of Victoria Skating Club members heading to this week鈥檚 2016 Skate sa国际传媒 sa国际传媒/Yukon Section Championships at the Poirier Sports and Leisure Complex in Coquitlam.
A total of 17 athletes will represent Racquet Club at the event, which starts Thursday and carries through to Sunday.
Den Boer, 19, and Jones, 15, will compete in novice pairs, along with Pollard Sarah Kedves. Bridgewood, also 19, and Ravie Cunningham, 17, will compete in novice ice dance.
Jones and den Boer have skated together for four years, finishing fifth at the Challenge level in pre-novice in the 2014 competition. In novice, they were sixth at nationals after placing seventh at the Challenge last year.
鈥淵ou always have to have that bit of nervousness. It鈥檚 good when it鈥檚 controlled,鈥� said den Boer, who also works, teaching recreational skating.
鈥淚鈥檓 excited to compete,鈥� said Jones, who is in Grade 10 at Mount Douglas.
The two skate Saturday and Sunday.
Kedves and Pallard originally hail from Ladysmith and Nanaimo, respectively, and have skated together for three-plus years, having finished 12th in sa国际传媒 at the novice level in pairs.
鈥淚 think we鈥檙e pretty solid,鈥� said Kedves, who is in Grade 10 at the Canadian Sports School at PISE and wants to get back to nationals (she is also competing in singles, which begins Friday).
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the goal [nationals],鈥� said Pallard, who also coaches skating and is taking power engineering courses online.
Competitors at the novice, junior and senior levels at provincials will attempt to qualify for the 2016 Skate sa国际传媒 Challenge, slated for Dec. 2-6 in Edmonton and from there the top 15 will advance to the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships, Jan. 18-24, in Halifax.
Like the other 19-year-old males, Bridgewood also teaches skating while Cunningham is in Grade 12 at Mount Douglas.
The two have skated together five years.
鈥淭he past few years have been more of an experience, figuring out where to aim for. This year, we鈥檙e over top of our feet and know where we鈥檙e going. We鈥檙e confident about this year,鈥� said Cunningham.
鈥淣ationals would be wonderful,鈥� added her partner Bridgewood.
The three novice duos all work under head coach Matt Willis, who is in his seventh year with the club.
鈥淭here always is [nervousness], at every level,鈥� he said of his skaters. 鈥淎ll of them have completed multiple competitions in front of high-level judges though. It鈥檚 just going through the routine. They are all well seasoned, they have done it a million times and it鈥檚 exciting for them 鈥� more than anything.
鈥淭hey work so hard for so many months. They finally get to show their hard work,鈥� added Willis.
Tendo Mukahanana, at just seven years old, is the youngest of the crew as she prepares for singles competition.
鈥淢y expectations are for everyone to develop good skating skills and for skaters to reach their personal bests,鈥� said Deena Beacom, director of skating at the club since 2001, moving from competitor to instructor under the tutelage of former coach Sandra Leard.
