Regina Speed Skating Club: Developing world class athletes

REGINA, Saskatchewan — The Regina Speed Skating Club was started in 1965 to create a create an environment for the development, promotion, and organization of recreational and competitive speed skaters. Iris Fletcher was a founding member of the club. She coached for many years and was inducted into the Speed Skating Hall of Fame in 1993, and the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of fame in 1999.

Its aim is to organize and participate in speed skating competitions and demonstrations. The club promotes and encourages the development of athletes and coaches.

The club has produced several National and Olympic calibre athletes, including well known National Team athletes Lucas Makowsky, Marsha Hudey and Kali Christ.

Regina Speed Skating Club alumni have represented the club and Canada in many Winter Olympics including 1980 Lake Placid, 1994 Lillehammer, 1998 Nagano, 2002 Salt Lake City, 2006 Turino, 2010 Vancouver, 2014 Sochi, 2018 PyeongChang and Beijing 2022. The club also has had representatives at three World Special Olympics, 1981, 2009 and 2018.

To say that the club has had a successful track record would be a huge understatement. Considering the population of Saskatchewan, we are over represented in one of the most exciting, and top rated winter sports at the Olympics.

There are currently 26 skaters on the club ranging from the ages of 5 to 11. These skaters are in groupings based on their skill level as determined by a certified coach. The skaters range from learning to speed skate, to skaters on the Saskatchewan Developmental team. The Learn-to-Speed-Skate group is for those who are wanting to see if this sport is for them. The club also offers an Adult skating group, when there is a demand.

Four club athletes reside in East End Living communities. Wynn Presta (7), Alex Brown (10), Merideth Armstrong (12) and Hannah Textor (14) are all active members with experience ranging form 4 months to 6 years.

This past February saw 13 of the club’s skaters aged 11 to 15 compete in the Saskatchewan Winter Games Short Track Competition hosted in Regina at the Co-operators Centre. This included Meredith Armstrong and Hannah Textor from the Arcola East area .This is a fantastic opportunity for team members to experience all the facets of a multi-sport event. The Games bring athletes together from across the province and house them in an Olympic style village. Armstrong qualified in January for the Canadian Youth Long Track Championships in Fort St. John, BC.

The club still has several competitions scheduled for March including a Prince Albert Short Track Meet March 11, the Fish Bowl Short Track Meet, hosted by the Caronport/Moose Jaw Club, March 18-19 as well as the Canadian Youth Short Track Championships (West)in Saskatoon March 25-26.

The club, much like many youth clubs, faces numerous obstacles to success. Securing ice time, as well as volunteers would be at the top of the list for the biggest challenges. Of course, finances and sponsorship is always an issue, especially considering the rising costs of city ice times. “It would be awesome to have a Sponsor who would invest in our club on an ongoing basis. This club has a track record of producing high performance athletes who go on to compete at the World Cup and Olympic level. Volunteers are always needed from putting mats up on the ice to running meets. The upcoming Saskatchewan Winter Games meet is a great opportunity to see how things run and volunteer jobs are available to help out,” stated board member Sarah Textor.

The club has an experienced group of coaches including former speed skaters Keegan Christ of Regina who was represented Team Canada in Short Track , Michelle Daeninick from Winnipeg who competed at a Canada Games in Long Track, Long Track coach Brad Hudey, father of Marsha Hudey and Terry Livingstone, Gold Medalist at a Worlds Special Olympics. This vast amount of knowledge and experience, along with other highly qualified coaches give the Regina Speed Skating Club an edge over their competitors.

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