Skaters go retro in Humboldt performance

This year’s Skate Humboldt Ice Show was bittersweet, as the club came together to say goodbye to coach Chantel McDougall.

Ninety-three skaters from around the region, aged three to 16, came together to perform pieces using the theme “Blast From the Past.”  From The Hockey Song to Broadway to classic Disney, the skaters showed off what they learned throughout the year for an appreciative crowd.

“It went excellent,” said Skate Humboldt president, Troy Lucyshyn.  “Only a couple minor mishaps. A lot of the kids enjoyed it … I consider that a thumbs up.”

The theme came about very organically. Lucyshyn and others with Skate Humboldt were cleaning out the storage area and found binders of pictures depicting skaters from the ‘50s, as well as pictures of McDougall throughout her skating career. At the same time, some of the skaters had shown interest in doing a retro theme, and the skating executive knew that McDougall was planning on leaving the club.

“It just kind of grew from there. It kind of just happened,” Lucyshyn said.

The surprise routine for McDougall was difficult to pull off at times, as the whole club had to keep it a secret. At one point, Lucyshyn said they had wrapped up practice and were waiting for McDougall to go for dinner with her mother so they could practice the routine. It didn’t quite work out as planned.

“Anyone who knows Chantel, she’s a personable person, likes to do a lot of talking, and she wasn’t leaving,” Lucyshyn said.

Her mom showed up and had difficulty getting her to leave.

“And I said, ‘Chantel, you gotta listen to your mom and get out of here, you’re making your mom unhappy!’” Lucyshyn said. “She finally did get out the door and we practiced the routine.”

McDougall was brought out to the ice to watch the skaters – wearing costumes she had worn in the past – perform to Sarah McLachlan’s I Will Remember You.

The rest of the show was a mix of solo and group pieces. For the larger pieces, the coaches came up with the choreography. For the individual pieces, both the student and the coaches worked together on the choreography.

“The real benefit of figure skating is really developing kids’ confidence,” Lucyshyn said. “I know there’s the physical fitness element of that, but to actually have a kid practice something repeatedly … and then just get that, and they feel so good about that. That type of stuff has to have other benefits throughout their life.”

He added that having the end of year performance serves as a showcase for their abilities, both for the older skaters and for the very new skaters.

“For the little kids, it’s amazing,” he said. “At the start, they don’t even know how to skate. The first time they come on the ice, half of them will crawl for a half hour. Then you get to see them fall down and get up and have fun, and keep on doing that again. You get so proud when you see them get their badges and their stars along the way … (The skaters) really learn to set goals, achieve their goals, and really do it. And it really builds kids’ confidence, so it’s a really good program for that.”

This isn’t the end of the season for everyone: there’s another two weeks in the season and the club’s test day is on March 28, which will attract skaters from Humboldt, St. Brieux, Lanigan, Saskatoon, Wynyard, and Bruno.