The Carlyle Skating Club is welcoming two new CanSkate coaches this year. These coaches include Taylor Hengen of Arcola and Halle Doty of Carlyle.
Hengen has been skating since she was two-years-old, which gives her 16 years experience on the ice.
“I was a Program Assistant for four years and was helping out,” Hengen explained. “My mom coached skating so I had an idea of what it was about and I really enjoy working with little kids.”
“When I was in CanSkate all of the older girls were Program Assistants and we all loved them, they were amazing to me, and it was just something I always wanted to do.”
The path from assisting to coaching was a natural one for Hengen who is going into her third year coaching.
“I’ve been coaching in Lampman and Arcola, and this year I’ll be starting in Carlyle,” she explained.
Hengen enjoys working with the young participants, “They’re lots of fun and silly, they don’t care what people think of them and always want to have a good time while they’re learning,” she said.
She is excited for the year and to get to teach a new group of kids in Carlyle as she’s been working with those in Lampman and Arcola for awhile now, but is looking forward to filling her winter with skating.
Doty has been skating since she was about three or four-years-old, which gives her 13 years experience on the ice with six of those as a Program Assistant.
“I’ve always really liked working with little kids and teaching them what I had learned,” Doty said. “Becoming a coach is a lot of work, I’ve been preparing for it for awhile and go for three full 12 hour days to be certified. I like the course because it’s a great way to gain more knowledge and become better at evaluating the kids’ learning.”
“We have everything prepped for CanSkate and I think we’re as ready as we can be.”
Doty added her favourite part of working in the Can Skate program is to see kids improve.
“It’s great to see them work at something and come back with what they’ve improved on since the last time,” Doty stated.
Doty is looking forward to the year: “I’ve had other jobs before, but I think this is so exciting because I’ve worked so hard for this.”
CanSkate classes begin on Monday, Oct. 26, and currently there are 17 CanSkaters signed up.
“We have a lot of new kids who haven’t skated before, who won’t really be able to stand on skates, so I’m really excited to see them learn, and we also have a few that are almost at the StarSkate level, so being able to help them achieve that will is exciting,” Doty stated.
