A pair of young figure skaters, members of Skate Yorkton, have been selected to tour with the Skate Saskatchewan high performance team in a Bursary Show that will be performing in Swift Current, Lashburn, Tisdale and Moosomin this month. Eleven year old Nicki Nagy and 14 year old Kailee Sawatzky have earned a place in the travelling show which is the main fundraiser for Skate Saskatchewan, says Susan Nagy, head coach of Skate Yorkton. All revenues from the performances go to fund the Skate Saskatchewan high performance and skater development program, Nagy explains.
The athletes will be invited to schools where they will do presentations. They will also help to run a CanSkate session in each of the communities they visit, Nagy adds. Each community visited will put on a potluck supper inviting local people to participate as a fund raising event for the local community program.
The high performance team includes about 18 athletes. Included in that number are the duo of Paige Lawrence and Rudi Schweigers, current Canadian pair bronze medalists. "We're very lucky to be able to say that we have them in Saskatchewan," Nagy notes. The pair are also on the senior international circuit, she adds.
It's also a great honor for the Skate Yorkton members to travelling with the elite Canadian team members, Nagy states. "It's pretty much every kid's dream, once they become a team member, to be invited to a part of the Bursary Show as a team member," Nagy claims. The athletes travel as a team, they eat together. They're billeted. Essentially, they become family, Nagy suggests.
The team travels with Skate Saskatchewan skater development director Dale Hazel who organizes the tour for the skaters. "It's a most wonderful experience for them," Nagy declares. She says the experience is the Saskatchewan version of Stars on Ice for the skaters.
Saskatchewan junior bronze champion from Skate Yorkton Koen Kucher-Paulmark and Senior Bronze Skate Saskatchewan champion Raegan Exner will perform in Swift Current with the Bursary Show, Nagy reports. "Yorkton has a great showing in these shows," Nagy closes.
This will be Kailee Sawatzky's third year with the Bursary Show. She admits she was a little nervous when she was first selected for the team because she wasn't sure about what to expect. She found she enjoyed the experience and looks forward to doing it again. This year she'll be joined by Nicki Nagy who will be part of the team for her first time.
Sawatzky, who skates with Skate Yorkton and with the Skate Saskat-chewan high performance team, is from Tisdale. She billets with a family and attends school in Melville in order to work with her coach Susan Nagy.
Performing for her parents and her home town may be more exciting for her because she lives away from home. "She will actually get to see her family," Nagy notes.
Sawatzky says she doesn't mind living away from her home because she loves skating and wants to take it as far as it will take her.
