OSSA COMPETITION & EVENT CHANGES

The Ontario Speed Skating Association's 2009-2010 Competition Criteria and Championship Selection Criteria (Technical Bulletin 27) now provides a pathway for masters skaters to compete in the provincial Ontario Cup race series. Masters, whose combined 500m + 1000m best times, rank them among the top 25 eligible Junior, Intermediate, Senior and Masters age class skaters in the province for each gender, will be able to skate in the Female Open and Male Open categories.

To not take a race position away from a younger skater, the number of skaters in the category will be "ballooned" to make space for eligible master skaters. Masters skaters, eligible to compete in these Open categories, will be seeded at the bottom of the group.

These changes appear to have stemmed from the Competition Plan Proposal 2009-2010 presented at OSSA's AGM, but differ from the recommendation that eligible masters be seeded by time.

Other recommendations, including separation of masters by gender at Regional Meets when numbers warrant and at Regional Championships, appear to not have been included in Technical Bulletin 27. Hopefully masters will enter such competitions in sufficient numbers to make such gender separation feasible for meet coordinators.

Two "Introduction to Speed Skating" events (in Markham on December 5, 2009 and Milton on February 6, 2010) will provide additional opportunity for masters skaters who may not wish to compete in the provincial Regional race series. These events are consistent with the LTPAD initiatives being implemented by Speed Skating Canada.

LTPAD - COMPETITION & EVENTS SYSTEM REVIEW

Earlier this summer, Speed Skating Canada published Racing On Skates - the final report of its competition and events system review. This report outlines SSC's direction "towards developmentally appropriate programming for speed skaters of all ages".

The content demonstrates an improved awareness of the role of masters skaters and holds promise for the future of masters participation in our sport.

Masters are included in a stage titled "Active for Life" which includes participants as young as 14 for females and 15 for males. Key recommendations for suitable programming are outlined on page 50.

Page 121 outlines developmental recommendations for the Active for Life stage including recreational competition, volunteering, fitness and fun participation.

Appendix 4, on page 140, presents "ideas" for the Active for Life stage based on competitive skating, racing on skates, health and expert participants/volunteers.

Masters are encouraged to study this report which will be the basis of formal program recommendations for the 2010/11 season.

BIKES, BLADES & BLUEBERRIES ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON

Thanks, once again, to Kathy Hunt for another report and photos about fun pre-season training events going on in the Kitchener-Waterloo area.

Hello fellow speed skaters. It looks like summer is coming to a close and we are all getting keen to get on ice again. The most recent www/mmm impromptu training venture took place in Guelph on Sunday, August 17. It started downtown...then on to Guelph Lake on our bikes...then back into town for an inline skate on a paved oval...then blueberries and ice cream!!!

Yes, it was fun, and yes we could be called wild, weird and wacky, as suggested. The bike ride was refreshing, and at the track we practiced our Ellis Edge “press-scoop-pinch” – for those that didn’t attend the Ottawa Master’s camp we will tell you all about that on ice, but trust me – it works!

We added a few new contributions to the “Low Walks around the World” collection - a photo series featuring the world as seen by speed skaters, an extension of “Low Walks in Ottawa” which launched at the Master’s camp.

Thanks to Rosie and Pattie for finding the oval (who else would find a paved 400 meter oval in the middle of Guelph?), to John for helping with the photography, to Rosie and Mike for picking the blueberries and to John and Mike for bringing the ice cream and blueberries! What a way to end a workout!
John, Rosie, Mike and Patti at the starting point at Silver Creek Park
We wind our wind through the trails of Guelph which follow the Speed River
And cross over the river several times
At Guelph Lake we make an addition to the “Low Walk” photo series
Yes, we do get some odd looks from people. We laughed when Patti told a staring onlooker “you don’t even want to ask”.

John, Patti and Rosie
John, Patti and Rosie
Rosie, Patti and John as we bike back into Guelph
Rosie, Patti and Pauline at the amazing paved oval, which was apparently paved by mistake! Bonus for us!
Oh yes, more low walks – not so easy on inlines
Its low-walking Rosie, Kathy, Patti. Now, if we could just look like this while we are actually skating!
Rosie, Patti, Kathy - not bad!
What can be better than a picnic after a great day of biking and skating?
The answer is - nothing can be better! Kathy, Rosie, John, Mike, Pauline, Patti
Ahh! Blueberries by Mike and Rosie, ice cream by Mike and John
A picnic basket and a cute little dog as well? Only at a WWW get together!

See you soon on ice!

Kathy L Hunt