The Kamloops Long Blades Speed Skating Club , was established in our community of Kamloops in 1992,
by Sandi Vyse, (late) Phyllis Vyse, Bill Zirnhelt and Sharon Wall.
Photo of (late) Phyllis Vyse
one of the original founders
of the Kamloops Long Blades Club.
Although we are a relatively new club as compared to many others in
the province, we have had many successes. Approximately 100 members
all work hard in a volunteer capacity to bring and share the experience
of our sport with you,
"SPEED SKATING" .
Monday Club Skaters 2012/2013
Fall Learn to Skate 2012/2013
Over the years the club has hosted numerous events and continues to seek future opportunties. We've hosted BC Provincial Short Track Championships, BC Cups, BC Provincial Summer Camps, and the Provincial AGM. In February 2003, we hosted the Speed Skating portion of the BC Special Olympic Games, in March 2006 the North American Short Track Championships and in February 2007 the New Gold Inc. Western Canada Cup#4.
Thursday Club Skaters 2012/2013
Fall Learn to Speed Skate 2012/2013
Our Club currently has approximately 100 regular and associate members. Skaters range in age 2 1/2 and up, in all levels of abilities, including Beginners, Recreational, Competitive, High Performance, and Special Olympic members. Our skaters have four practice sessions a week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings.
We belongs to the British Columbia Speed Skating Association which is a branch of Speed Skating Canada whose core values and vision closely align with the programs and skills we offer. Our coaches are highly accredited and love what they do. They are committed to building athletes who have fun learning to go faster over the years, enjoying sport for life and making many new friends along the way.
We have always been very much a family oriented club. We encourage parents to get involved and share in our fun and activities. From time to time our coaches need some assistance from the parents to count laps, supervise in the boxes or help with other activities. We always need everyone's help placing the mats in and out of the storage each practice. When we all work together, it makes for a congenial atmosphere.
Our club's existence rests upon the fund raising efforts of it's members and sponsors. Funds are used to purchase equipment such as Club skates and blades, sharpening equipment and mats, to subsidize our ice expenses, to assist with travel expenses to designated competitions, to provide training to coaches and officials, to purchase awards and for many other expenses incurred in the running of our organization.
Kamloops Long Blades THANK YOU for your support!
We are very appreciative of the level of support we receive from our community.
Over the years, the Kamloops Blazers Sports Foundation has allowed our club to grow and provide many benefits to our skaters. With funding grants in recent years we were able to purchase our Rockering machine which now enables us to ensure our blades are always set to precision quality without having to ship them out of province to be done. Contributions to our equipment inventory have also been realized in past years with the purchase of 10 safety mats.
It was an honor for our club to be selected by the foundation to participate in the 2006/07 - $1,000,000.00 achievement presentation at the Blazers game. Our members were excited to be able to show their appreciation. Opportunities and achievements, consistent progress of our athletes and the continued growth of our club have all benefited greatly from the foundation's support.
We welcome New Gold Inc. to the Kamloops area.Their generous sponsorship since 2006 has allowed our club to successfully host our first International speed skating competition; the 2006 North American Age Class Short Track Championships. This event brought over 300 skaters and supporters from all over North American (and Australia) to our community to compete. In February 2007 we were also able to play host to the New Gold Inc. Western Canada Cup #4 & New Gold Inc. Speedtacular which brought some of Western Canada's finest skaters out to complete, many of whom continued on to Whitehorse to complete in the 2007 Canada Winter Games.
New Gold's commitment to our club continues with official sponsorship of our annual interclub competition each fall. These hosting opportunities benefit our sport, our club and our community - their success comes directly from New Gold Inc. and its support.
In 2006 the City of Kamloops - (Canada's Tournament Capital) completed the new Olympic sized ice surface and facilities at MacArthur Island. Our club is excited to call this "home" for our equipment and office. The City of Kamloops has been a huge supporter of our sport and we appreciate and thank them for their continued support.
Our club would also like to thank the BC Government for grants and funds from their BC Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch-Community Gaming Fund & 2010 Legacies Now. These two program funds have provided many benefits to our club and skaters over the years. Thank you to BC Gaming for all of their support.
Don't hesitate to stop by and check us out. Dressing rooms at the rink will be a buzz with our many members during skating sessions; sharpening skates or lacing up, but they also serve as our information centres. Handouts are distributed and information is shared there.
We always encourage anyone interested in trying Speed Skating to contact us and arrange to come out to one of our sessions.
Have fun and remember: in Speed Skating, there is no speed limit .
