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End-of-the-Year Awards Banquet
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2009 Volunteer and Special Friend Award – John Lockwood
The Skate Kingston
Volunteer and Special Friend Award was presented to John Lockwood, a very generous person, someone who
quietly helped Skate Kingston on many occasions throughout our inaugural season. Last September, he
purchased a cabinet kit to house our DartFish System and spent many hours assembling, staining and varnishing it.
Following on the heels of that project he built SK the very functional and attractive wood
STARSkate/CanSkate rolling bulletin board. Not long after that, he created a lock box in one of Music
Room filing cabinets. His StateFarm Insurance office also generously donated the cost of the DartFish
cabinet to SK. His initiative, dedication and special commitment to Skate Kingston are very much
appreciated. This special friend is also the father of one of our CanSkaters and the husband of our
STARSkate Program Coordinator.
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CanSkater of the Year - Daphne Archambault
To encourage the development of our
future Canadian skaters, BMO Financial Group established the BMO Financial Group CanSkate Champions
Medal Program. Each year every Skate Canada member skating club has the opportunity to recognize one
skater as their club BMO CanSkater of the Year and two other skaters as their BMO CanSkate Champions.
The CanSkater of the Year must be 8 years of age or under with the emphasis being on talent and skill
achievement coupled with the spirit of skating. These skaters also need to have the desire to
continue and succeed in skating. Skate Kingston’s 2009 CanSkater of the Year is a 7 year old
enthusiastic, energetic, dedicated and talented skater. She has passed Stage 4 CanSkate and earned a
Gold Medal in Stage 5 Freeskate, a Silver Medal in Stage 5 Elements and a 4th in Create-a-Skate
(8 and under) at our Club Competition. She always arrives at the rink with a HUGE infectious smile
while waiting to step on the ice. She is focused and consistently practices new elements, spins and
jumps until she has mastered them. She is a creative and enthusiastic skater who has the added hurdle
of learning to skate while also learning English. She's patient and wants very much to know the French
and English terms for skating elements. Her coach believes this skater is a great representative of the
CanSkate program because she exhibits all the traits we look for in a young skater - fun, energetic,
friendly, caring, passionate and talented. According to her coach “All in all, she is an absolute joy
to work with and reminds me of why I love coaching/skating so much.” We are also proud that Kingston
This Week recognized this special Skate Kingston CanSkater on March 5th as their Athlete of the Week.
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CanSkate Champion – Montana Hogeboom
Our first CanSkate Champion is 8 years old, is a very hard
worker and loves to skate. She has passed Stage 4 CanSkate, earned 2 Silver Medals at our Club
Competition in CanSkate Ladies Stage 4 elements and freeskate and earned a Bronze Medal at the 2009
Trillium Interclub in CanSkate Stage 4. In the fall we hope she will join our STARSkate A group.
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CanSkate Champions – Olivia Langdon
Equally important is our second CanSkate Champion. She is
9 years old, is very motivated and also really loves to skate. She has passed Stage 7 CanSkate and
earned a Bronze medal at the 2009 Trillium Interclub in Introductory Ladies A. Don and I had the
pleasure to skate with her one Monday morning while she practiced her routine over and over and over
again. She has skated in our STARSkate A group since January and is excited to try her Dutch Waltz
and Canasta Tango dances at Spring School. Best of luck as you try your first Skate Canada tests.
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Special Olympic Athlete of the Year – Nathan Sikkema
Skate Kingston’s Special Olympic
skaters have had an amazing season. This year we’d like to recognize Nathan Sikkema, a 20 year old
KCVI student in the Transitional program as our Special Olympic Athlete of the Year. Nathan began
skating at the age of 10 with the Kingston Silver Blades Special Olympics Figure Skating program that
was part of the Kingston Skating Club, now Skate Kingston. Nathan has shown steady improvement and a
huge enthusiasm for skating over the last number of years. He has never complained about the early
morning practices this year and always had his skating gear packed and ready to go the night before a
practice! Nathan has developed his speed and strength this year and performs an expressive and
technical routine to "In the Mood". He is a creative and enthusiastic skater who adds his own
special flare to any piece of music to which he skates. He has also learned the Canasta Tango and
the Baby Blues preliminary dances this year. Nathan previously earned a Bronze Medal in Level 1
Men’s Singles at the Special Olympics Provincial Winter Games in 2007, and has gone on to win both
Gold and Silver medals in Freeskate, Dance, and Interpretive events at the 2008 and 2009 Regional
Competitions. Just a couple weeks ago he earned three more Gold medals at Skate Canada Central
Ontario’s Fun Competition held in Thornhill. Nathan’s goal over the next 3 years is to work towards
qualifying for the 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games.
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STARSkate Spirit of Skating Award – Shen Molloy
This award is presented to a STARSkater who
has genuinely demonstrated her love for figure skating this skating season. She displays a wonderful
positive attitude on the ice, is always light hearted and fun while being consistently supportive of
all our skaters. This skater is working on her Junior Bronze Skills, Junior Bronze Freeskate & Senior
Bronze dances and is coached by Dianna Edmondson. Shen has a very special talent and is known for
bouncing into a change room at test day and relieving the pressure for the skaters just before taking
the ice to test. We are pleased to recognize Shen's passion, spirit and love for the sport of figure
kating.
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Program Assistant Award – Anastasia Hogan
The Program Assistant Award is presented to
someone that shows genuine interest and joy assisting young skaters on the ice. This year it goes to
a Skate Kingston STARSkater who generously volunteered her time as Program Assistant on three of our
weekly CanSkate sessions and one of our weekly STARSkate A sessions. When you tally all those sessions
up this PA helped out on 82 this skating season. She was consistently the first PA to arrive at the
rink to help with the equipment and the skaters. Under the direction of the CanSkate coaches, she
helped choreograph CanSkate solos for our Club Competition and also attended our Club Competition to
provide assistance and motivation for our younger skaters. She is reliable, extremely capable and
quite mature for a 12 year old. She is a role model for younger skaters and other programs assistants
within our club. She has a great sense of humour that is always welcome and an easy manner when
dealing with others. She seems to genuinely enjoy her volunteer work as a PA, and that is reflected
by her dedication and consistent attendance. Skate Kingston has been very fortunate to have this
STARSkater as one of our Program Assistants this past year as she was a genuine asset to our
CanSkate program.
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STARSkate Athlete of the Year – Sarah Peebles
The 2009 Skate Kingston STARSkate Athlete
of the Year is a senior level skater who is an outstanding role model for any skater, CanSkater or
STARSkater, since she exhibits a remarkable encouraging attitude and always sets her skating standards
high. No one can remain sad for even a minute around her bubbly, happy and ever positive encouraging
personality. Sarah has an infectious spirit and passion for skating, and a genuine compassion and
support of her fellow STARSkater’s skating achievements and our CanSkater’s advancements. When
adversity strikes, as it did early on this skating season for her, she rose to the occasion and made
the very best of the situation. Sarah has a positive attitude toward life and the pursuit of happiness
not only for herself but for everyone she knows. She is consistently the first skater to encourage
her skating friends as they work on new skills, jumps or spins. Skate Kingston was honoured to
nominate this special skater for the Skate Canada HomeSense STARSkate Athlete Award as Skate Kingston
believes she embodies every characteristic of a STARSkater and exhibits a passion and spirit for
figure skating that is second to none. She truly had a great skating season, earning 5 Gold, 1 Silver
and 2 bronze medals at our Club Comp, 2 Bronze and a Silver medal as part of SK’s “Ghost Busters” Theatre
on Ice Team at 2009 Interclub, an impressive 8th place finish in a highly competitive field of skaters
at EOSIC and most recently, she earned a Silver medal at the Gloucester Spring Festival held a
couples weeks ago.
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Volunteer Coach Award – Lisa Janssen
Our Volunteer Coach Award is presented to a coach
that goes above and beyond to assist the club in a volunteer capacity. Lisa Janssen has volunteered
her time for the past nine years as the Coach of the Kingston Silver Blades Special Olympics program.
That program was part of the Kingston Skating Club and is now a valued part of Skate Kingston. Skate
Kingston was honoured that our home club skater Thomas Babcock qualified to compete at the 2009
Special Olympics Winter World Games in Boise, Idaho this past February as a member of Team Canada and
earned a Silver Medal at those World Games. Skate Kingston was equally honoured that Thomas’s coach
Lisa was selected as one of Team Canada’s four coaches for the World Games, where on-sight Lisa not
only coached Thomas but several other Team Canada skaters. Lisa has been the primary reason for the
success of the Special Olympic skating program these past nine seasons. Her ever positive, calming
and always professional and polite mannerism and work ethic are admired by our skaters, coaches,
parents and board members. It is obvious Lisa loves the sport of figure skating and shares this
passion with those around her.
Coach Award of Excellence - Lisa Janssen
Our
Coach Award of Excellence goes to a coach who has coached skaters for more than fifteen years. Her
commitment, professionalism, calmness and, most importantly, her encouraging and supporting smile
cannot be duplicated. Realizing how important it was for her skater’s dad to be present to cheer him
on during what became an life lasting experience, competing in World’s this past February in Boise,
Idaho, this extraordinary coach spearheaded fundraising efforts with Helen Mabberly of the Kingston
Community Health Centre and successfully raised $2,600 making that dream a reality for both Thomas
and his dad, Thomas Pettitt. We would like to welcome Lisa Janssen back to accept the 2009 Coach
Award of Excellence. Lisa is a very special and unique person and a very special caring coach.
Some of you may remember that I presented this special award to Lisa during the Kingston Skating
Club’s 2008 Awards Banquet. Skate Kingston believes that Lisa deserves to be recognized again this
year.
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