CBS Skating Club President’s Report

2014-2015

We have completed another very successful year for the 2014-2015 season. Our number of Board members has continued to grow. This year we had a total of 14 members, which included many returning members as well as 5 new Board members, which meant we had most positions filled. We also had a wonderful team of 12 coaches working with us again this year; most were returning coaches, however we also had some new coaches join us who have proved to be fantastic assets to our Club.

We had over 300 skaters in the CanSkate program this year. Our numbers continue to grow each year and because of our anticipated numbers for this past season, we had to operate out of the Paradise Arena for one of our days. This was due to lack of ice time available at the Robert French Memorial Stadium. Most of our sessions were completely full and unfortunately again this year, we had to turn children away and had a waitlist on many sessions. Hopefully with the opening of the new Stadium in the Fall of 2015, we will be able to accommodate all skaters who wish to take part in our programs.

At the Skate Canada Test Level we had over 40 skaters, most competing in STARSkate categories. We also had 2 competitive skaters. We anticipate that our numbers will continue to grow next season and we are hoping to offer more sessions for our STARSkate and competitive skaters. Our STARSkaters and competitive skaters were very successful this past season and we are very proud of their accomplishments.

We had 2 Synchro teams again this year. The “Snowflakes” competed in the Elementary level and the “Twizzlers” competed in the Beginner category. The Snowflakes won a Gold Medal in their category and the Twizzlers placed 4^th. Both teams had a fantastic showing in the Provincial Championships. It was our first time travelling as a team and it was a great experience for the girls involved – they had another wonderful season of fun, friendship and fitness.

The CBS Skating Club hosted Eastern Divisonals this past season, which was a big undertaking. It was a very successful event. As with hosting any competition, there is a great deal of work and countless hours that are put in behind the scenes. We had a wonderful committee to help us run this event. Thank you to everyone who pitched in to make this event run as smoothly as possible. The only difficulty we had with this event, was recruiting enough volunteers to help during the 2 day event. This is something we will need to work on when hosting STAR Provincials next season.

In regards to Skater and Club development this year, we have a lot to be proud of:

• We made an effort to reward skaters for their help on the CanSkate sessions, through offering various incentives.
• We purchased a Club iPod which was used to store our skater’s solo music.
• We purchased a second laptop for our office to aid with management, registration and accounting.
• We hosted our first PA Christmas party at Axtion Climb.
• We continued to offer our STARSkaters development opportunites with simulations, interpretive and stroking sessions.
• We offered off-ice classes each week for CanSkate, STARSkate and Competitive Skaters.
• We had a wonderful seminar with Kaetlyn Osmond, which was a fantastic opportunity for our skaters that they will not soon forget.
• Our Club purchased jackets for our coaches, which are to be worn on the ice during CanSkate sessions, so that they are easily identifiable to the skaters and parents.
• Pinnies were also purchased for our CanSkate Program. The pinnies were a costly venture; however they have been such an important organizational tool for our skaters and coaches. Coaches, skaters and parents are able to see in a quick glance if a child is in the wrong group or has strayed away from their area. This relieves a great deal of frustration for all involved.

We are very proud of the programs and opportunities that we have offered our skaters this year, and we look forward to creating more learning and team building opportunities in the future.

We continue to protect our club financially and work to improve our financial situation. We have worked very hard on rebuilding our club, which was in a great deal of debt. We are relieved that Shelly (Wanda) Goodyear, (our past president) has recently plead guilty to fraudulent activity with the club funds, and a restitution amount of over $23,000.00 has been ordered. We will continue to actively pursue the case in hopes to recover the stolen funds. Since the charges were made public the community and club members have come together to help support us and help us grow. We have spent the last 3 years restructuring the club and an important part of this restructuring has involved clearly defining the board members roles, as well as actively recruiting more and more volunteers each year.

We have a wonderful, strong team of volunteers and we have a very positive future.  We now have some of the provinces top coaches coaching at our club. We are offering the highest quality programs and we are committed to investing as much as we can back into the club.  We have adopted open information and communication polices. I would like to thank the board, skaters, parents and volunteers who have help us through this tough time and who given us positive, encouraging messages throughout this ordeal.

Our ice show titled “Thanks for the Memories” was a HUGE success this year, we had approximately 150 skaters take part and I would like to say thank-you to the many volunteers who helped to make the show a success. It was a very special event this year due to the fact that it will be our last ice show in the Robert French Memorial Stadium. Our banquet was another HUGE success this year. We had an amazing turnout of over 200 people and it was an evening of fun for our skaters, volunteers, parents and coaches. The donations from the community to create prizes and loot bags for the skaters were outstanding!

It has been a busy, but wonderful year and I would like to thank the entire executive, coaches, parents and all other volunteers that gave of their time this past season to help organize and prepare all events. Without your commitment to the club, we would not be able to provide these quality programs to our skaters. Your dedication is much appreciated and valued. Working to grow and improve an organization requires teamwork and collaboration. Unity is strength; and when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved. Our level of team work and positivity that our board has demonstrated is second to none, and it is something to be very proud of. Everyone involved with our board truly wants to improve our club and we all work together toward a common goal - to help our skaters succeed, and I thank you all for that. I am looking forward to working with you all next season.

Kristi Dalton

President

CBS Skating Club