Hub Staff

The Plex in Port Elgin will soon be the home of a new competitive sports club, the Bruce County Speed Skating Club, a non profit organization, will begin a four week introductory program for short track speed skating this coming April.

“It’s going to be eight different sessions and it will be an opportunity for kids or adults to learn to speed skate; learn the elementary rules, learn how to skate on the different kinds of skates and we’re going to go from there,” said Saugeen Shores Councillor, John Rich, who is starting the program. “The hope is to run a full competitive team in the Fall.”

Where competitive sport on ice is concerned, currently in Saugeen Shores there are two avenues kids can enter into after learning the basics - hockey and figure skating. The Bruce County Speed Skating program will now offer a third option, not only for the purpose of choice but also to help with the sometimes restrictive costs of the other two options.

“In competitive sports like hockey… there’s tournaments and there’s travel and it’s a lot of money to kind of get into that; and the same thing holds true for figure skating, the cost of ice time, the commitment that you need to be able to travel to competitions and the outfits and the designs,” said Rich. “I’m trying to create a program that’s available for everyone that almost anybody can belong to.”

Rich said that Canada is currently one of the top countries for short track speed skating in the world. “We’re bringing an Olympic program to the community, something that kids and adults can participate in.” His hope is to one day have a speed skater from the Bruce County club go to a regional competition or in a year or two host a competition right here in Saugeen Shores. “We have enough mats now purchased, that we will be able to run a full fledged competition of our own and then be able to bring in speed skaters from around the province, maybe just have a weekend or a one day competition where we’ll be able to set up, take over The Plex, have people staying in local hotels, eating a local restaurants, participating in the diversity of the economic development in our region.”

The Club was able to acquire mats from a club in Sault Ste. Marie that was disbanding. “The only thing that you need for short track speed skating is a regulation size hockey rink… and the other thing you need is crash mats that go along the outside boards around the arena,” said Rich.

The skates themselves can be expensive but Rich’s goal is to make this sport accessible to everyone. In addition to a nominal registration fee, the club could either loan club-owned skates to members who show an economic need or lease them for a nominal cost for the year. “I want to create an opportunity so people that are maybe lower income… have the opportunity to participate in sport and be able to utilize the facilities that they pay for and continue to pay for (through taxes),” said Rich.

The club is currently looking for coaches as well as volunteers to help with set up and tear down. “We’re running a free coach’s clinic on February 21 so anybody that can skate that wants to learn how to be a speed skating coach, it’s a one day course,” said Rich.

The club is also looking for volunteers to help with promotions, social media and building a website with the hope of getting the word out beyond Saugeen Shores. “Maybe there’s a high school student out there that needs volunteer hours that is very computer literate that will be able to somehow grab that ball and run with it," said Rich, adding that the club is also looking for donations to ensure that the club is successful.

The feedback the club has received thus far has been positive. “People are coming out of the woodwork and are excited about starting this program up.” Rich added that outside of Quebec, this club will be the first “more or less rural speed skating club” in Canada.

“I really believe that this is going to be successful, I think it’s a great opportunity.”

For more information contact John Rich at 519-386-9935 or email johnrich68@gmail.com.