News Releases
More than 200 athletes will compete for national titles at the Novice, Pre-Novice and Juvenile levels at the 2008 BMO Skate Canada Junior Nationals. The event runs from January 30 to February 2, 2008 at the Nepean Sportsplex in Ottawa, Ont. Skaters will compete in all four disciplines, women's, men's, pair and ice dance.
“This event is very important to the development of our young skaters in Canada,” said Skate Canada CEO William Thompson. “At this event the public will see some of the up-and-coming figure skating talent in Canada. When it was last held in Ottawa, the Novice Champion was Patrick Chan, our newly crowned Senior Men's champion. The BMO Skate Canada Junior Nationals gives these young athletes the experience of a national level competition, and prepares them to take their place on the national and world stage.”
“At BMO Financial Group, we believe that supporting young skaters as they begin their competitive journey is absolutely vital to ensuring the continued success of skating in Canada,” said Sandy Bourne, Vice President, Advertising, Sponsorships/Events & Merchandising, BMO Financial Group. “We are also proud to support the outstanding achievements of skaters competing at the BMO Skate Canada Junior Nationals by presenting BMO Possibility Awards which include a $500 training grant.”
All skaters qualify for this event through one of the 13 BMO Skate Canada Sectionals. In addition, the Novice and Pre-Novice athletes also qualified to compete in Ottawa through either the 2008 BMO Skate Canada Western Challenge or the 2008 BMO Financial Skate Canada Eastern Challenge, which were both held in Mississauga, Ont. in December.
Ottawa area skaters competing include Ian Gibson (12) from the Minto Skating Club in Juvenile Men, and Nikki Mattocks (12) from the Gloucester Figure Skating Club in Juvenile Women's. In Novice Dance, Lisa Casselman (15) and Ryan Behnia (17) will represent the Nepean Figure Skating Club, and compete alongside H�l�ne Letourneau (16) from the Gloucester FSC and Kevin Boczar (19) from the Minto SC. Paul Parkinson (16) of the Nepean FSC competes in Novice Men.
More than 135 local volunteers will be involved in the staging of this event.
Tickets for the 2008 BMO Skate Canada Junior Nationals will be available at the door only starting Wednesday January 30, 2008. All-event tickets cost $20 for adults and day tickets are $5 on Wednesday and Thursday, and $10 on Friday and Saturday. Admission for children 12 years and under is free and they do not require a ticket.
Lists of competitors and the events schedule can be found at www.skatecanada.ca.
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Skate Canada, the national governing body responsible for the development and administration of figure skating in Canada, is the largest figure skating association in the world. With skating programs for athletes of all ages, offered at 1303 clubs and 60 skating schools* across the country, Skate Canada is an association dedicated to providing every Canadian the opportunity to experience the passion, spirit and triumph of skating.
* As at August 30, 2007.
BMO Financial Group is the title sponsor of the BMO Canadian Figure Skating Championships, Junior Nationals and the Synchronized Nationals as well as the qualifying events that lead to the national championships, the Sectional and Challenge events. Recognizing the need to support young skaters in their quest for excellence, BMO Financial Group also supports Skate Canada's learn-to-skate program, CanSkate, which is taught in over 1,300 skating clubs and schools across Canada.