Being the younger sibling, Ben Lloyd tagged along with his family for another one of his sister’s ringette practices at the Magna Centre when speed skating on another rink caught his attention.
“I thought it was pretty exciting and I wanted to try it,” says the 14-year-old.
The Newmarket Jets Speed Skating Club offers a four-week program, including skates and instruction, for people, like Ben, who are curious about the sport. It was weird at first, he says, because the blades are so much longer than hockey skates. The boots also fit differently.
But once he hit the ice and moved around a bit, it all came together fairly quickly. And then he figured out how to go fast, taking the corners with a crossover skating technique and he began competing.
“It caught us all by surprise that we even had the club,” adds Ben’s dad, Shane.
The Jets’ season just got underway and runs through March. Practice sessions are on Monday and Wednesday nights for all skaters starting at 7 p.m.
Given limited ice time, the more competitive Newmarket skaters might join other nearby clubs for a practice, and vice versa to get more ice time. On any given practice night, Newmarket skaters — which number about 50 — might be joined by a half dozen or so skaters from other clubs.
“There’s a good flow between the clubs,” explains Newmarket Jets Speed Skating president Todd Vernon.
“We’ve continued to grow over the years. Our constant battle is ice time,” he adds. “The ice time on that Olympic-sized pad is restricted.”
It is helpful that the clubs in nearby communities all work together to maximize the time they do get, allowing the more competitive skaters with more ice time, he adds. It also allows the top skaters to train together and push each other.
As a result, the two weekly practices are broken down, allowing the newer skaters to come onto the ice for the first hour where they work on the fundamentals and technique of the sport. The intermediate group then hop onto the ice, staying on 20 minutes longer than the first group. The advanced skaters then join them and get the ice to themselves for the third hour.
But it isn’t just a matter of hopping onto the ice and skating. Volunteers bring out mats that are set against the boards to protect the skaters as they take the corners — a tricky manoeuvre that could send them flying if the blade slips during the crossover.
The advantage is that Newmarket has an Olympic-sized rink. This allows the skaters adequate space on the ice, given that the mats reduce the space.
But it’s also given the club the opportunity to host a national event this year, the Canada Cup Juniors in March, which Vernon says is an honour.
Newmarket has had skaters participate in all levels of competition, including the Olympics and World Cup. But skaters of all levels are welcome, including older masters skaters.
Skaters of all levels compete. The younger skaters will participate in a regional meet with skaters of four or five other clubs on a 100-metre track. There’s a provincial series with four day-long meets for the older skaters who compete at distances of up to 1,500 metres.
“We’ve been introducing the relay, which is organized chaos really,” says Vernon.
A small army of volunteers are on hand in various capacities to help run the events. Typically, Newmarket hosts a provincial elite weekend-long event.
In the six intervening years, Ben has competed at the elite level, practicing two nights each week and competing all over the province. He’s made friends and has become more involved in the club.
“I’m already starting with the volunteering… I’d like to coach maybe as a possibility,” he concludes.
