Fred's, (Used to be Barb's), Board

Skate Canada continues to monitor the global pandemic and the shifting requirements across the country. The health and safety of the athletes, coaches, officials, and spectators remain our outmost priority. With that, Skate Canada has made the decision to move two key events back this season.

“The global pandemic has put forth challenges for us all, and our priority is to support the development and goals of our skaters in a safe manner,” said Debra Armstrong, CEO, Skate Canada. “We have altered the format of the 2021 Skate Canada Challenge which will now take place virtually. We are also moving the dates of both 2021 Skate Canada Challenge and the 2021 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships back to allow more time for skaters to prepare.”

The remote 2021 Skate Canada Challenge competition will take place from January 11 – 17, 2021 and will allow Canadian skaters to participate from their home regions virtually with live officiating providing each with an opportunity to qualify for the 2021 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. The date for submitting video submissions for the junior and senior disciplines will be announced shortly.

The 2021 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships are still scheduled to take place in person in Vancouver, B.C., at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. However, the event will now take place on February 8 – 14, 2021. The number of competitors has been reduced to accommodate safety protocols. Only junior and senior categories will compete, and each discipline will only have two flights of skaters. More details surrounding that event will be available later this year.

Unique format, engaging broadcast highlight 2021 Skate Canada Challenge virtual competition
January 5 2020

OTTAWA, ON: The nation’s premier junior and senior figure skaters return to the competitive circle for the first time in months later this week at the 2021 Skate Canada Challenge.

Due to the pandemic, the 2021 Skate Canada Challenge event will be held as a virtual competition that will determine berths for the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in February.

The event will be staged over two weekends, with the senior pair, junior pair, junior men and junior women competition kicking off the event January 8-10. From January 15-17, the junior ice dance, senior ice dance, senior men and senior events will be staged.

“These times are unprecedented, but we also understand the importance of giving our athletes the opportunity to get into a competitive environment so they are as prepared as they can be when things return to normal,” said Skate Canada CEO Debra Armstrong.

“For more than a century, skaters have pursued their dreams of competing at the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships, and we are once again giving these athletes the opportunity to qualify for this prestigious event at Skate Canada Challenge.”

As could be expected, Skate Canada Challenge will have a different look.

Prior to the start of the competition, skaters declared their performances from either their respective sectional championships or a section-organized challenge skate. Just like a live competition, once the music started, there were no second chances. Videos of these performances were submitted to Skate Canada to be judged in real time during the event.

Once the event is completed, the top two flights in each discipline will qualify for the 2021 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships, to be held February 8-14 at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre in Vancouver, B.C. Twelve competitors in men’s and women’s, 10 teams in ice dance and 8 teams in pair, at both the junior and senior level, will advance to the Canadian Championships.

Most of the Canadian national team, including reigning national champions Roman Sadovsky, 20, Vaughn, Ont., (men), Emily Bausback, 18, Vancouver, B.C., (women), Piper Gilles, 29, Toronto, Ont., and Paul Poirier, 29, Unionville, Ont., (ice dance) and Kirsten Moore-Towers, 28, St. Catharines, Ont., and Michael Marinaro, 28, Sarnia, Ont., (pair) will compete.

Like the competition, the live streaming broadcast of Skate Canada Challenge will be unique and innovative.

Not only will the entire competition be live streamed on SkateCanada.ca, but the broadcast will feature unique, engaging content including features and interviews with current and former athletes, coaches and Skate Canada leaders.

“While we are unable to host our events in the traditional sense at this time, we want to interact with our fans and bring the event to them, in the comfort of their own homes,” added Armstrong.

All events will be officiated live by remote officials’ panels Friday January 8th, 2021 to Sunday January 10th, 2021 and Friday January 15th, 2021 to Sunday January 17th, 2021. The event will be live streamed with live scoring.

Although results and detail sheets are being updated following the scoring of each competitor, these represent unofficial results and scores until these have been authorized per Scoring of Skate Canada Competitions Rule, Publication of Results.

•  Rio Morita (ON) 186.95
•  Matthew Newnham (AB/NT/NU) 179.65
•  Wesley Chiu (BC/YK) 179.30

Skate Canada Challenge is being held over two weekends and features the top junior and senior skaters from across Canada. Next weekend, three senior events – men’s, women’s and ice dance – will be contested, along with the junior ice dance competition.

The event is being live streamed to a worldwide audience, with viewers from more than 20 countries tuning in over the first three days.