Junior Academy Program

All skaters in Junior Academy are registered as Canskaters for competition purposes.

The Junior Academy Program is intended for those skaters with interest in Competitive Figure Skating. Our program runs from 5:00p.m.-6:00p.m. Tuesday and Thursday.

Though primarily a group instruction program, the skaters also have time during many sessions for individual practice. During this time, the coaches supervise the group, & offer pointers to individuals rather than the group as a whole.

Over the course of the season skaters are given instruction in:

Stroking (training skating quality, strength, speed, agility, endurance)
Edge development
Jumps
Spins
Field Moves
Developing and skating a solo

Clothing

Boys: Skating pants or Track pants (Not floppy sweat pants)

Girls: Skating Dresses, or Skating Skirts, with tights, or Skating pants.

Boys and Girls: The bottom of your pant leg must be tight enough that your skate blade will not easily get caught in it. Tops, shirts, sweat shirts, sweaters, jackets should provide warmth and fit well enough that they do not impede your ability to skate, turn and jump.

Hoodies: Although the dress code for the National training program says no hoodies, I know that most of those people did not skate in our rinks, so, if you wish to wear these, please wear light weight ones that will not get in you way, and especially not in your face.

Gloves: Protect your hands in falls, and keep them warm. Keep two or three pairs of clean gloves in your bag so that you can change them when they get wet. (The bacteria growing in your wet gloves, at the bottom of your skate bag is what makes them stink. Keep them clean.)

Hair: Off the face, out of the eyes. Please be sure that whatever you wear on your head or clothing is secure and will not fly off and cause the risk of injury to yourself or anyone else.

Coaching Fees

None of these additional fees are automatic, they only occur for things you have requested or agreed upon.

In addition to the group instruction that is included in your Junior Academy registration, you can also request private instruction from the coaches. There are also coaching fees for choreography, music and competitions. These are detailed further on in this paper.

Coaching invoices are sent out on the 15th and last day of each month. Please pay with in seven days of the date of invoice.

Competitions

We encourage all Junior Academy skaters to do about three competitions per year.

We will give you information in advance on competitions that we thing you should enter. You will also be given information on how to register for the event.

The entry level for competition for most Junior Academy skaters is called the Canskate Solo.

Creating your first Freeskate Program (solo) for competition

Skaters in Jr. Academy will learn a one minute solo with the intention of performing this solo in competitions. Some of the fees for this freeskate program are in addition to the Junior Academy Registration Fees. The coaches will invoice you for this after the music is chosen and the choreography is done.

The fees for preparing skating solo:

Music: $15.00 (A one time fee for selecting, & editing the music, plus burnings and labelling the CD's.)

Choreography: The majority of the choreography is done during the Junior Academy time and therefore is not billed for. In addition to that, we recommend about $50.00 of private lesson time, divided into lessons at between $8.00 and $12.00 per lesson to prepare the program for competition.

On the recommendation of the coaches, a Junior Academy skater may buy onto an Intermediate session for the purpose of additional private instruction with the coach. The buy-on fee is $40.00 for the season, or $10.00 per session. Coaching fees are $12.00 per 15 minutes.

Competition Fees

1. Canskate solo Entry fees for competition is $35.00. To be paid to CVSC when handing in competition registration forms

2. Coaching fees: $35.00 for the event, plus an even share of the coach's travel, meals and accommodation. (about $15.00 per event)

Clothing for competitions

Dawn does final approval for competition outfits for all levels of skating.

Boys:

Dress pants or skating pants.
Shirt (Coaches will talk to you about this.)
Light weight sweater, or club jacket and small clean black gloves for warm-up.

Girls:

Skating dress, (Long sleeves. Something that keeps you warm and comfortable)
Tights
Light weight sweater, or club jacket and small, clean black or white gloves for warm-up.

Instead of buying a new dress for the first few competitions, you might consider borrowing one from one of the other skaters that have some that they are not using.

Competition Simulation

Before each competition we do a competition simulation day with in four to seven days of the event. Please see Competition Simulation Day sheet for more information.

Skaters are placed in the Junior Academy Program on the recommendation of the coaches

Criteria for moving to this program are:

A desire to learn to Figure Skate
Good listening skills
Good attention span
Behaviour during class
Skating ability (skating skills at approximately level 5 Canskate)

Making the transition from Canskate to Junior Academy

1. When a child in the Canskate program has progressed to a level at which the coaches feel the child will soon be ready to make the transition to Junior Academy, the coaches will speak to the parents to find if they and the child are interested in making this move.

2. Please speak with the coaches if you feel this is a program that your child would be interested in.

We hope that your entry into the Junior Academy Program will be the beginning of a long lasting relationship with Figure Skating.