I agree with all your points, Dragonlady. However, I have noticed over the years that the skaters who have a breakthrough at Canadians are often also the ones who go to several competitions in the summer/fall season. Examples from this past season:
1. Kaetlyn Osmond: competed at Glencoe Club compeition (short only), Wild Rose, BC Summerskate (short only), Sask Skate, Octoberfest.
2. Gabrielle Daleman: competed at a North Bay competition, Scarboro Skate, Skate Detroit, Thornhill, Isabelle Henderson and Octoberfest.
3. Alaine Chartrand: competed at Scarboro Skate, Lake Placid, Minto Summer Skate, Thornhill, Autumn Skate and Octoberfest.
Getting more competitive experience doesn't guarantee better results later in the season, but there does seem to be some correlation between more summer competitions and success later in the season. While I agree with you about the negative effects of not having finals and not having NACs, it seems that even without those higher-pressure situations in the competitions, the additional competitive experience benefit the skaters.
This doesn't apply IMO to skaters who already have the necessary competitive experience, such as V/M, Jeff Buttle or Takahashi/Tran. They are already competing at such a high level that the summer competitions can't simulate the pressure they would experience in a normal competition. For them the summer competitions are only for getting the programs out there.
All of this presumes that the skaters actually have the necessary skills in practice (jumps, step sequences, etc) and just need experience to transfer that into a competitive situation.
In the past the Quebec skaters and the BC skaters didn't seem to do many summer competitions, and they also remained rather insular, only competing in Quebec or BC respectively. For some of the Quebec skaters that seems to be changing, as some are now competing at Liberty and Minto as well as the competitions in Quebec. For BC skaters it's more difficult, as distances are long to other competitions, but some have been entering competitions on the prairies or going down to California competitions. I think that will benefit them.
1. Kaetlyn Osmond: competed at Glencoe Club compeition (short only), Wild Rose, BC Summerskate (short only), Sask Skate, Octoberfest.
2. Gabrielle Daleman: competed at a North Bay competition, Scarboro Skate, Skate Detroit, Thornhill, Isabelle Henderson and Octoberfest.
3. Alaine Chartrand: competed at Scarboro Skate, Lake Placid, Minto Summer Skate, Thornhill, Autumn Skate and Octoberfest.
Getting more competitive experience doesn't guarantee better results later in the season, but there does seem to be some correlation between more summer competitions and success later in the season. While I agree with you about the negative effects of not having finals and not having NACs, it seems that even without those higher-pressure situations in the competitions, the additional competitive experience benefit the skaters.
This doesn't apply IMO to skaters who already have the necessary competitive experience, such as V/M, Jeff Buttle or Takahashi/Tran. They are already competing at such a high level that the summer competitions can't simulate the pressure they would experience in a normal competition. For them the summer competitions are only for getting the programs out there.
All of this presumes that the skaters actually have the necessary skills in practice (jumps, step sequences, etc) and just need experience to transfer that into a competitive situation.
In the past the Quebec skaters and the BC skaters didn't seem to do many summer competitions, and they also remained rather insular, only competing in Quebec or BC respectively. For some of the Quebec skaters that seems to be changing, as some are now competing at Liberty and Minto as well as the competitions in Quebec. For BC skaters it's more difficult, as distances are long to other competitions, but some have been entering competitions on the prairies or going down to California competitions. I think that will benefit them.
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