2023-24 Canadian Figure Skating

[4everchan]

Good point. In Highland dancing, in my era anyway, the age categories up to mid-teens just went Under 7, Under 9, and so on by your age on the day of each competition throughout the year, with the big outdoor Highland Games coming in July and August. So there were a couple of years where the August Games were on a later date than usual in the month (based on the availability of the venue in Stanley Park in Vancouver) and I'd be in one age group in July and then just a few weeks later find myself shunted up to the next level with bigger kids for the other Games because I'd had a birthday inbetween. One year the competition happened to be on my birthday, and my mother phoned the registration office to ask whether "on the day" meant midnight the day before or midnight of the day itself. I could hear her getting more and more exasperated with a very fussy official and she finally snapped, "So you're saying because her birth certificate says she was born at 11 a.m., she dances the Sword Dance scheduled at 9 a.m. with the Under 9s, but for the Reel o'Tulloch scheduled in the afternoon she has to dance with the Under 11s?!" (I don't remember how it all worked out that year, but that was pickiest at its finest )

It is much simpler in my field. The age is defined precisely. Age at xx day and
month.

 

[yyzskater]

What about Dana Sabantini Speciale? Nicholas would lose three years of junior eligibility if they stayed together, and their height difference is also quite something for a pairs team, much less a dance team.

Unfortunately, she is really short. Wouldn't she have the same issue with Bruce, unless they did pairs? Bruce would probably have no issues finding a partner in either dance or pairs but has chosen to continue in singles, despite lacking the technical content. So that is saying something to his lack of interest in a partnered discipline.

 

[Diana Delafield]

It is much simpler in my field. The age is defined precisely. Age at xx day and
month.

I know, I also competed in piano and singing up to the provincial level, and it was more logical.

Now I can't remember what they did with gymnastics. I do recall my father saying, as my mother was filling out a registration form for one of the many things I competed in and muttering to herself as she consulted a calendar: "What do you mean, you don't know how old our daughter is? She's our youngest, our only girl, our surprise bonus baby! I thought her birth day was a very special occasion!" (She'd meant she didn't know which age group I fell into for whatever the activity was. I thrived on competitions and did a lot of them, and they all had different rules.)

 

[lariko]

Waddell looked like he really enjoyed having the ice to himself in the free. I expected Annis type of experience, but Annis had huge, exciting, wild jumps to go with his huge skating, while Waddell simply doesn't have the jumps, so the scissor in skillset looks wider and odder

 

[saine]

Anything GOES interviewed Kevin Dawe. He talks about becoming a pairs coach in Winnipeg, it's an interesting read.

 

[saine]

The events page has been updated with the 4CC/JWC assignments. Piper/Paul are left off for ice dance when they seem like the team least likely to withdraw at this point.

 

[RatedPG]

The events page has been updated with the 4CC/JWC assignments. Piper/Paul are left off for ice dance when they seem like the team least likely to withdraw at this point.

Were they replaced by the team?

The events page has been updated with the 4CC/JWC assignments. Piper/Paul are left off for ice dance when they seem like the team least likely to withdraw at this point.

I still seem their names on the list. I must be looking at wrong list since you are always bang on with your updates …

 

[skatingguy]

Were they replaced by the team?

I still seem their names on the list. I must be looking at wrong list since you are always bang on with your updates …

If you scroll down to the Four Continents listing it only has two ice dance teams at the moment - Lajoie/Lagha & Fournier-Beaudry/Sorensen.

Events

Explore Skate Canada events! Find upcoming figure skating competitions, schedules, and ticket info for events across Canada.

skatecanada.ca

 

[saine]

Were they replaced by the team?

I still seem their names on the list. I must be looking at wrong list since you are always bang on with your updates …

This is what they have on the Events page, in the International section:

They left off Fee Ann for Trophee Metropole in October when she competed there, so not the first time they would've forgotten to add someone. If they copied/pasted from the wrong column (or however they track their assignments) when they updated this, I wouldn't be surprised. Everyone's name looks like it was spelled right at least. It's a weird mistake to make.

 

[RatedPG]

This is what they have on the Events page, in the International section:

View attachment 7504

They left off Fee Ann for Trophee Metropole in October when she competed there, so not the first time they would've forgotten to add someone. If they copied/pasted from the wrong column (or however they track their assignments) when they updated this, I wouldn't be surprised. Everyone's name looks like it was spelled right at least. It's a weird mistake to make.

I see! If they don’t compete, it might be because they are avoiding competing against Madison and Evan. Which, on my opinion would be a mistake as I think they need to go head to head against them.

 

[Bluediamonds09]

Has new champion Kaya R been assigned to Challenge Cup yet? She really has to go get her minimums.

 

[saine]

I see! If they don’t compete, it might be because they are avoiding competing against Madison and Evan. Which, on my opinion would be a mistake as I think they need to go head to head against them.

That's why I'm inclined to think it's a weird mistake in the website update. But who knows, it's been a weird few weeks.

 

[4everchan]

Has new champion Kaya R been assigned to Challenge Cup yet? She really has to go get her minimums.

She will not be needing minimums if she does YOG and JWC. So I would think she won't get assigned... At this point, I am assuming that Skate Canada is hoping that either Justine or Sara-Maude will get theirs at 4CC... and is Maddie is out for worlds, one of them will replace her.

 

[4everchan]

For what it's worth..
Piper and Paul are still on the 4CC entry list and are featured on the Press Release on the same Canada website

Skate Canada Names Teams for 2024 ISU Championships

CALGARY, AB (January 14, 2024) – Following the completion of [...]

skatecanada.ca

The Skate Canada website is just as reliable as a politician in electoral campaign making a bunch of promises they will not realize... so it's certainly a mistake.

 

[Bluediamonds09]

She will not be needing minimums if she does YOG and JWC. So I would think she won't get assigned... At this point, I am assuming that Skate Canada is hoping that either Justine or Sara-Maude will get theirs at 4CC... and is Maddie is out for worlds, one of them will replace her.

I don't understand this line of thinking at all. Why are they waiting til the last few competitions for the women to achieve minimums? And why is kaiya still attending junior worlds?

 

[saine]

I don't understand this line of thinking at all. Why are they waiting til the last few competitions for the women to achieve minimums? And why is kaiya still attending junior worlds?

Kaiya is still attending Junior Worlds because I assume she wants to attend them. If it's her wish and Skate Canada is respecting it instead of rushing her to get minimums she might not get, then that's good.

I don't understand Skate Canada not sending out more women, but this is a choice that is respectable if it's what Kaiya wants. That's what is important.

 

[Sackie]

Watched The Skating Lesson reviewing the Can Nationals with Meghan as quest and Meghan was not kind to Skate Canada. She actually addressed and gave her opinion on some of the same issues we are debating here.
In regard to Kaiya not doing Sr Worlds - it is nothing new for our Sr Champ to choose to do Jr worlds. Cynthia's team made that choice when she won Sr ladies years ago. But of course back then it was their choice to make. In this case Kaiya can't choose to go to Sr Worlds until she gets her mins and maybe she is not ready to face that pressure at the last minute. Let's not forget what happened to some of our past ladies who either got over looked or faced too much pressure too soon.

 

[4everchan]

I don't understand this line of thinking at all. Why are they waiting til the last few competitions for the women to achieve minimums? And why is kaiya still attending junior worlds?

It's a question of logistics. Kaiya was offered to go to youth Olympics. She took the opportunity. When doing that, she knew it was impossible for her to attend 4CC, which is usually a good place to get senior minimums. Kaiya knows she has still some work to do to be competitive as a senior... ( I don't expect her to be in contention for a medal even at Junior Worlds). She probably chose a schedule that was confirmed already instead of a schedule that was conditional on her getting minimums. Kaiya did compete this year as a senior and failed to get her minimums, so there's that.
Also, athletes are not like fans. They are very aware of how things unfolded. Kaiya is our national champion and I am sure she is super proud of that achievement. The reality however, is that she got there because Maddie had two relatively bad skates, failing to deliver her lutz combo in both programs, something rarely seen from her. So it's easy to understand why she would make these choices, especially with home worlds. It's a lot of pressure.

I think Kaiya and her team made the best decisions for themselves and who knows, maybe there is a spring event lined up for Kaiya to get senior minimums for next year in that deal.

 

[TontoK]

I think @4everchan is probably correct in his analysis.

On the day, Kaiya absolutely deserved to win. But she has to know she was the best of a group of so-so performances. She didn't set the world on fire, she was simply the top survivor. I think she and her team (assuming they were part of the discussions - and I don't know that for a fact) made the right call.

Her time as a senior will come, but it's not now. Taking the sure deal as a junior seems a better choice than risking everything on a grueling and nerve-wracking quest to get the senior minimums. Now... had she REALLY skated terrifically and shown she was no-doubt ready for the challenge, then that would be a different story.

 

[saine]

Watched The Skating Lesson reviewing the Can Nationals with Meghan as quest and Meghan was not kind to Skate Canada. She actually addressed and gave her opinion on some of the same issues we are debating here.

I'll be honest, I'm not interested in watching their review. He was going after the skaters and commentators on Twitter during it and launched into a rant on Roman during his Euros recap that I thought was unnecessary.

With all the empathy he has for Kevin Aymoz, it comes off that he only has that empathy for skaters he likes. His bashing of Stephen in previous recaps really makes me think that. Stephen put in work into improving his performance this season, and I respect that even if I'm not a fan of his skating. It's a shame that he's injured since he showed that he can do better and wants to do better.

Plus his tweets had some information that was just wrong. He complained about Skate Canada not putting performances on YouTube on Twitter when they added the winners for all 5 disciplines, junior and senior. That's a great move on Skate Canada's part.

He was hoping for a mess at Nationals and he got one. The skaters know they underperformed and kicking them while they're down wasn't necessary. I'm not going to give him clicks after those tweets.