Novice figure skaters Madeline Schizas and Natalie Walker have been named to a list of the top 10 Skaters in their category in Canada and are headed to a training camp whose intention is to develop the next generation of international competitors. Both girls are Oakville residents who train at the Milton Figure Skating Club.
Schizas and Walker, both 13, this summer took part in Skate Canada’s ‘National Summer Series’, the aim of which was to identify the next generation of international competitors. Competing in Montreal, Thornhill and Vancouver, each girl achieved scores that were in the Top 10 in the country. As a result, each will be given a ‘bye’ to the Skate Canada Challenge, the country’s National Semi-Final which is to be held in Montreal in December (other skaters from across the country must qualify to participate through Sectional Competitions). The Top 18 Skaters from Challenge will then proceed to the Canadian Tire National Figure Skating Championships to be held in Ottawa in January 2017.
“I am so excited to have qualified” says Schizas who is proud to have landed two different triple jumps in competition this summer. Walker adds that it was especially challenging to be competing against Canada’s best skaters through the summer. “I really loved going to British Columbia” she says. “It was so much fun to meet and compete against girls from all over the country.”
Based on their performances, Schizas and Walker have now been identified as part of Skate Canada’s ‘Next Gen’ Athlete Pool. The Next Gen program, a federal government initiative, has as its aim to identify skaters who are five to eight years away from their peak and who have international-level potential. As part of that process, Schizas and Walker, accompanied by their primary coach Nancy Lemaire of the Milton Figure Skating Club, will this week travel to Pierrefonds, Quebec to take part in a NextGen Training Camp that will hopefully aid them on their journey to international podiums.
The girls are both enrolled in the ‘High Performance’ program for athletes at W.I. Dick Middle School in Milton, which allows Halton students with national level athletic potential to maintain their training without sacrificing academics.