Some of us have had the privilege to take skating lessons when we were young, less fragile, and able to bounce back up from a hefty fall. Others of us, frankly, weren’t that interested in learning how to skate.
I went to the Niverville Arena on a Tuesday evening with my skates, helmet, snow pants, and of course my Jets jersey. Now, I’ve been playing a little bit of pick-up hockey, but I’m nowhere near a confident skater.
I took skating lessons when I was child, roughly 18 years ago, and have skated only on and off over the years.
The Niverville Skating Club had invited me to attend their Adult CanSkate class one evening. “Sure,” I said. “I could probably learn a thing or two while I’m out there.”
We all gear up, a group of ten adult skaters, and head onto the ice.
First things first: we warm up, skating laps around the rink. Me being me, with the music playing, I danced to the beat and glided around. I did lose my balance a couple times. Note to future self: not a good idea to dance while skating.
Next we got split into two groups—beginner skaters and novice skaters—and were shared between Coach Meghan and her assistant Cory. What we did next was great! It was like navigating an obstacle course except you’re learning different skating techniques and glides and pushes and stopping and turning…
(On a side note, I was put into the novice skaters group, as I have some previous experience, so I’m not 100 percent sure what they teach the beginner skaters.)
After about 15 minutes of running through the first course with Coach Meghan, which was a ton of fun, we took a minute lap skate.
We went to learn the next set of skills with Cory, and the beginner skaters went with Coach Meghan. This course was way more complex and involved skating backward, doing backward hops, and doing mini-jump spins. Cory demonstrated it all with such grace and effortlessness.
I am never going to be able to do all that, I thought. I can barely skate backward!
Lo and behold, I did it! I skated backward and did backward hops. I even finished the mini-jump spins around the cones. I got better and faster with each round.
After the second course, we did a couple cooldown laps and stretching, ending the night with burning legs and smiles as wide as the moon itself. I felt proud of myself.
I was so impressed with how the whole session went that I’m planning to register in January for the Adult CanSkate session. I can’t wait to improve my skating skills more, and gain confidence on the ice anywhere I go.
