As summer closes, competitive skating season begins

By Mark Lidbetter, August 15th, 2012

The Lac St. Louis Region Figure Skating Association continued their summer tradition of hosting the Quebec Summer Provincials in tandem with Patinage Quebec at the Pierrefonds Sportsplex.
Close to 800 skaters took part in the three day competition, which featured ladies, mens, pairs and dance events with skaters aged seven to 28. The athletes came from around Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia the United States, Spain and Japan.
“This is the beginning of the competitive season for the skaters,” Anna-Marie Marx, president of the LSL region and the organizing committee of the meet said. “This allows the skaters and their coaches to see where they are and what they need to work on.”
The skaters are scrutinized by not just local judges but by judges from the international community of the sport.
“That allows for a good gauge for the skaters as to how they did,” Marx said.
The undertaking of the three day event requires an army of volunteers from the region, some 200 members of the Lac St. Louis skating community step up to help make the event a success.
For the past six years Lac St. Louis has hosted the prestigious competition and, “each year our members come forward and help us to run the event,” she said.
Lac St. Louis can sit back for the next couple of summers as Boisbriand has offered to host the next two Provincials.
“It will be a nice break for the next two summers,” she said. “Then we will be back at it as the event will return to Lac St. Louis for two more years.”