What Is the Saugeen Shores Skating Club?

Updated

The Saugeen Shores Skating Club is a community skating club that offers Skate Canada–structured programs for every level of skater — from children and adults learning to skate for fun or fitness, to hockey players building fundamentals, to competitive skaters working toward their goals. It is the right fit if you are looking for a local club with nationally certified coaches and a progressive, group-lesson format; it is not a drop-in public skate or a private one-on-one coaching service.

Who the club serves

The club describes its programs as open to "all levels of skating," with youth and adult options. That covers four broad groups:

  • Beginners who want to learn to skate for fun or fitness
  • Hockey-minded skaters who need skating fundamentals for their hockey career
  • Recreational figure skaters who want to stay fit and progress through skills
  • Competitive aspirants working toward higher-level achievement

The program ladder

Programs are organized so skaters can move from first steps to advanced training. The club lists four program areas:

Program What it focuses on Who it's for
CANSkate Skate Canada's flagship learn-to-skate program; skills taught progressively in group lessons by Nationally Certified Coaches and Program Assistants Youth and adult beginners
Pre-Star Group lessons on strength, speed, edges and turns, plus basic jumps and spins Skaters moving past the basics, including hockey players
STARSkate Ice dance, skating skills, freeskate and interpretive skating, with standardized test evaluations by certified Skate Canada judges Skaters continuing from Pre-Star to advanced elements
SynchroSkate Listed as a program area on the site Skaters interested in team skating

The progression is deliberate: CANSkate builds the foundation, Pre-Star adds power and edge control plus an introduction to jumps and spins, and STARSkate develops advanced elements with formal test evaluation.

Coaches and structure

Coaching is delivered by Nationally Certified Coaches, supported by Program Assistants in the CANSkate group format. The club's coach roster listed on the site includes Janet Dawson, Brittany Sanderson, Cathy Champagne-Baker, Tamara Fenton, Jessica Ronholm and Michelle Venne Wardrop. Because programs follow the Skate Canada structure, skills are taught progressively rather than in an ad-hoc format — useful if you want a skater's progress to be measurable through standardized evaluations.

How to register or get in touch

The site points visitors to a Registration & Schedule page for current sessions, and notes that spring and summer skating registration is available through a registration link on the homepage. For questions before signing up, the club's contact email is listed as [email protected]. Skating locations are also listed on the site, so you can confirm which rink applies to your program before registering.

What to check before committing

  • Confirm the session and schedule on the Registration & Schedule page — the site advertises spring and summer skating, so availability varies by season.
  • Match the program to the skater: true beginners start with CANSkate; hockey players and skaters ready for edges, turns and introductory jumps look at Pre-Star; those continuing to dance, skills, freeskate and interpretive work go to STARSkate.
  • Ask about age and level placement by email if you are unsure where a skater fits, since the site describes youth and adult streams but not specific age cut-offs.
  • Check equipment and location details with the club directly, as the site does not publish them in the material available.