News

SCHEDULE CHANGES - SESSIONS ON SATURDAY APRIL 9TH MOVED TO THE 10TH

posted Mar 7, 2022, 6:04 PM

We just want to advise of an upcoming schedule change for Canskate/Parent & Tot/PreCanskate Sessions.

We are unable to run our regular sessions on Saturday, April 9, 2022 as the ice is unavailable. The sessions have moved to Sunday, April 10, 2022 from 2-4pm.

• Parent & Tot – 2:00-2:30pm
• Pre-CanSkate – 2:30-3:00pm
• CanSkate 3:00-3:50pm

We apologize for any inconvenience.

~The Tavistock and District Skating Club

TEAM UNITY BRINGS SILVER BACK TO TAVISTOCK

posted Mar 3, 2022, 5:55 PM

As posted in the Wilmot-Tavistock Gazette on March 3, 2022

By Lee Griffi
The coach of Tavistock’s Intermediate synchronized skating team predicted her young women would make the podium in Calgary at the Canadian championships, and she was right.

Team Unity earned a silver medal over the weekend after posting the best score in the competition’s second program. Coach Tara Wilkins says the team shook off a shaky start. “Our first skate went really well aside from the last two seconds. We had two falls right at the end, and it was remarkably close between the second, third and fourth positions heading into the second skate. They felt a lot of anxiety heading into day two since they didn’t want to lose the spot they were in, but they wound up skating the best program they have ever done and posted the best score.”

Team Unity wound up with a total of 96.88 points, less than five points behind another Ontario team and gold medal winner, Team Nexxice. “They come from a big centre in Burlington, and they have a long-standing national championship tradition, so the fact we won that second skate is amazing. That silver medal feels like gold to me,” says Wilkins.

The coach is obviously tremendously pleased with what her team has accomplished, and she says the girls are as well. “I think they were proud of what we have been doing and what they ended up putting out there. I have never seen them so anxious and stressed. We have a routine that we follow, and we stuck to it. It was a good learning lesson for them since they had never been in such a pressure cooker before.” The team has had no competitions for two years and were barely able to practice during that time.

Team Unity doesn’t have much time to bask in the glory of a Canadian silver medal with two more major events set for this month. “They still have two more competitions. It’s weird, but we do provincials after the nationals, and I can’t tell you why. Our next event is March 13 in London and then on to provincials March 27 in Mississauga.”

Once those competitions are done, the team will head right into tryouts right away. Wilkins is hoping the age maximum continues to be a bit flexible so she can keep the team together as-is for another year. “I might have a couple of skaters aging out, but Skate Canada allowed 19-year-olds to participate this year (as intermediates) because of the pandemic and the lack of any competitions. We are hoping they’ll do that for another year.”

There is no doubt Team Unity is a cohesive group both on and off the ice, and they were able to continue bonding with a mini, post-competition vacation. “We did some skiing and snowboarding and did the gondola ride in Banff along with a celebratory dinner. Then it was off to Lake Louise where we had team pictures done, and some did a horse-drawn sleigh ride. They are all pretty exhausted right now.”
When you talk to Wilkins you can hear the passion in her voice and how much she believes in her team. “I have been doing this for 13 years in Tavistock, and when I started, I never thought in a million years I would have a team attend nationals. To see them following along together all these years and putting the work in, it paid off. I was emotional when we won silver, and I still am.”

When she was asked what the future holds for the Burlington resident when it comes to coaching, she didn’t hesitate. “I’ll stick around a little longer. See what else we can do.”

Team Unity celebrates their silver out in the Canadian championships out in Calgary, Alberta. Team members include Allyson Barbour, Lilly Bender, Callie Brenneman, Larissa Brenneman, Kathryn Giles, Melanie Giles, Alaina Hartman, Annabelle Hendry, Jorja Koot