THE FAST LANE - HOLIDAYS' EDITION |
Welcome back to The Fast Lane,
Hello Speed Skating Alberta Community,
The season is now fully underway, and it’s been incredible to see the energy, dedication, and community spirit across the province. From club sessions and early-season meets to major national and international events, speed skating in Alberta is moving full speed ahead.
This edition of The Fast Lane brings you highlights from a busy and exciting November, along with a look at what’s ahead as we head into the second half of the season. Thank you to all the athletes, coaches, officials, volunteers, and families who continue to bring life to our sport every week.
Let’s keep the momentum going!
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Meet The 2025-2026 LT Academy Coaches
This year’s LT Academy coaching team is newly assembled and already creating a positive, energetic training environment. They’re having fun on and off the ice while seeing great progression across the group and individual skaters. A recent team “cookie challenge” was a hit, just one of the many ways they keep training engaging and enjoyable! (PS: Ask them about it next time you see them ;-)) |
Meet Matt - SSA's Community & Events Lead |
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We’re excited to welcome Matt to the Speed Skating Alberta team as our new Community & Events Lead! Many of you may have already crossed paths with him at the Neo Junior Championships or during the World Cup.
Matt will jump right into event support this season, helping deliver the Canadian Youth Long Track Championships, Canada Cup Junior Final, COC Fan Fest, Family Day/Winter Fest, and the Provincial Championships. After the event season wraps up, he’ll begin rolling out new community outreach initiatives.
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Here’s a bit about Matt in his own words:
"Hey, I’m Matt! Before joining SSA, I spent the last six years in Golden, BC running high-level freeride ski and snowboard events, including work with the Freeride World Tour. When I’m not working, I’m usually on my bike, my snowboard, or at a concert. I’m really excited to get out around the province, meet everyone, and help grow speed skating in Alberta."
We’re looking forward to having Matt on this journey with us — welcome to the team!
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Join us in Red Deer for the 2026 Western Canadian Outdoor Classic — January 16–18, 2026!
We’re excited to welcome long track speed skaters from across Western Canada and beyond to the 2026 Western Canadian Outdoor Classic Long Track Meet! This signature outdoor event celebrates Canada’s most decorated Olympic sport — on the very same natural ice that produced record-breaking performances during the Canada Winter Games in 2019.
Think you can set a new mark of your own? This year, athletes will have even more to skate for.
💰 Cash Prizes!
We’re thrilled to introduce cash awards for standout performances throughout the competition.
🏅 Track Record Prizes – $500 Each*
$500 will be awarded to male and female skaters who break the 500m, 1000m, or 1500m outdoor oval track records.
* for the top skater who breaks the track record. For clarification if the record gets broken several times during the weekend, it’s the fastest time who gets the new track record and prize. One for each distance male and one female only.
🌟 All-Around Prizes – $250 Each (Guaranteed)
$250 will be awarded to the top male and female skaters in each of the following categories:
- Senior | Junior | Neo-Junior
These all-around prizes are guaranteed — no records required!
Register HERE!
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Lots of activity in the province! |
November was a standout month for Speed Skating Alberta, filled with activity and milestones across the province.
🇨🇦 National Event #1 of 3
Alberta hosted the first of three national events scheduled for this season, welcoming 120 Neo Junior athletes from across Canada to Calgary. It was a strong and exciting start to a big year of racing in our province and saw Alberta skater Ricky Lin find his way to the podium.
A special thank-you to our event sponsors — Save-On-Foods and Tourism Calgary — for their support in making the Neo Junior Championships a success.
🌍 World Cup Moments
The ISU World Cup brought incredible energy to the Olympic Oval. SSA supported medal presenters, welcomed school groups, and helped create memorable experiences for young fans and future athletes while cheering on our Alberta athletes on the world stage.
🏁 Events Across the Province
November was also a busy month for our clubs across Alberta, with meets and activities taking place in Canmore, Red Deer, Grande Prairie, Lloydminster, and Edmonton. Many events filled quickly and saw strong participation—whether athletes were chasing personal bests, gaining valuable first-race experience, working toward provincial rankings, or aiming to qualify for national competitions and the Alberta Winter Games. Coaches & Officials across the province also continued progressing through their upgrades and evaluations, helping ensure high-quality racing at every level.
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As we wrap up a very full and exciting first half of the season, the SSA team will be taking a short break over the holidays to recharge and spend time with friends and family.
Our office will close at noon on December 24 and will reopen on January 2.
During this time, we will continue to monitor the info@speedskatingalberta.ca inbox for any urgent inquiries that may require attention.
Thank you to everyone in our community for your support throughout a busy start to the year. We look forward to returning refreshed and ready for a strong second half of the 2025–26 season!
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New Speed Skating Program – Calgary
The Joff Short Track Academy (with the National Sport School) is launching a program for Grades 8–12, starting May 2026. Balance academics with high-performance training, including customized programs, daytime ice at WinSport, and support from strength, nutrition, and sport psychology experts.
Info Session: Dec 18, 2025, 18:00 MT
Register by: Jan 16, 2026
RSVP & Questions: joffrey@joffshorttrack.com
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Correction: Youth Development Team Listing |
We want to acknowledge that in our previous Provincial Team announcement, we shared some contradicting information, which has caused confusion and uncertainty for some members in our community.
We sincerely apologize for this and appreciate your understanding as we clarify the situation.
As previously communicated, all Youth Development Team skaters who made the team last year and are still in the 11–13 age category this season remain on the team. The updated criteria regarding how Youth Development Team skaters roll over will come into effect next season.
The corrected and updated Youth Development Team list is now posted on the SSA website. We thank our athletes, families, and clubs for your patience and continued support as we work to ensure fair and transparent processes for all skaters.
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Read about what others have been up to in the community |
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Edmonton is getting ready for outdoor Long Track!
Each December, the members of the Edmonton Speed Skating Association eagerly look forward to getting outdoors and on to our long track oval down in Victoria Park. The oval has served as our training ground and an anchor point for our club for decades, but it has also won the hearts of regular Edmontonians who love skating on the enormous ice surface we have in the heart of our river valley.
The Victoria Park skating oval's history dates back to 1975, when ESSA members worked with the City of Edmonton to relocate the oval into its current site. Initially designed as a 333m oval, it was expanded in 1985 to be the 400m oval we know today, and in 2015 the City in partnership with our club opened the Victoria Park Pavillion, which includes a separate Clubhouse in the pavilion, as well as a permanent garage for our Zamboni. As a result of this investment, ESSA is able to brag about training on some of the best outdoor ice in Western Canada. Our oval has hosted many high level meets in its history including National and Provincial Team Trials, and most recently the 2017 Canadian Age Class LT Championships.
In addition to the hours that City of Edmonton employees put into building our ice each year, our club members put in well over 100 hours of volunteer time getting the ice ready for skating each season. All of our ice resurfacing is volunteer-based as well, and we rely on a small but committed team to help maintain the ice to the standards needed for our athletes to train on to compete and win at provincial and national level meets. While a natural outdoor oval can often feel quite humble, our oval represents the generations of dedicated and passionate volunteers who have worked to build and maintain the facilities we have today. That spirit of passionate volunteerism remains a key characteristic of ESSA to this day. I hope that, should you ever have the pleasure of skating in Victoria Park, you might feel a bit of that community spirit as well.
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Follow along on our Sportity Channels with the following codes:
STSSA2526
LTSSA2526
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Happy Holidays from Speed Skating Alberta!
Our strength is our community, the skaters, coaches, volunteers, officials, clubs, and families who make speed skating in Alberta so special. As we head into the holiday season, we want to thank everyone for the energy, dedication, and passion you bring to our sport.
Take this time to rest, celebrate your achievements, enjoy the company of friends & family, and reflect on the personal bests and milestones from the first half of the season. Whether on the ice or cheering from the stands, every contribution matters and helps make our community stronger.
We’d love to hear from you! Have a story to share from your club, a skater achievement to celebrate, or a question about what’s next? Email us at info@speedskatingalberta.ca or tag us on social media.
Your stories help inspire and connect our speed skating community across Alberta.
Together, let’s carry the momentum from 2025 into an exciting second half of the 2025–26 season.
With gratitude,
Maggie
Executive Director
P.S. You’re receiving this newsletter because you’re part of the Speed Skating Alberta community, whether as a member, supporter, or subscriber. You can unsubscribe anytime below.
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