Letbridge Speed Skating to host Ukrainians for Try It Event

By Lethbridge Herald on December 6, 2023.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

Ukrainian families will have the opportunity to try speed skating thanks to the Lethbridge Speed Skating Association’s upcoming Try It Event.

“Well our club has been looking at trying to extend our membership and we felt one of the key groups that we’d like to extend it to are newcomers to Canada,” said Greg Ogilvie, LSSA treasurer.

“Because we thought what’s more Canadian than getting on the ice and skating. And so, we thought about different newcomer groups and we actually had heard that there was interest among some Ukrainian families … in trying the sport out. We thought that we’d create a special event to kind of reach out to that community and invite them to try it out and see if they’d be interested in becoming a part of our club.”

Ogilvie said it’s about community building and creating those connections between different cultures.

The event is a part of LSSA’s outreach program to get newcomers to Canada involved in sport.

“I know the Kamloops Speed Skating Club had received a grant for doing outreach with immigrant populations, and so that kind of sparked the idea that we should also be engaging in doing some outreach programs to get different populations exposed to the sport,” said Ogilvie.

“As I said because of the connection we had with Lethbridge Sport Council and them mentioning about these Ukrainian families being interested, we thought that’d be a natural starting point.”

Attendees will be able to strap on the long blades and try speed skating, watch club members participate in races and  chance to share holiday cheer with members through enjoying pizza, refreshments and holiday goodies.

The club will be collecting non-perishable food items for the Lethbridge Food Bank.

The Try It Event for the Ukrainians is on Dec. 12 from the 5-7:15 p.m. at the Labor Ice Arena.

Interested participants can email the club at lssa.sk8r@gmail.com to confirm their attendance.