Heather Latter
The Border Skating Club is seeking help from the community to help it earn $5,000 to upgrade the sound systems in both arenas here.
The club has made a submission to “Tbaytel For Good”—a sponsorship program dedicated to investing in people and organizations in Northwestern Ontario.
The grand prize of $5,000 will be announced March 27 but it’s an online voting competition, so the local club need votes from the community to help it make the final cut.
“We know that we need to replace our music system, particularly the one in the ’52 Canadians Arena, but the system in Ice For Kids also needs upgrades,” noted BSC board member Anne Renaud.
“We’re still using really, really old equipment,” she noted, adding the systems use CD players only, with no option to play digital music—the form that’s most accessible these days.
Besides that, the older equipment doesn’t even function properly.
“We just had a test day and we couldn’t even get the ‘stop’ button to work,” Renaud recalled.
“And music is such an integral part of figure skating, whether it’s the ice show, test days, or competitions,” she stressed.
“Music gets skaters moving, music elicits emotions, music creates energy.
“Skaters embrace the music and move their bodies to the rhythm of the music,” she added.
Renaud noted music is used at the Border Skating Club in many different ways and by skaters of all ages.
“The CanSkaters, whose age varies from two-10 years old, are having fun learning to skate,” she explained.
“Music is a used to encourage, to have fun, and to join the group as one.
“Older StarSkaters use music in their ice dances, solos, and interpretive dances,” Renaud added.
The club operates music systems in both arenas, and also provides a portable music system on the ice for the coaches.
The BSC board considers this to be an imperative purchase in the near future.
“We had been exploring other opportunities to raise some money or apply for funding to get the systems upgraded,” Renaud said.
“And [when] we heard about ‘Tbaytel for Good,’ we knew we had to submit an application.”
“Tbaytel For Good” is a competition that aims to create better neighbourhoods in Northwestern Ontario by bringing great ideas to life.
Each season, Tbaytel will contribute $15,000 towards making improvements in a specific area, such as sports and recreation, which is the one the Border Skating Club has submitted its idea for.
The club is hoping to earn the top prize of $5,000 to upgrade the systems because purchasing this equipment itself would result in an increase in skating fees.
“The board strives to keep skating fees as low as possible,” Renaud stressed.
“It is the board’s goal to keep the sport as accessible to as many families as possible.”
The $5,000 would pay for all the updated equipment required—a new sound system for each ice surface and a portable on-ice sound system—as well as wiring and installation.
However, if the club’s idea is good enough to make the top five, it will receive $2,000, which would allow one of the sound systems to be upgraded.
The new sound systems also would include iPods, Bluetooth, CD players, remotes, and microphones.
“I think it will be beneficial for other organizations, as well, because the music systems can be used by others,” Renaud noted.
The winners of the “Tbaytel for Good” competition will be determined in part through online votes (votes are worth 30 percent and judging is worth 70 percent).
Renaud stressed that people can vote each day—one vote per e-mail address.
Submissions are being accepted until March 7, but the Border Skating Club wanted to get an early start to garner as many votes as possible.
Currently, its submission is only one of four vying for the prize many. And they were in the lead with 1140 votes at last count.
“We’re hopeful we have a good shot at getting it,” Renaud remarked.
“We’re really excited by the possibility of moving our sound systems into the modern world.”
To support the club, vote for its submission at www.tbaytelforgood.net/ideas/34
