Joey Payeur
A simple social media connection led to the future visit of undoubtedly the most famous figure skater to ever grace the surface of the Ice For Kids Arena.
Kaetlyn Osmond, who won silver for Canada in the inaugural team competition at last year’s Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, will perform at the Border Skating Club’s annual ice show April 11-12.
The 19-year-old native of Marystown, Nfld. was contacted last January by club president Anne Renaud during its attempt to win the “TbayTel for Good” contest.
Osmond graciously retweeted the club’s request for more online votes to her followers and it paid off.
The local club wound up capturing the $5,000 grand prize, which it used to purchase new sound systems for the two arenas here, as well as a new portable sound system.
“I thought it was a great thing for them,” Osmond, who won the Canadian women’s singles title in 2013 and 2014, said from her current home in Sherwood Park, Alta., a suburb of Edmonton where she trains.
“I know how much I love music and I hate it when it’s quiet,” she remarked.
“It’s wonderful for them to have it for their training purposes.
“I’m real proud that I could make a difference for the club,” Osmond added. “I’m glad they won it.”
The local club, meanwhile, posted good-luck messages on Osmond’s social media accounts before she headed to the Olympics and then the world championships later that spring.
“The Olympics were surreal,” Osmond recalled.
“It was a great learning experience to be on the ice at an Olympics.
“I definitely didn’t think [while growing up] that would happen,” she admitted.
“The Olympics never even crossed my mind until a couple of years ago when I started doing well internationally.”
The moment Osmond received her medal was something that will stay with her always.
“I remember my first reaction was how heavy it was,” she chuckled.
“But once the shock wore off, it was so amazing to be out there with my team.
“Usually, I’m out there alone on the podium and there were so many people watching,” Osmond added.
Preparing to vie after a third-straight national title, Osmond’s season took a turn for the worst when she broke her leg while training back in September.
“It was a real freak accident,” she recounted.
“Someone got in my way on the ice and I tried to avoid them, and I stepped the wrong way and broke my leg just above the skate.
With a metal plate and seven screws inserted in her leg, Osmond tried to continue preparations by modifying her skate so it would fit more comfortably.
But it become quickly apparent the irritation by the plate was not going to make competition a feasible option.
“It was really devastating to have to withdraw for the season,” Osmond confessed.
“Missing nationals was definitely a heart-breaker as it’s the first nationals I haven’t been at since I was 10 years old,” she noted.
“But I decided it was better to take the year off and play it safe.
“In hindsight, it may have been a blessing in disguise,” added Osmond, who had a second surgery a couple of weeks ago to remove the plate and the screws, and is on course to be back at practice at some point this week.
“I’ve had so many injuries over the last couple of years, it’s really good to take some time away to properly heal,” she stressed.
The injury turned out also be a blessing for the Border Skating Club, which benefitted from Osmond’s more flexible schedule due to her not competing this year.
“This year, Kaetlyn is only doing two shows in her hometown, one show in southern Ontario where her choreographer is from, and two shows in Edmonton where she trains—and us,” Renaud enthused.
“Her choreographer said in an earlier interview [that] for the choreographer’s hometown to be able to get her is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and now we’re going to get her, too.”
Those on hand to see Osmond skate her two routines on both days of the ice show will get an advance look at what she plans to unveil in her return to competition.
“The one program I’ll be doing was going to be my short program this year,” she revealed.
“Everyone’s excited about it because it’s something completely different than I’ve done before, with it being classical music and some lyrics added to it,” she noted.
“Now I get to practice it in public before doing it next season when I’m back.”
Osmond also will hold two on-ice seminars earlier on the first day, and will be available for autographs and pictures on both days.
“I love interacting with people,” she remarked. “It makes me realize how much support I have.
“I can’t remember if I ever met someone famous growing up . . . I might have and wouldn’t have even known it,” she laughed.
Osmond admitted she never watched much sports on TV growing up, although she is a major fan of skating and hockey now.
“My older sister, Natasha, was really my skating influence growing up,” said Osmond, who added she’ll have to brush up on her knowledge of Fort Frances before arriving here.
“I don’t quite know much about it, although I know they’re flying me into Winnipeg and it’s a good drive from there,” she noted.
Tickets for the ice show will be made available to the club’s skaters and their families first before being put on sale to the general public in the next few weeks.
“I think we may have the best crowd we’ve ever had and I would advise people to get their tickets early,” said Amy Wilson-Hands, the club’s public relations director.
“Our skaters hear about people like Kaetlyn and Jeffrey Buttle, and Kurt Browning and the team of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, and see them on TV,” she noted.
“But to get to see someone like Kaetlyn up close and actually learn right from her, to have her knowledge being given in a club the size of Fort Frances’, is a rare occurrence,” Wilson-Hands stressed.
