Joey Payeur
To say Felicia (Felix) Blasky was starstruck would be overstating it by quite a bit.
But that’s not to say the Fort Frances resident wasn’t excited to receive the Northern Ontario Section Volunteer of Excellence Award at the 2017 Skate Canada Gala & Awards Ceremony held June 2 in Ottawa.
It’s just that the person who presented the award–three-time Canadian Olympian Josée Chouinard–wasn’t as big a deal to her as would have been the case for a figure skating follower from this country.
“Not being from Canada originally, but from the U.S., I don’t necessarily have a strong figure skating background,” Blasky conceded.
“I knew who she was but she was not someone that I grew up admiring.
“The appeal of figure skating didn’t come to me until my adult life,” Blasky added. “But it was still a lot of fun.
“[Chouinard] was a very bubbly personality and was so friendly.”
Blasky became associated with the Border Skating Club first as a parent when her daughter, Rylee, joined as a skater back in 1993.
While on the club’s board of directors, Blasky attended a volunteer development seminar which, among other things, explained the specialized computer program which helps tabulate rankings and point totals for skaters at competitions.
“They explained the program and I got it [figured out],” she recalled.
“It just so happened [the] Border Skating Club was hosting the regionals that year, so I volunteered to look after the results room.
“It was my way of giving back to the sport since it’s all based on volunteers,” she reasoned.
That launched Blasky’s now 20-year plus stint as a data specialist in the sport.
She has overseen the evolution of judging in the sport from what was purely a rankings-based system to today’s model, which reads more like a report card for competitive skaters.
“The big change came in the year of the judging scandal at the 2002 Winter Olympics,” noted Blasky, referring to the scoring by French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne during the pairs competition.
It was alleged Le Gougne intentionally marked the Canadian pair of Jamie Sale and David Pelletier to finish in second–despite them being widely observed by the crowd–and even the TV broadcasters on hand–as having outperformed the Russian pair of Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze.
Le Gougne was suspected to have been pressured by the head of the French skating federation, Didier Gailhaguet, to enter into a deal with the Russian skating federation to back Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze in hopes of currying favour from the Russian judge for the French couple of Marina Assinina and Gwendal Peizerat in the ice dancing event a few days later.
No conspiracy was ever proven, but Le Gougne and Gailhaguet were suspended for three years by the International Skating Union and banned from the 2006 Winter Olympics.
“That’s what led to the system going from what was in place to what we have now,” said Blasky.
“I think the report card give the skaters a better overall idea of their performances.
“Younger skaters, especially, get told you did this really, really well and this is what you need to work on,” she explained.
“It’s more constructive feedback.
Blasky has achieved her Level 3 certification, which allows her to work at national competitions for the past four years.
“I want to bring the knowledge I get from all over the country back to the club, which will help accelerate the development of the skaters,” she remarked.
Another BSC board member, fundraising chair Sandra McNay, also earned recognition by being selected for the Skate Canada Sunset Country Regional Volunteer Award.
“I was surprised,” admitted McNay, who has been the fundraising chair for the past three seasons and whose daughter, Samantha Halliday, started skating with the club six years ago.
“[BSC coach] Ashley Cumming told me the board nominated me, so I had to put in a quote about what I thought about being a volunteer,” she explained.
“When they told me I had been selected, I was really thrilled.
“But I honestly don’t remember the quote,” laughed McNay, who then turned serious when talking about the BSC’s current situation.
“It’s a lot of work to keep the club afloat and we have worked really hard the last two years to sustain the club,” she stressed.
“Going forward, my hope is that other skaters in the future can continue to enjoy the club, even after Sam has passed through the system.”
McNay said it’s no big mystery as to why she devotes the time she does to BSC.
“Volunteering is important to me because I want my daughter to be able to skate,” she noted.
“She loves the sport.”
McNay doesn’t expect she will want to give up her role with the board anytime soon–or, as she added jokingly, will be allowed to.
“I always am associated with any kind of fundraising with the club,” she chuckled.
“The others just say, ‘Oh, yeah, get Sandra. She’s good at it.'”
Cumming also shone the spotlight on senior STARSkate participants Angie Redford and Reece McNeil, who shared the BSC Award at the Muskie athletic banquet back on June 8.
“Together, they were recognized for their personal achievements at the Regional Interclub Competition,” said Cumming.
“At this competition, they were also team members for the STAR 5 Team Element Event and together brought home first place along with accomplishing many other personal achievements,” she noted.
Registration for all BSC programs for the 2017-18 season will take place in late August.
