The decisions the Calgary Oval and SSC have made for the upcoming season are pathetic and just plain dumb.
It's as if they don't actually care about growing the sport of Short Track in western Canada and want it to die off.
I'm going to list some reasons and give some insight from the perspective of a skater who was there and now has no options but to leave based on the changes they have made.
My name is Kris Pynten and I am 20 years old, I have been in the sport of short track speed skating for 4 years now. Not very long but long enough to understand and see how things work/don't work.
Last year I joined the RTC (regional training center) Short Track group in the Calgary Oval.
Joining the RTC was the natural progression from club Skating back home in Kamloops BC. For me as a undeveloped skater it was a necessary step to improving and getting to the next level. RTC was run by Alberta Speed Skating the year I joined.
The coaches were good, the training was good. It was nearly perfect for someone like me and most of the people in the group transitioning from club to high performance. This group bridged the massive gap between club skating and the Oval program which is western Canada's highest level training groups.
Last season This group cost 2650$ for the season. Expensive compared to club which was only 700$. But worth it as it was much better overall for training and ice time and all the benefits that came with more ice time.
It had roughly 15 skaters full time skaters, usually no more than 12 people on ice at most practices with at most about 18 skaters when there were drop ins.
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| Last years RTC group near Christmas |
This new season Management of RTC was Given to the Calgary Oval (part of the University of Calgary).
They decided that they wanted to split the group in half based on ages into:
the RTC (those under the age of 18)
and the Neo-Senior Development group (those over 18). This leads to problem #1:
#1 Not enough skaters to have two training groups:
Now its pretty silly right off the bat to attempt to divide a group in half when there was barely enough skaters to field one training group.
In the photo below it shows that they had planned for 16 people in the RTC group and 14 people within the Neo-senior Group. When there was never even close to 20 people in RTC last season how do they expect to find a total of 30 skaters to fill both groups up?
It would seem they severely overestimated the amount of Short Trackers in western Canada and already shows how out of touch they are.
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| 30 Skaters total expected as they divide the RTC group. |
Its one thing to assume many skaters will return from the previous season and that many more will be looking to join RTC. But assuming they will be ok with the price hikes and unnecessary new costs is the biggest fuckup they made which leads to point #2
#2 The Cost:
Remember how the RTC was pretty expensive last season at 2650$ ? Yea well now its way worse and just plain unfair.
the RTC under 18 group now costs a whopping 3400$. Why? The amount of ice is identical to last season, everything is the same but for an extra 750$.
The Neo-Senior group is even worse now costing 4413$ why? One extra ice session each week is the only benefit of this new group for an extra 1800$.
To make this punch to the gut even worse the cost is identical to those already in the oval program groups. The difference being they get to have 2-3 more ice sessions each week in comparison.
In the picture below it clearly shows how the Neo-Senior group (far right column) gets nothing for the same cost as the oval program groups.
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| Pretty Sad how stupidly unfair this is. |
When I heard about the new costs I was shocked, for one how could I come up with an extra 1800$?
It would be nearly impossible for me to get 4413$ by june when the season would start. That is only 3 months to be expected to come up with that kind of money.
Then when I saw that I would be getting less ice time for the same amount of money other groups paid I became disgusted. How is that remotely fair? There is no way to justify paying that much money just to get less. Are they trying to turn Short Track into a luxury sport where you need extreme wealth to participate?
They stated the goal in mind with these changes are to bring the level of the West up to the strength of the East/Quebec.
It seems obvious with these changes they actually have no idea how to do that and are going backwards.
The reason the East is stronger is this:
affordable ice and training = More people.
More people = More Talent is developed.
More Talent = More success.
The reason the West is weak is this:
Expensive ice and training = only the rich can afford it.
Rich only = shrink the already small talent pool.
less talent = less success
The way the Oval wants to make prices even more ridiculous is exactly how they are failing the west and continuing to make things worse. How will skaters get to the RTC level from club when it requires moving to Calgary, huge fees, plus the cost of living/rent unless they are loaded with money.
I spent 10000$ last year moving to Calgary, food, rent, skating, equipment and I have absolutely nothing to show for it but an ever increasing price which has forced me to give up Skating there and any chance of developing to the next level that much more difficult.
Closing:
The oval wont admit it or say anything but they most likely know they have already fucked up, they just wont say or do anything if no one speaks up. The two groups they have had planned have been forced into one, which means they will probably have to fire one of the coaches they had hired and the price differences between the groups become meaningless.
There is a complete lack of skaters, many from the previous season have quit, many like me are not returning because of the price. Instead of having 30 skaters in two groups like they thought would happen they are cut down to around this:
3 skaters in the group I was meant to join, 6 or so in the RTC group. Big numbers.
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| 9 Skaters seen here, 4 of them new faces |
They do not have enough people to run both groups which is already a spectacular failure by the Oval.
Unless their plan was to force everyone to quit they are clearly out of their minds with what they are doing right now.
This is a rant yes, I was very passionate about Short Track and when I found I would be getting screwed over like this it was so disheartening. A year of RTC and all the money I worked for gone and having no other choice but to pack it in and go home.
I could also talk about how they blow money out of their asses hiring dozens of employees for no reason and is most likely part of why costs are getting so high. But I will leave that all for another day.
