By my quick and quite unofficial count, there are 46 different categories being contested beginning Friday in Stratford as hundreds of figure skaters from across the province descend upon southwestern Ontario for the 2025 Skate Ontario Provincial Championships.
That’s a whole lot of competition for the seven local hopefuls in attendance, some blessed with a few years of event experience behind them, with others making their appearance at this particular meet for the very first time this year.
Alexia Tackaberry sees herself somewhat between those two groupings.
Having qualified to represent the Sudbury Skating Club (SCC) this time last year, Tackaberry sustained a concussion in the weeks leading into the season-ending apex - not that this would keep her completely away from the goal she had worked so hard to achieve.
“I went to watch but not skate,” noted the 15 year-old grade 10 student at Ecole secondaire Macdonald-Cartier. “I watched my category. It gave me a lot of ideas about things to do with my solo this year. I saw one girl who did a lay-back in her spin and I thought that would be very cool to do in my program.”
One of 26 skaters in the Star 8 Free Skate bracket (and the only participant in the grouping from north of Barrie), Tackaberry is trying to be realistic in terms of where she might rank when all is said and done.
“I just want to make my performance as good as possible and, if I could, make it on the podium,” said the skater who has been donning the spiked blades since the age of six.
A very strong showing in Brampton against a field that included the top-ranked skater in the province (in her division) has given way to at least some sense of optimism. “We were close in marks but she had more rotation on her jumps and a better quality in performance and spins,” said Tackaberry.
Medals for any of the local contingent is not completely new territory - nor is it an expected annual occurrence, with SSC coach Heather Basso noting the likes of Myla Weiman, Megan Howell and Samantha Bechard among those who have top three showings to their credit since Skate Ontario restructured the competitive skating landscape in the province several years ago.
Skating her long program to “Lovely” by Billie Eilish, Tackaberry likes the connection that she enjoys with this specific musical accompaniment. “I really listen to the music and I feel I really move to the music - and I usually do my own endings.”
With the experience of previous national championships behind her and now looking to balance her post-secondary studies at Laurentian University with her figure skating interest, teammate Mikayla Fabbro offered the following words of advice as the pair exited an on-ice workout last week.
“Pretend that it’s a practice and rely on your training - and don’t put too much pressure on yourself,” said Fabbro, who is eyeing a very busy weekend after having qualified in three separate events: Gold Women Free Skate, Star 9 - Women (Over 14) Short and Gold Artistic.
The remaining trio of Sudbury Skating Club reps features Mackenzie Roy (Juvenile U14 Free Skate & Star 9 - U14 Short), Eva Baronette (Juvenile U14 Free Skate & Star 9 - U14 Short) and Angela Tripodi (Pre Juvenile U13 & Star 7 - U12 Short).
Across town, the Nickel Blades Skating Club will see two of their own also joining the local delegation, with a mix of new and old, of sorts.
Where Sasha Gilchrist (Star 5 - Artistic) will be part of these festivities for the very first time, in tough with no less than 31 entries in her grouping, 15 year-old Nathan Cameron has background in both men’s singles and dance/pairs to lean upon as he prepares to tackle his rivals in Star 7 - O12 Men, Star 8 Men Free Skate and Star 7 Artistic.
Not only is this final event a 30+ skater co-ed battle, it also represents a pleasant surprise for the grade 9 student of St Charles College. “This was my first year (of artistic) and really, it was just a suggestion on the side from a coach,” said Cameron. “I wasn’t expecting to make it. It’s one of the newer events.”
Focusing solely on his singles skating this year, Cameron suggested the benefits are somewhat nuanced as partnered-skating can prove more than a little helpful along the way. “It’s an extra hour a week towards singles, so I get more time to work on the jumps,” he said. “But the footwork and stuff, I would do that in pairs, so most of that transferred over.”
“I was able to use that for my singles work.”
Still, it is that thrill of propelling himself airborn where Cameron feels more prepared than ever to face the much smaller groupings of male skaters who will gather in Stratford. “I’ve started landing all of my doubles, which is nice,” he said.
“The toughest was my double flip, but I think it’s just the mentality of it really for me. It was the last jump that I landed (consistently) out of all of my doubles.”
As for the Artistic division, Cameron acknowledges that simply perfecting the skills that are needed to excel in this offering is not as easy as 1-2-3.
“It’s how you connect with the judges and the audience; that’s a difficult thing to practice,” he said. “When you are practicing, you might try and connect with the coaches or parents in the audience. You have to show emotion with what you are doing.”
The emotion of a medal winning performance from any one of the Sudbury “Group of Seven” is certainly one to be celebrated, for all those involved with figure skating in our region.
