2008 Fall World Cup Selections -- Canadian Short Track

During a local speedskating camp this past July, I was invited by Bill Kempers from The Sardis Fliers to volunteer at the 2008 Fall World Cup Selections at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver BC on September 16-18. There were countless numbers of volunteers present to help make this event a success! Most of these are people I know from interclub meets in the lower mainland of BC. I have been training with the Sardis Fliers for four seasons and have benefitted tremendously by having a wealth of ice being available to train for ST. Through my participation with BC Speedskating, I have developed many strong friendships with organizers, officials, and other skaters. The World Cup Selections simply gave me an opportunity to give back to the sport and to also witness some of the best speedskating in the world.



Here are a few of my best pictures from the event. I was fortunate to be working the event on the field of play, hoisting water and squeegies over the wall of mats. It was interesting to see a bungee system up close. Sometimes it was "up close and personal."



It is heart-wrenching to see the expression of emotion on some of these skaters' faces when they realize they have no chance of placing in the top two of each quarter-final or semi-final to advance to the finals. It is, however, well understood when considering that many of these skaters have put in 10,000 hours of training over the past 10 years to come to this place. I have a lot of respect for these skaters who have essentially committed about 10% of the past decade to their team as representatives of Canada and their hometown.