OTTAWA, ONTARIO – The Cobequid Speed Skating Club are the proud winners of this year’s Intact Insurance Club Excellence Award. The Nova Scotia based club will receive a $10,000 grand prize to upgrade their club safety crash pads in order to meet Speed Skating Canada’s crash protection safety standards, as well as a visit from a pair of national team athletes during the 2023-2024 season. 

Four additional speed skating clubs – the Sudbury Sprinters Speed Skating Club (Sudbury, Ont.), Central Speed Skating Club (Portage la Prairie, Man.), CPV Les Cyclones de Rimouski (Rimouski, Que.) and Northern Lites Speed Skating Club (Peace River, Alta.) – were named finalists for the annual award and will each take home a $2,500 cash prize to help finance their respective initiatives, which are detailed below. 

Generously sponsored by Speed Skating Canada’s long standing partner, Intact Insurance, the Club Excellence Award recognizes the contributions of local speed skating clubs to sport and community development and the importance of grassroots programs to high-performance success. 

“Intact Insurance is proud to be a sponsor of Speed Skating Canada and see the direct impact this partnership has on local clubs across the country. Congratulations to this year’s grand prize winning Dartmouth Crossing Speed Skating Club, as well as the four other finalists from Halifax, Saskatoon, Vancouver and Rivière du Loup.”

Humberto Valencia, Vice President, Marketing, Customer Experience and Data Marketing, Intact Insurance 

Dozens of clubs from across the country submitted project ideas, ranging from diversity and inclusion programming; to the purchase of new safety mats or skating equipment; to open house initiatives that increase awareness of the sport. Those submissions were evaluated based on the need in the local community, the potential for positive impact, the plan and resources in place to roll out the project and the ability to measure its success. 

Since 2010, Intact Insurance has donated a total of $420,000 directly to speed skating clubs through the former Podium Tracker program and current Club Excellence Award. The insurance provider’s commitment to supporting both high performance and grassroots speed skating was further solidified with last month’s announcement of a renewal of their longstanding partnership with Speed Skating Canada, which began in 2006 and will now extend through the 2025-26 season. 

Winner ($10,000)

Cobequid Speed Skating Club (Debert, N.S.) 

The Cobequid Speed Skating Club is a new club located in the rural Nova Scotia community of Debert. The club is dedicated to providing a range of programs including Learn to Skate, Learn to Speed Skate, and Masters programs. In the previous season, Cobequid Speed Skating Club celebrated a remarkable year with an enrollment of 30 participants in its programs. Cobequid Speed Skating Club takes pride in its commitment to fostering an inclusive and accessible environment, welcoming individuals of all ages, skill levels, and income backgrounds. This inclusivity not only creates a vibrant and fun community of skaters but also ensures that everyone can enjoy the sport of speed skating. 

Finalists ($2,500) 

Sudbury Sprinters Speed Skating Club (Sudbury, Ont.) 

The Sudbury Sprinters Speed Skating Club is in the process of resizing their outdoor ice surface so it will be properly sized for long track skating. Through this initiative, the Sudbury Sprinters Speed Skating Club is working to provide their skaters with the opportunity to develop their skills in long track with relevant facilities, as well as to provide other skaters in the province access to consistent in-province skating opportunities as they hope to eventually host competitions. This initiative, spearheaded by a small group of dedicated club members, hopes to grow the sport of speed skating not only in the City of Sudbury but across Ontario. 

Central Speed Skating Club (Portage la Prairie, Man.) 

Central Speed Skating Club is a new club that started up in October 2023. The club is filling a gap in the southern region of Manitoba, as athletes have had to incur large travel expenses to access speed skating. The Central Speed Skating Club aims to introduce speed skating to as many youth as possible in their first year, targeting youth ages seven to 13 years old with the hope to expand the number of sessions they offer based on community interest. The club will work to engage Indigenous youth, and will strive to be an inclusive and diversified club. They will also set up an equipment rental program to remove some of the financial barriers to the sport. 

CPV Les Cyclones de Rimouski (Rimouski, Que.) 

The CPV Les Cyclones de Rimouski has undertaken the acquisition of boots, blades, and mandatory safety equipment in order to accommodate school groups. The club hopes to acquire an additional 20 pairs of boots and blades by 2025. The objective of the school group program is to introduce as many young people to speed skating as possible, with the hope to eventually increase the number of competition entries. By taking skaters to outdoor rinks in parks, the CPV Les Cyclones de Rimouski is able to increase visibility of both the sport and the club. 

Northern Lites Speed Skating Club (Peace River, Alta.) 

The Northern Lites Speed Skating Club (NLSSC) is a remote, rural club in Northern Alberta that relies on parent volunteers. The club has implemented a number of strategies to increase the quality of the club’s speed skating program, including partnering with Speed Skating Alberta to develop and implement “True North Strong” meets with mini-camps to provide club skaters, along with other skaters in the region, with a day of competition and coaching from elite-level coaches and coach mentoring. NLSSC has also supported coaching development by funding training courses, obtaining additional access to training facilities and creating partnerships with local gyms, positively impacting the coach, skaters and the club.