Ottawa to Host Skate Canada’s 2017 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships
OTTAWA, ON: Skate Canada announced today that Ottawa, Ontario will be the host city for the 2017 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships from January 16-22, 2017, at the TD Place Arena. The championships will be the first sporting event in Ottawa’s year-long celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday.
“We are excited to be back in Ottawa for the 2017 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. From our first championships in 1914 to our 100th anniversary of the event in 2014, Ottawa is a very special place for Canadian skating,” said Dan Thompson, Skate Canada CEO. “We are proud to be able to kick-off the National Capital’s celebrations for Canada’s 150th birthday celebrations. Like past years, we know the support from the community, fans and volunteers will allow for another amazing event that will inspire Canadians to embrace the joy of skating.”
“At Canadian Tire and Jumpstart, we believe in the power of sport to change lives, bring communities together and inspire greatness – whether it’s a first pair of skates, supporting kids through our charity, or helping athletes from the playground to the podium,” said Landon French, President of Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities. “As title sponsor, we are proud to help bring this event to Ottawa and look forward to welcoming Canada’s top skaters again in 2017.”
The pre-eminent all-Canadian sporting event will feature approximately 250 skaters in the men’s, women’s, pair, and ice dance disciplines, competing in three levels: senior, junior, and novice. Athletes will vie for spots on the Skate Canada National Team and the Canadian teams that will compete at the 2017 ISU World Figure Skating Championships, 2017 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, and 2017 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships.
“I want to congratulate Skate Canada on the selection of Ottawa as the host city for the 2017 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships,” said the Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities. “Our country’s top figure skaters will be sharpening their focus on the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and our junior and novice figure skaters will benefit from—and be inspired by—sharing the same ice as their skating heroes. The Government of Canada is proud to support Skate Canada and our athletes who will be coming to these championships, especially as they will kick off Canada’s 150th birthday celebrations.”
Ottawa hosted the very first National Skating Championships in 1914 as well as in 1922, 1925, 1929, 1935, 1940, 1949, 1953, 1958, 1987, 1996, 1999, 2006 and 2014. The 2017 event will be 15th time that Ottawa will have hosted the largest gathering of Canadian skating talent. Canada’s capital has also played host to several other Skate Canada produced events, including Skate Canada International in 1976, 1981, 1993 and 2008, as well as the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in 1978 and 1984.
“I’m thrilled that Ottawa will once again be hosting the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships, this time in 2017. This adds another marquee event to our already impressive list for 2017 and there are still more to come,” said Mayor Jim Watson.
“It’s a big win for Ottawa to be awarded the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in 2017. Events like this bring with them a significant boost for our local economy while helping to inspire our younger generation to pursue excellence in sports,” added Councillor Jody Mitic, Ottawa Sport Commissioner.
All-event ticket packages for the championships will go on sale later this year.
ABOUT SKATE CANADA
Skate Canada is the nation’s governing body for skating and dedicated to creating a nation of skaters both recreationally and competitively. At over 125 years old, it is the world’s oldest skating organization and Canada’s preeminent leader in skate training and education, providing high performance coaching and skating development education. Over 130,000 Canadians participate in Skate Canada educational programs each year.
Canada’s most successful governing sport body, Skate Canada athletes have won 25 Olympic medals and 32 world championships. Today’s Canadian world and Olympic medalists all began at one of our 1,200 local Skate Canada clubs or skating schools. Through our programs, more than 5,200 certified professional coaches encourage Canadians of all ages to skate together as a family, pursue competitive ice sports and enjoy an active lifestyle.
Skate Canada has a National Service Centre in Ottawa, marketing headquarters in Toronto and High Performance facilities in Toronto and Calgary.
ABOUT CANADIAN TIRE CORPORATION
Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited, (TSX:CTC.A) (TSX:CTC) or “CTC,” is a family of businesses that includes a retail segment, a financial services division and CT REIT. Our retail business is led by Canadian Tire, which was founded in 1922 and provides Canadians with products for life in Canada across its Living, Playing, Fixing, Automotive and Seasonal categories. PartSource and Gas+ are key parts of the Canadian Tire network. The retail segment also includes Mark’s, a leading source for casual and industrial wear, and FGL Sports (Sport Chek, Hockey Experts, Sports Experts, National Sports, Intersport, Pro Hockey Life and Atmosphere), which offers the best active wear brands. The 1,700 retail and gasoline outlets are supported and strengthened by our Financial Services division and the tens of thousands of people employed across the Company.
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