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Upper Hutt Roller Skating Club Newsletter

March 2006

 

Congratulations Birthday Cup 2006 Winner Nika Thomson

The UHRSC celebrated its birthday in February. Each year we mark the club’s birthday by presenting The Birthday Cup to a club member who has given something to/achieved excellence in rollersports in the preceding year.

The recipient is chosen by an outside committee of suitably qualified people.

This year, the Birthday Cup for was awarded to Nika Thomson by Life member Tony Burrowes at our end of month Patch presentation ceremony last month. Congratulations Nika you have had a great year!!!!

 
 

Good luck Oceania Team 2006

Eighteen Upper Hutt Club members head off to Christchurch next month to compete at The 2006 Oceania Championships. We wish Bonny Anderson, Natasha Boulcott, Paula Boulcott, Roger Boulcott, Anna Carwell-Cooke, Charlene Crosby, Katy Elgar, Tessa Halcrow-Webb, Stephanie Hawke, Antony Hazelwood, Emma Hazelwood, Basil Jones, Sarah-Jane Jones, Laura McKenzie, Emma Patrick, Helen Wang, Sam Wright and Ashleigh Zammit success and safe travels.

 

PATCH PASSES:  Patch class is continuing to go well with about 50 or skaters attending each week. Everyone is working hard and we have plenty of people to congratulate for patch passes this month. Well done to:- Amy Williams, Corey Murray-Dodd, Stephanie James, Charlotte Hamilton, Laura Hamilton (all passed patch 1), Kayleigh Strachan, Cody Bowkany, Cheyenne Murray-Dodd (patch 2), Nancy Blaikie (patches 1 and 2), Sarah Pratt, Ashleigh Jenkins-Hoult, Stephanie Voice, Martina Steiner (patch 3), Jack Patrick (patches 3 and 4).

 

SKATER OF THE MONTH: Congratulations to Cheyenne Murray-Dodd who received the Patch Class Skater of the Month award for February.

 

COACH OF THE MONTH: Congratulations to Kelsi Linney who has been awarded Patch Class Coach of the Month for February.  We really appreciate the help of all our voluntary coaches who give up their time to help skaters learn. We have a huge patch class at the moment and without these people volunteering their time we would have to limit the number of new skaters we can accept or charge more in patch fees. Thankyou to the following people who helped patch class supervisor, Margaret Day coach during the last month:- Emma, Jack and Fiona Patrick, Tanya McCarthy, Kimberley Dean, Kyra, Nika and Mary-Anne Thomson, Kelsi Linney, Bonny Anderson, Michelle Crosby, Emma Hazelwood and Dianne Pratt). We really need more volunteers. If you can help, even just occasionally, please come along on a Tuesday from 5.30pm to 6.30pm. Thanks.

 

NEW MEMBERS: Its fantastic to be able to welcome 27 new members this month – Maurice, Jania, Janie,Rebecca, Jessie and Leticia Molloy, Kristin Reilly; Brittany Philps, Jake Subritzky, Sharra Emmerson-Goodwin, Grace Cooper, Monique Makavalu, Nick, Nicola, Laura, Charlotte, Eleanor and Gary Hamilton; Stephanie, Brianna, Helen and Gary James, Hayley, William, Carol and Michael Patton and Alyssa Strachan. We are sure you will enjoy being a part of the club, please ask others if there is any help you need.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Happy Birthday to Barrie Dean, Tessa Halcrow-Webb, Gary Hamilton, Stephanie Hawke, Stephanie James, Michelle Koot, Stefanie McCallum, Cheyenne Murray-Dodd, Kieran Phillips, Sarah Pratt and Nika Thomson. We hope you enjoy your special day.

 

NIGHT DISCO THIS SATURDAY: Don’t miss our special night disco this Saturday - March 25, 7.30pm to 10pm. There’ll be great music, games, food and drinks available for purchase. This disco is being arranged by our Oceania skaters as a fundraiser for their trip next month. All profits will be divided evenly between those skaters representing Upper Hutt. Bring your friends and family and not only have a good time but help our international skaters as well. Entry charge includes skates or blades for those who need and is paid by all skaters - $7 for non-club members, $5 for members. Spectators - no charge.

 

SKATE MAINTENANCE SESSION APRIL 4: Skaters will find it easier to skate well on skates which are working properly. If you would like to learn how to get the most from your/childs skates then we have a great session for you. A skate maintenance class will be held Tuesday April 4 during patch class. If you haven’t already put your name down for this please let Mary-Anne Thomson know today (phone 5289127). If you have club skates on loan or own your own skates you should be giving them a little regular maintenance to check and clean the bearings, tighten nuts and screws etc. So please come along.

 

MORO BARS/NUT BARS/FRUIT LEATHERS FUNDRAISERS: We’ll have three different products available soon as fundraisers for medal tests. Money raised will go into a fund set aside to subsidise skaters costs for upcoming local medal tests and future tests – so this will be of direct benefit to all skaters.

Moro Bars will be available in carry packs to take to door to door, to your work place and family gatherings.

“Be Natural” Nut Energy Bars also come in display packs of 15 bars – Fruit and Nut Delight, Apricot and Almond Delight, Nut Delight and Yoghurt Covered Apricot and Almond. They are great tasting fruit and nut bars made from whole nuts and sweetened with honey – no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. They have been a very popular alternative as Moro Bars at workplaces etc as they are not only very tasty, they have a high nutritional value and are something a bit different - a welcome change from chocolate.

We will also have Annies Fruit Leather products. Fruit leathers are exactly that - simply dried fruit. No sugar, flavourings or colourings. We will have Fruit Wiggles for you to sell – these are a single served size consisting of two wiggly pieces of fruit leather individually packed – ideal as a snack in school lunch boxes, skate bags, while travelling etc.  One pack is said to be equal to eating a piece of fruit.

We will also be taking orders for boxes of 50 Wiggles, Bags of Mixed off-cuts, Annies Chocolate selection and more. Please help us with this fundraiser by taking these products to your work place, school, door to door and mentioning them to your friends.

 

GOOD FRIDAY/SCHOOL HOLIDAY DISCOS:  There will be a public skating session on Good Friday – that’s April 14, from 1pm-3.30pm.

We will also run public skating sessions 1-3.30pm weekdays during the April primary school holidays. That is April 17 to 25 (including Anzac Day). A great thing for families to do in the holidays so tell all your friends!!!! A roster will be circulated soon for help running these sessions. We particularly need help for the first week when many of our regular volunteers will be away at Oceanias so please give a little of your time. These discos raise good money – if we didn’t get this money we would have to charge more in rink fees – so there is direct benefit to you.

 

FREESKATING SQUAD WITH DAVID HOOK: World class coach David Hook will be running a freeskating squad at our rink on May 21. This is a great opportunity for skaters from around patch 2 or 3 to international level skaters, to progress your skating further. More details will be available on the noticeboard soon but if you are interested mark the date in your diary now. If you would like to know more

 about what is involved please talk to Chris Hazelwood or Mary-Anne Thomson.

 

CLUB 25th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION: The UHRSC celebrates its 25th birthday in February 2007. We would like to mark this milestone in some special way. The committee will be setting a date and deciding on a programme at its next meeting. We would like suggestions about what would ensure that you/your family attends and what would make it a special event for you. Please talk to one of the committee members listed at the end of this newsletter with your ideas.

 

MEDAL TESTS:

Congratulations to Tessa Halcrow-Webb who passed Solo Dance Medal 3 in Napier recently.

We are holding medal tests at the rink on April 30 for those wanting to sit medals in Figures, Freeskating and Dance up to medal 4. We will also have a testing session for medals over 4 at Riverstone Recreation on June 10.

Any other medals needed during the year may be done at Central Area tests. The next of these will be at Palmerston North on August 19/20. For those skaters with private coaches, if you haven’t sat medals before we encourage you take advantage of this opportunity to do so locally and talk to your coach about what is involved. The closing date for registration for medals 1-4 is March 21 so you must register now. Registrations for Medals 5 and up close on April 30. Judges are being brought in from out of town and to  allow for planning for their times, no registrations will be accepted after these dates.  If you haven’t already put your name down or for more information talk to Debs McCarthy on 5262261.

 

NATIONALS 2007: The New Zealand Federation is hoping to be able to advise us where Nationals 2007 will be as soon as possible. They have announced that the Championships will be in the lower north island from December 30 2006 to January 6 2007.

 

COMPETITION GRADES: The Federation artistic committee has recently announced some amended pathways for federated competitive skaters. While setting the years schedule they defined a National and International pathway, which will make it easier for older skaters entering the sport to compete and travel whichever pathway they want to. In doing so they have introduced a compulsory 2min routine for Cadet grade, a free skating grade for youth, changed the age qualification for novice grade and lowered the age for entry to Intermediate. A graph showing the grade structure is available on the noticeboard to show the pathways up the competitive road. If you have any queries please see your coach.

 

PATCH CLASS PRESENTATIONS: Don’t forget that on the last Tuesday of each month we have a special presentation ceremony. This is a celebration of success and includes a trophy for Skater of the Month and Coach of the Month and presentation of certificates for any skaters who have passed patches during the previous month. Parents, please try to be here for this and celebrate with us. Its also a time when any announcements about upcoming events are made, so it’s a good chance to catch up on whats going on. Skaters – if you pass a patch (other than patch 1),  you need to remember bring your certificate back on the last Tuesday of the month so the next sticker can be added and it can be presented to you. If you have been awarded a trophy, please bring it back the next month.

Embroidered patches are available for sale to skaters who have passed patches. These can be sewn or glued onto skate bags. The cost is $4 per patch. Please see Chris Hazelwood or Mary-Anne Thomson if you would like to buy any.

 

SKATES ON LOAN:

Club hire skates can be loaned to members - meaning you get to wear the same pair every week. If you are interested you need to arrange this during patch class with Chris Hazelwood or Mary-Anne Thomson BEFORE TAKING THE SKATES.

SKATES FOR HIRE:

From around patch 3 a sturdier boot is recommended. We have a range of competition grade skates available for hire for those skaters who are not ready to buy your own yet. We recommend this as the jumps and spins require a bit more support.  If you are interested please talk to Chris or Mary-Anne.

SKATES FOR SALE:

We also have access to range of second hand freeskating and figure skates which club members want to sell. The number of pairs and sizes available changes regularly so if you are looking to buy second hand skates please also talk to Chris Mary-Anne about what is available.  If we don’t have anything we may be able to track down something from another club around New Zealand.

CLUB PATCHES FOR SALE: We quality embroidered club logo patches, the same as those sewn on the new competitor skaters uniform, available for sale. They look great to sewn on clothing or stuck on skate bags. If you are interested in purchasing one, they are $10 and available from Chris Hazelwood.

 

WALL OF FAME – HANDY PERSON REQUIRED URGENTLY: We had NO RESPONSE to our requests in last month’s newsletter for a handy person. The club is lucky enough to have a very talented group of international and national level skaters in our club. We also get a lot of newspaper publicity thanks to our successful skaters. We would like to create an up to date “Wall of Fame” to celebrate their success. We desperately need the services of a handy person who can help us set up a covered display area for photos, posters and news cuttings on the wall you walk past on your left as you enter the rink and reposition the current noticeboards.  We would like to get this underway this month so if you could help please talk to Mary-Anne (ph 5289127) or Debs (5262261). We would be very grateful to hear from you.

 

WANTED: Our bench seats are getting pretty tired – and there’s not really enough of them.

Our towel supply for wiping up leaks (Yes we are on to the new owners to fix the leaks urgently!!!!!) has also run low. Our covers for the ice packs have mysteriously disappeared. These are sewn from faceclothes. If you have any seats, faceclothes or towels you could donate to the club please could you contact Chris on 5297551.

 

PRIVATE BOOKINGS: If you are thinking of practising at the rink during the day, don’t forget to check the private bookings roster. We have Home School in every second Thursday 1.30-3.30pm and Maidstone Intermediate in during terms 2 and 3 every Wednesday from 1.15pm to 2.30pm. Helpers for these sessions are always needed. Please see Bruce or Chris if you can spare a few hours.

 

UPCOMING COMPETITIONS/MEDAL TESTS:

Please Note: Dates/Venues maybe subject to alteration. Please check with event management

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