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Short Track Speedskating Races into Metro Area

Contributed by: David Hopp on 9/28/2008

The Broadmoor Speedskating Club of Littleton & Colorado Springs will be traveling to Fort Collins to compete in an open meet on Oct. 11 at the Edora Pool Ice Center at 12 p.m., with a speedskating clinic for all levels beginning at 10 a.m. From the beginner to those with Olympic aspirations, skaters will have an opportunity to participate in the largest, most competitive gathering of speedskaters in Colorado.

The Broadmoor Speedskating Club shares with both novices and advanced skaters alike the experience of elite-level coaches and athletes. Current coach, Patrick Wentland, has been inducted into the Speedskating Hall of Fame and has a long, elite biography in speedskating, including three national short track championships, two north American short track championships, and a 4th place finish in World Short Track Championships. He started coaching about 10 years ago and was a team leader in the 1998 Olympics.

Caroline Hallisey (three-time Olympian in short track) and Katie Krall (former US National Team member in both speedskating and cycling) helped establish the coaching curriculum for the club. JP Kepka (bronze medalist in the Torino Olympics) frequently joined club practices.

At practices (Saturdays at The Ice Ranch in Littleton; Sundays at the Colorado Springs World Arena), skaters are divided into groups by ability. The groups rotate through various activities on an oval track surrounding the edge of a hockey rink. While each group typically does similar drills, the difficultly is adjusted to match the skill level of the group, which makes it possible to challenge all ability levels.

"This past April, the club hosted a competition at The Ice Ranch in Littleton for beginning to advanced skaters," said Dave Hopp of the Broadmoor Speedskating Club. "It had been years since the last time a competition was held in Colorado. This competition generated a lot of excitement among local athletes, so a club in Fort Collins has decided to host a competition on Oct 11. The clinic that precedes the competition is being conducted by three Olympians and is a fantastic opportunity for anyone with an interest in speedskating."

Current Broadmoor Speedskating Club members are mostly adults, but the club would like to increase the number of youth members, too. The club's goal is to grow the club to the size where it can offer more and better practice times, speedskating camps, and a learn-to-speedskate program focused solely on bringing in large numbers of new participants. All ages and abilities are welcome to join the practices. Practice sessions are at 6 a.m. every Saturday at The Ice Ranch, 841 Southpark Dr., Littleton. For more information (including the equipment needed and what to expect at a practice), visit http://www.bspeed.org. For information about the Ft. Collins speedskating club and the Oct 11th clinic and competition, visit http://www.fcgov.com/speedskating.



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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

David Hopp

Littleton , CO

David Hopp has posted 22 stories and 0 comments since joining on 9/14/2008. David Hopp 's average story rating is 5.
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