About Dartmouth Crossing Speed Skating Club
The Dartmouth Crossing Speed Skating Club was created in 2016 to establish a speed skating presence in the new four pad arena being built in Dartmouth Crossing. Working with a four-year development plan, the club operated Learn to Skate and Learn to Speed Skate programs at the Bowles Arena and Dartmouth Sportsplex during the 2016-2017 season, to build a base of skaters, coaches and administrators to be ready to move into the new arena in the fall of 2017.
When the arena, now called the RBC Centre, opened in September 2017, the club established a full range of programs from learn to skate to high performance speed skating, including a Special Olympics program run in partnership with Special Olympics Nova Scotia. By its third season, the club had grown to 160 skaters, and sent eight skaters to the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer Alberta, seven representing Nova Scotia and one representing Nunavut. In the 2019-2020 season, it sent its first Special Olympics speed skater to the Special Olympics Canada Winter Games in Thunder Bay, where she won two silver and two bronze medals.
The club's programs follow the principles outlined in the Speed Skating Canada Long Term Participant and Athlete Development Model, and the recently released Long Term Development in Sport and Physical Activity 3.0 issued by the Sport For Life Society. Our core programs support the development of healthy life-long physical activity, with programs for all ages and abilities, and our competitive programs offer opportunities to athletes who wish to pursue higher level competition.
When the arena, now called the RBC Centre, opened in September 2017, the club established a full range of programs from learn to skate to high performance speed skating, including a Special Olympics program run in partnership with Special Olympics Nova Scotia. By its third season, the club had grown to 160 skaters, and sent eight skaters to the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer Alberta, seven representing Nova Scotia and one representing Nunavut. In the 2019-2020 season, it sent its first Special Olympics speed skater to the Special Olympics Canada Winter Games in Thunder Bay, where she won two silver and two bronze medals.
The club's programs follow the principles outlined in the Speed Skating Canada Long Term Participant and Athlete Development Model, and the recently released Long Term Development in Sport and Physical Activity 3.0 issued by the Sport For Life Society. Our core programs support the development of healthy life-long physical activity, with programs for all ages and abilities, and our competitive programs offer opportunities to athletes who wish to pursue higher level competition.