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2006 Skate Canada International to be held in Victoria
(November 10, 2005 - Ottawa, ON) - The City of Victoria, BC will be the host city for 2006 Skate Canada International. The event will take place November 2-5, 2006 at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
“Skate Canada is pleased to bring this major international event to Victoria,” said Pam Coburn, Skate Canada CEO. “There is a strong figure skating community here, with knowledgeable, supportive fans and an excellent volunteer base. This will be their opportunity to see many of the skaters who will be contending for medals on the International Skating Union’s Grand Prix of Figure Skating circuit.”
“What a proud day for our city, as we look forward to hosting this prestigious international skating competition,” said Mayor Alan Lowe. “Our city has a long history of supporting skating events and we look forward to welcoming skating enthusiasts from around the world. I know our community’s passion for the sport will be reflected in event attendance,” he added.
This is the third time that Skate Canada has brought this event to Victoria since its inception in 1973. It also hosted the 1984 and 1992 events. It will be the fifth time the event has been held in a British Columbia city. Vancouver hosted it in 1978 and Kamloops in 1998.
“Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre is pleased to welcome 2006 Skate Canada International,” said Dave Dakers, Executive Director. “We are looking forward to filling Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre with fans, supporters and competitors of this exciting sport. This will be the first figure skating competition to be held at this venue and we are looking forward to making it a great success.”
Skate Canada expects that over 20,000 spectators will attend the four-day event, which will bring an economic impact of approximately $8 million to Victoria. All-event ticket packages go on sale on Nov. 18, 2005 at 12 noon (EST) (09:00 PST). All-event ticket packages are $149.00 & $130.00 plus taxes and surcharges and will be available for purchase at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre box office, by phone (250) 220-7777 or 1-866-514-5050 and www.selectyourtickets.com.
Skate Canada International is the second of six competitions in the yearly International Skating Union’s (ISU) Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. The other events take place in the United States, China, France, Russia and Japan. Skaters are awarded points based on their placements in the series’ events. The top-six Men and Ladies and the top-six Pair and Ice Dance teams qualify for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.
Skate Canada, the national governing body responsible for the development and administration of figure skating in Canada, is the largest figure skating association in the world. With skating programs for athletes of all ages, offered at 1364 clubs across the country, Skate Canada is an association dedicated to providing every Canadian the opportunity to experience the passion, spirit and triumph of skating. Primarily self-supporting, Skate Canada is able to provide direct athlete funding, which reaches approximately 1 in 7 competitive athletes and 1 in 3 synchronized skating teams each year through various training and performance-related grants.
