Uptown Saint John is going to be booming this time next year as 250 figure skaters descend on Harbour Station for the Skate Canada National Skating Championships.
But Victoria Clarke, executive director of Discover Saint John, tells us that won’t be all the visitors the city will get as they’ll surely be bringing a lot of people along with them.
“These are stars, and so not only will you have the athletes, you have the trainers, you have their families, you have devoted fans that go to every single event regardless of where it is, not just where it is in Canada but where it is in the world,” says Clarke.
“We’re going to see a great crowd of people, and the other great thing is that this is a shared experience, a shared experience between here and Quispamsis. The Q-Plex is going to be a place where people are warming up and doing some of their training before they’re coming to the competition.”
2019 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships headed to Saint John, N.B. #CTNSC19 https://t.co/INv5F3IA4j
Tenue des Championnats nationaux de patinage Canadian Tire 2019 à Saint John, N.-B. #CNPCT19 https://t.co/ZRuyyzx37j pic.twitter.com/FH15wEqMKy— Skate Canada / Patinage Canada (@SkateCanada) January 11, 2018
It’s not the first time Saint John has hosted a skating event with the city having hosted Skate Canada International three times since 1995.
Clarke believes the city’s experience hosting skating events is advantageous for Saint John when it comes to this one.
“Saint John is known for being able to call upon our volunteer database,” she says, “and so folks that have volunteered in the past are people that not only have a love of skating, but they have a love of the community and want to participate, and I know that we’ll be able to capitalize on that, and again that was part of Skate Canada’s decision.”
The skaters will be vying for a sport on the Skate Canada National team and the teams to compete at the World Figure Skating Championships, the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships and the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships.
The event is happening in from January 13 to 20 of next year.
