Skate Canada brings 100th anniversary event to Ottawa and welcomes
Canadian Tire, Mark's and L'Équipeur as new partners
2014 event to be named Canadian Tire National Figure
Skating Championships
OTTAWA, Dec. 18, 2012 /CNW/ - Skate Canada today
announced a new partnership with Canadian Tire, Mark's and
L'Équipeur that will help promote and celebrate the country's
passion for skating in communities across the country. The
partnership, which is effective through 2018, includes support for
Skate Canada's CanSkate program as well as title sponsorship of the
100th anniversary event to take place in the nation's
capital and, beginning in 2014, the national competition for
novice, junior and senior figure skaters in Canada will be known as the Canadian Tire
National Figure Skating Championships.
"We are absolutely thrilled to have joined with Canadian Tire,
Mark's and L'Équipeur for what I know will be a truly remarkable
and ground-breaking partnership," said Benoît Lavoie, Skate Canada
President. "We share similar values, similar goals. Their vision to
celebrate skating right across the country, where we have over
1,200 clubs and skating schools, aligns with the goals for our
association. Having Canadian Tire as our title sponsor for
this event, which draws the best skaters from across the country to
compete for Canadian titles, is just the beginning of a true
celebration of our sport, as we work together to help all Canadians
learn to skate."
The partnership comes into effect for the 2013 event, scheduled
January 14-20th at the
Hershey Centre in Mississauga. In 2014, the Canadian Tire
National Figure Skating Championships move to Ottawa, and Scotiabank Place, where a major
celebration is planned to commemorate the 100th
anniversary of the competition, which began in 1914 at the
Minto Skating Club in Ottawa.
"Skating is a Canadian tradition and we believe there is power
in sport to bring family, friends and communities together," said
Landon French, Vice President of
Sport Partnerships for the Canadian Tire family of companies.
"We're thrilled to partner with Skate Canada and, along with
CanSkate, will encourage families across Canada to get out to their local arena or
community rink, be active, and have fun together."
More than 250 skaters compete for novice, junior and senior
Canadian titles at the event, in four disciplines, men's, women's,
pair and ice dance. The event helps determine the senior
competitors at the world championships, and in 2014, is the final
qualification opportunity for the athletes who will be named to
represent Canada at the 2014
Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. Each year CanSkate teaches more
than 125,000 people from children through to adults to learn to
skate.
Mayor Jim Watson of Ottawa attended the announcement, and is
thrilled to see this event coming back to the nation's capital
where it was last held in 2006.
"We are pleased to be chosen by Skate Canada to host their 100th
national championship here," said Mayor Jim
Watson. "The City of Ottawa
and figure skating have such a long history together. I know that
from the many volunteers who will help with the event, the business
community and the fans of the sport will certainly embrace the 2014
Canadian Tire National Figure Skating Championships and do
everything they can to make this event hugely successful."
This is the 14th time the event will be held in
Ottawa. The 100th
anniversary event will take place in Ottawa, Ontario, January 9-15, 2014 at Scotiabank Place. The
practice facility will be the Bell Sensplex. Tickets for the event
will go on sale in the spring of 2013.
Skate Canada, the national
governing body responsible for the development and administration
of skating in Canada, is the
largest figure skating association in the world. With over 5,000
registered coaches, skating programs for athletes of all ages are
offered at nearly 1,300 skating clubs and schools across the
country. Skate Canada is an
association dedicated to providing every Canadian the opportunity
to learn life skills while experiencing the power,
strength and creativity of one of Canada's premier sports.
In 2012, Skate Canada produced two world champions,
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir in ice dance and Patrick Chan in men's. This is the first time
Canada has produced two senior
world champions since 1993.
"Skate Canada… teaching Canadians to skate for 125
years"
About Canadian Tire Corporation
Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited (TSX:CTC.a) (TSX:CTC) is one
of Canada's most-shopped general
retailers and the country's largest sporting goods retailer, with
more than 1,700 retail and gasoline outlets from coast-to-coast.
Our primary retail business categories - Automotive, Living,
Fixing, Playing and Apparel - are supported and strengthened by our
Financial Services division, which offers such products and
services as credit cards, retail deposits, in-store financing,
product warranties, and insurance. Nearly 68,000 people are
employed across the Canadian Tire enterprise, which was founded in
1922 and remains one of Canada's
most recognized and trusted brands.
SOURCE CANADIAN TIRE CORPORATION, LIMITED