By Darren
Steinke
Gordie Howe Sports Complex
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| Oskar Stack-Michasiw, left, and Luca Veeman are Olympian prospects. |
On January 4,
the Lions had two present and two past members named to the Top 30 RBC
Future Olympians list including Bon Lowe, Oskar Stack-Michasiw, Daniel Pauli
and Luca Veeman. Stack-Michasiw and Veeman are the two current Lions who made
the list.
Lowe and
Pauli are the two former Lions who made the list. They graduated from high
school in Saskatoon last June and relocated to Calgary for the start of the
2021-22 season.
All four
skaters are members of Saskatchewan’s provincial long track team for the
2021-22 campaign, while Veeman is also a member of the provincial short track
team.
The four
athletes are set to receive funding for training and earn a potential spot with
Canada’s speed skating national team program. Each athlete in the top 30
receives $7,500 in funding from the RBC Future Olympic Program.
The top 30 list was made through the RBC Training Ground program partnership between RBC, the Canadian Olympic Committee and Bell Media to find and support Canada’s future Olympians between the ages of 14 and 25. Athletes were evaluated on their speed, strength, power and endurance to gauge their potential in high-performance sport.
The final top 30 list was featured on a special TSN program that aired on the night of January 7.
Veteran speed skating coach Tim Comfort, who is the Saskatchewan Speed Skating Association provincial coach and technical director, said the four Lions skaters were deserving of being on the top 30, because they went out and earned it.
“Speed skating is a work-oriented sport,” said Comfort. “If you don’t like hard work, it is not for you.
“If you like going fast, that is fine. You are going to go fast, and it is very, very fun, but it is a lot of work. These guys part of the reason they did so well in the RBC is how hard they work at speed skating.
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| Oskar Stack-Michasiw made the Top 30 RBC Future Olympians list. |
Stack-Michasiw, who is 16-years-old, has been in the sport
of speed skating as a member of the Lions for about nine years. He entered the
competition to make the top 30 list with an open mind but was uncertain what
the end result would be.
It was highlight to find out he had made the list.
“It was really, really exciting,” said Stack-Michasiw, who
stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 150 pounds. “I didn’t think I would have gotten it,
and then I got the phone call, and it was really exciting.
“It made me think that I have maybe even bigger plans in
speed skating and more potential.”
Veeman, who is 16-years-old, has also been speed skating for
about nine years. When he entered the competition to make the top 30, he wasn’t
sure how he would compare to athletes from across Canada that competed in
various different sports.
He said he was pretty pumped to discover he made the top 30
list.
“When I got the phone call, it was a pretty crazy moment,” said Veeman. “At first, I was surprised I made top 100.
“That was a shock. Finding out that I actually made top 30
was another crazy moment. Going into it, I wasn’t too sure what to expect and
how realistic it was.
“When I got the phone call, it was a pretty big moment.”
Stack-Michasiw said the funding grant helps reduce the
financial stress that comes with participating in speed skating at a high
level.
“It helps quite a lot, because you don’t have to think about
purchasing equipment,” said Stack-Michasiw. “You can say, ‘Oh, I am going to go
to that meet,’ because I have the funding to do it.
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| Luca Veeman cracked the Top 30 RBC Future Olympians list. |
Veeman said being named to the top 30 list was a special reward due to the fact the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world has thrown a major wrench into the speed skating schedule over the past two seasons.
Instead of traveling to meets, the Lions have spent the majority
of their time training at the Clarence Downey Speed Skating Oval on the Gordie
Howe Sports Complex grounds or the Lions Arena in Saskatoon.
“It is super nice considering there hasn’t been a whole lot
of racing the past few years,” said Veeman. “The opportunities in terms of
competition like that have been limited.
“Getting that achievement is definitely a confidence
booster. It is nice to have a token for the hard work I’ve been putting in over
the past couple of years, especially the COVID years. I think it will be one of
the things that can help me take me to the next level just with opening up
training opportunities like spending some time in Calgary more than just a
couple of weeks.”
Comfort said it hasn’t been an easy past two seasons for the
Lions as most of the competitions they would have normally attended have been
cancelled. The veteran coach said the skaters have lost out on opportunities to
bring home medals from those various meets including nationals.
Even with those setbacks, Comfort has been impressed with
the effort the Lions have put into their training and the inner-club meets the
Lions hold.
With all that has happened, Comfort said it was uplifting to
see Lowe, Stack-Michasiw, Pauli and Veeman make the top 30 list.
“Competitions were just cancelled, and they all are good
with it,” said Comfort. “They don’t miss a beat, but it is a nice reward that
they’re recognized by RBC.
“It is really nice the exposure and sort of a little nudge
to keep going in the same direction.”
Stack-Michasiw and Veeman both added it was special that
four skaters with links to the Lions made the top 30 list.
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| Oskar Stack-Michasiw, left, and Luca Veeman have bright futures. |
“With the four of us making Top 30, it is pretty crazy,”
said Veeman. “It was like 13.3 per cent of the finalists were from Saskatoon
and were speed skaters.
“It is pretty astounding. I guess it shows we are doing
something right here in Saskatoon. I think it is definitely something the club
can be proud of.”
For more information about the Saskatoon Lions Speed Skating Club, feel free to check out their website at www.slspeedskating.com.
