Sentinels open doors to bigger lacrosse world

By Darren Steinke
Gordie Howe Sports Complex

The Sentinels huddle up during a training session.

The Sentinels Lacrosse Club aims to expand horizons for elite players in Saskatchewan.

The field lacrosse program is still relatively new getting its start in 2018. It found a home on the Gordie Howe Sports Complex grounds when the Indoor Training Centre officially opened on March 1, 2019.

The elite program operates in a fall season from September to December utilizing both the Indoor Training Centre and Saskatoon Minor Football Field.

The Sentinels run a junior varsity team for players in Grades 8 to 10 and varsity squad for players in Grades 11 and 12.

“Any players that we work with, we want them to be leaders and role models and to be able to contribute to their minor associations,” said Sentinels coach Arden Wipf. “We want to be able to identify and invite those players to work with us in the fall.”

Wipf and long time friend and fellow lacrosse coach Luke Acton started the Sentinels at the request of the Saskatoon Field Lacrosse Association. Before the Sentinels were born, Saskatoon was home to the Scorpions elite program.

The Scorpions came to an end in late 2017 as the program’s coaches decided to step away from the game.

Wipf and Acton have a lengthy history coaching the game together spanning multiple levels since 2006, with some breaks sprinkled in. They grew up playing both field and box lacrosse in Saskatoon and played in the NCAA ranks with the Bellarmine University Knights in Louisville, Kentucky.

They were asked if they could start a program that could fill the void left by the Scorpions.

They came up with the concept of starting fall elite field lacrosse program for the province that would have a schedule that didn’t conflict with field and box lacrosse programs that usually run from May through to August.

Wipf and Acton wanted to start an elite travel team to give players a chance to further improve their skills outside of the regular lacrosse seasons. As part of the recruitment, players would be identified and invited to take part in the program.

The Sentinels focus on staying on top of their academics.

The team would take part in competitions traveling to elite tournaments in the United States.

Acton said a goal was to give the top players a bigger challenge in the sport and open their eyes to a bigger world in the game.

“They play a league game in Saskatchewan, and they score as much as they want to score and they do super well,” said Acton. “We go down to the States, and we have competition down there.

“We realize we are maybe not as good as we think we are.”

Wipf and Acton got the thumbs up to get the Sentinels program running. They ran just a varsity program in 2018 and 2019 before adding a junior varsity team in 2020.

The Sentinels evolved to becoming a private entity going into the 2021 season.

While there is a focus on developing elite lacrosse players, Wipf, who is also an elementary school vice-principal, said academics is a big focus for the Sentinels program too.

“We do put a strong emphasis on academic pursuit and keeping education a top priority,” said Wipf. “These kids are in high school.

“They need to know and their parents need to know that lacrosse is great, and it is wonderful. Lacrosse is not the only important thing. It can’t be the only important thing in people’s lives.”

On the field, the Sentinels program aims to give deeper instruction and guidance with understanding team concepts of field lacrosse. The coaches want to help their players gain a better understanding of the nitty gritty details of what makes others in their same position excel and really good.

When the Sentinels have a scrimmage or an exhibition game, the coaches break down the film and go over it with players.

Being on the Gordie Howe Sports Complex grounds, the Sentinels take advantage of the services offered by Ignite Athletics to help their athletes improve their conditioning.

The Sentinels take part in training at Ignite Athletics.

“In the big picture of things like among their peers, these kids are really growing,” said Acton. “That is why we do it.

“We want these kids to get better. They are fun to be around. It is fun, because they want to be better and we want to be better.

“We can achieve that goal together. That is why we coach. That is the most fun part of it is hopefully teaching these kids stuff you’ve learned along the way that can help them achieve something in the sport that maybe they thought they couldn’t.”

Wipf said the Sentinels program brings on players from both field and box lacrosse, which are two different styles of the game that utilize a lot of the same skills.

In field lacrosse, teams use nine runners and a goalie. Each squad fields one goalie, three defenders who can’t go in the offensive zone, three midfielders who can go anywhere on the field and three attackmen who can’t go into the defensive zone.

Box lacrosse, which is played by the Saskatchewan Rush of the National Lacrosse League, features each side hitting the floor with five runners and a goalie.

“I’m a strong believer that any kid or any player that wants to be the best lacrosse player should be playing both,” said Wipf. “The sports compliment one another, and there are different skills that you can better refine in one as opposed to the other.

“If we have a player that comes to us and they only have box experience but they have a really strong skill set of lacrosse and an understanding of the game, we can teach them advanced skills sets for field lacrosse just like we can for a field player that has never played box and vice versa.”

Acton said the Sentinels program wants to open doors for players to earn opportunities to play with the various NCAA field lacrosse programs in the United States. In turn, those players may get chances to one day play professional in the field or box style games.

Back in May of 2018, Saskatoon product Brendan Rooney helped Yale University win an NCAA title playing in front of 29,000 in the home stadium of the NFL’s New England Patriots. Acton said everyone in the lacrosse scene in Saskatchewan has to better at showing those opportunities can be real.

“I don’t think that as a whole we’ve done a very good job in lacrosse of portraying that opportunity the right way,” said Acton. “A great example is Brendan Rooney.

The Sentinels look forward to many faceoffs in the future.

“He won a national championship and went to Yale, which is an extremely impressive school. He did these incredible things with lacrosse, but a lot of people don’t hear about it. It was the quietest national championship that I’ve ever seen.”

Looking ahead, Wipf and Acton are looking forward to taking the Sentinels into the future.

“We’re excited to get going mostly because we are really excited to get these guys an opportunity to get together as a team and start competing again and start growing as players again,” said Acton.

 

All photos in the post came courtesy the Sentinels Lacrosse Club. For more information about the Sentinels Lacrosse Club, feel free to check out their website sentinelslacrosse.com or email them at sentinelslax@gmail.com.

Sweet happenings at the Complex in photos

By Gordie Howe Sports Complex staff
Gordie Howe Sports Complex

The Lions Speed Skating Club take part in a practice race.

It seems easy to create moments that are made for photos on the Gordie Howe Sports Complex grounds.

Of course, a lot of cool moments of sports action can be captured at the Complex. Those aren’t the only moments that make great pictures.

Sometimes the sun might set in just a certain way it creates amazing colours and an artistic look, when one of the Complex’s facilities are pictured. The Clarence Downey Speed Skating Oval seems to be the place where some of those moments can captured via a photograph.

Other moments might be candid ones. They could come from a social interaction that deals with instruction or a point in time where someone is just chilling out and being relaxed.

A number of these photos like the lead picture of this post were taken by our Communications Coordinator in Darren Steinke. The lead photo shows the Saskatoon Lions Speed Skating Club holding a practice race in frigid conditions on January 23.

A couple of the photos came from two other contributors too.

Without further ado, here is a selection of eight pictures from about the past three months and a bonus one at the end too. We hope you enjoy.

Cool look of a flood

Johnny Marciniuk, who is our Operations Manager, captured this photo on January 11. He caught a crisp and cool look of the Clarence Downey Speed Skating Oval right after the ice was flooded.

Showing off some moves

These two skaters were working on some old figure skating tricks during a public skating session at the Clarence Downey Speed Skating Oval on January 31. They are two of many who have enjoyed being outdoors at the oval.

Grounder all secure

In this photo, a young softball player secures a ground ball during evaluation camp for the Saskatoon Hustlers on January 26 at the Indoor Training Centre. The Hustlers are one of many groups who enjoyed the confines of that facility.

Youngster takes on the slopes

A couple of hills have been built for the Nordic ski trails on the grounds of the Complex. For this youngster pictured here on November 29, 2020, the hills might actually seem as big as mountains, but she seems to enjoy perfecting her downhill ski skills.

Going Yard gets it done

The Going Yard Training Centre has a number of great programs to help players improve their baseball skills. In this photo, a young player fires off a throw to first during a rapid fire infield drill on December 12, 2020 at the Indoor Training Centre. The 15-minute drill was executed in a crisp and efficient manner by the young players.

Having fun with the camera

At a public skating session on January 19 at the Clarence Downey Speed Skating Oval, this skater decided to put on a pose for the camera. She showed off just one example of the fun that can be had at the oval.

Looking good for Bell Let’s Talk day

Our own David Solie sports the Bell Let’s Talk toque in support of Bell Let’s Talk day on January 28. Solie can be found both managing the front desk of the Indoor Training Centre and making sure things run smoothly at the Clarence Downey Speed Skating Oval.

Beauty of the Oval at dusk

On January 14, Jason Warick, who is one of the coaches for the Saskatoon Lions Speed Skating Club, captured this photo of the Clarence Downey Speed Skating Oval during an evening team practice. The colours Warick captured were just incredible. Warick showed how scenic the Complex can be.

Albers teaches skills, off to Spring Training

In this photo from January 20, 2020, left-handed pitcher Andrew Albers explains some tricks of the trade to some young baseball players in the pitching tunnels at the Indoor Training Centre. On Monday, Albers signed a Minor League deal with the Minnesota Twins organization and has received an MLB Spring Training invite.

Saskatoon Short Mat Club joins the Family

Indoor lawn bowling type sport newest addition to Complex

By Darren Steinke
Gordie Howe Sports Complex

A Saskatoon Short Mat Club member releases a shot.

It didn’t take long for the Saskatoon Short Mat Club to get a liking for the Gordie Howe Sports Complex.

After years of conducting games in the basements of Saskatoon area churches, the Saskatoon Short Mat Club made a debut at an open house at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex on November 1, 2020. The organization was able to conduct games in the pitching lanes of the Indoor Training Centre until pandemic related Provincial Health Orders put a pause on those activities.

Still, Robert Hackett, who is the president of the Saskatoon Short Mat Club, said the organizations members were blown away with the good first impressions of their new surroundings.

“Everybody that I have talked to they love it,” said Hackett. “There is plenty of parking, which is something that at the church was something that we hardly ever had.

“You never have to worry about the parking, and it is close at hand. We have a storage unit there that everybody knows. It is locked up, and it is secured.

“All our equipment is there.”

Hackett noted another perk was fact the members of his club were allowed to roll up the mats they play their games on and leave them off to the side of the pitching tunnels, as the rolled up mats didn’t interfere with any other activities.

At church facilities, they often had to clear everything out of the areas their competitions were held in to allow for church functions to happen.

The debut of the Saskatoon Short Mat Club brought a sport of precision and skill to the Complex. When short mat games are taking place, it is easy for those passing by to get caught watching the shot making that was going on.

The short mat game itself comes from the sport of lawn bowling. Lawn bowling itself can be traced back to the 13^th century. Of course in countries that have winter climates for an extended time, the time you can take part in lawn bowling is limited.

The short mat game requires precision and skill.

Short mat brings the game of lawn bowling inside. In Saskatchewan, Bowls Saskatchewan governs both the outdoor lawn bowling and the indoor short mat games for the province.

“The mechanics and everything are pretty well the same,” said Hackett. “They are little bit different.

“The difference is on short mat the mats are six-feet wide and 45-feet long. When you are lawn bowling, your rinks are eight-feet wide and they are 120-feet long. There is a difference between lawn bowling on grass as to be short mat on carpet.

“When you lawn bowl, the rink can change on you just by the bowls going down there and kind of making little grooves in the grass. It is not really all that different. It is a matter of the weight, really.”

Hackett said the local club has an easy way to explain their game to newcomers.

“Whenever we get new lawn bowlers out, one of the questions that we ask is have you curled before,” said Hackett. “If they have, then we say ‘OK then.’

“This is no different than curling only instead of ice you have grass. You have interns and outturns in curling, and we call it forehand and backhand. It really makes no difference.”

The scoring in the short mat game is like curling in that the team that has their balls closest to the jack scores points at the end of each end. Unlike curling there the button can’t move, the jack in lawn bowling and short mat games can be used.

The jacks used in short mat games are a little heavier than those used in lawn bowling due to the fact the rinks in short mat games are smaller than those in lawn bowling games. A board obstacle is also placed in the middle of the rink in short mat games to add an extra challenge.

Team sizes in short mat games can be singles, double, triples or foursomes. Games usually last 14 ends, but they can be 10 or 12 ends in length.

Strategy is discussed before a shot is made in a short mat game.

Janelle Phillips, who is the treasurer of the Saskatoon Short Mat Club, said that release point and the weight of your throw are key to both lawn bowling and short mat, but those skills have to be adjusted for each discipline.

“It just takes a lot of getting used to is the little bit of weight you need to release it,” said Phillips, who has completed in the short mat game for 15 years. “That is why a lot of people in doing short mat don’t take a step.

“When you are bowling outside, you usually take a step forward when you are releasing the ball just to get more of your body into it. With short mat, most people just keep their legs static and just release it with just using their hand, because it takes so much less pressure. I think that is the biggest difference is just getting used to the correct weight that you need to deliver it.”

Phillips said the line of your throw is important in each game and avoiding the board obstacle in the short mat game is a special challenge.

“The board in the middle is always a bit of a challenge to people too, who aren’t used to that,” said Phillips. “There is not really a lot of distance between the edge of the board and the edge of the mat.

“There is only probably three-feet there and not even, that you have to get your bowl around. You have to be pretty accurate with your line.”

Phillips said there has been a national governing body for the short mat game for about the last five years in the Canadian Short Mat Bowls Association, which has allowed for national championships to be played. She believes the Saskatoon club itself has been around for about 20 years.

Competitors can even take part international competitions as well. About five years ago, Hackett and his wife, Carolyn Jones, accepted an invitation through the Canadian Short Mat Bowls Association to a world championship even in Manchester, England.

Hackett said the experience of that trip was an enjoyable one, and it was eye opening to see how well the short mat game was played elsewhere in the world.

A short mat rink set up in a pitching tunnel.

“We actually won one game over there,” said Hackett, who has taken part in short mat games for about 10 years. “The amazing part for us was that the quality of Short Mat bowlers.

“We thought we were good. Think again when you are going into a world championship.”

Overall, Phillips said the local club has enjoyed finding a new home at the Complex, and they can’t wait for the provincial government to allow competitions to resume.

“I think everyone has been pretty happy with it,” said Phillips. “We were pleased to find a space that we could spread out in.

“It was working out quite well. People were pleased with it.”

Going Yard enjoys new era

Baseball training centre grows at Gordie Howe Sports Complex

By Darren Steinke
Gordie Howe Sports Complex

A player works on fielding during a Going Yard training session.

The Going Yard Training Centre has come a long way from a simple origin.

In the early 2010s, Saskatoon resident Dan Demchenko agreed to send one of his sons to a baseball academy in Alberta. After spending a sizable amount of money in that endeavour, he wondered why Saskatchewan didn’t have a similar sort of training facility.

Demchenko proceeded to establish the Going Yard Training Centre in 2013. He then hired Jordan Draeger, Matt Kosteniuk and Brody Boyenko as instructors, who all have experience with high-end baseball.

Going Yard opened its first facility with a training warehouse located on Alberta Avenue. Demchenko would turn over Going Yard venture to his young instructors.

On March 1, 2019, Going Yard was brought on to the grounds of the Gordie Howe Sports Complex.

“I find baseball in Saskatchewan and Saskatoon specifically has gotten a lot better, because of our programs,” said Draeger. “I think kids are taking the sport more seriously now that we have opportunity to train properly.

“When people recognize the opportunities that come with playing baseball competitively as opposed to contact sports and things like that, it is such a good alternative. Our skill level is getting much, much better.”

At Going Yard, the instructors work with players aged eight to 18 with the main emphasis being on players aged eight to 15.

A catcher gets off a throw on a bunt defence drill.

The instructors work with players to improve skills related to batting, pitching, catching, infielding and outfielding.

Players are put through a combination of basic and creative drills designed to improve skills. For catchers, instructors will teach skills like how to block the plate on wild pitches that might hit the dirt or the mechanics to get off a throw to second base to try and prevent a steal attempt.

For infield and outfield work, there are machines at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex which can fire off line drives through the infield or fly balls to the outfield to work on skills in those areas.

For pitching, players might do drills with a weighted ball to improve strength.

In the past during winter months, Draeger said the Going Yard staff wasn’t able to do any work with regards to fielding due to the limitations of their old indoor location. They also couldn’t do drills related base running, because there was not enough room.

The Indoor Training Centre at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex has changed that aspect.

“It (the training warehouse) was only large enough to pitch and hit, because it had such a low ceiling,” said Draeger. “For the last five years, we’ve gotten a lot better at hitting and pitching.

“Now, we are about to see our guys get a lot better at fielding too, because they love this. Being able to field the ball on a full-sized field is cool for them.”

Draeger said the fact local players can work on fielding year round will create more opportunities to continue the sport at the post-secondary level.

A second baseman gets a throw off to first base.

“We’ve had lots of pitchers get college scholarships, but we don’t send very many fielders on a college scholarship,” said Draeger. “I think we are going to see that change now that we’ve moved in here.

“Now not only can we develop hitting and pitching, we can do infielding, outfielding and skills on a larger level.”

On top of the skill development, Going Yard has developed what it calls its “Goats Programs.” Players who are part of Going Yard can be part of the “Goats Program,” where players are dived on to age specific teams.

At the moment, there are teams for players aged 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 years of age. Those teams travel, practice and play games against teams from other training facilities. Often, the Going Yard teams will play teams from the RBI Regina Baseball and Softball Indoor Training Centre.

When the teams play indoors, they take part in modified games. When the weather is nice outside, the teams can play in a full game setting at Cairns Field, Leakos Field or one of the three diamonds at the Geoff Hughes Baseball Park.

All of those diamonds are on the Gordie Howe Sports Complex grounds.

“As soon as the weather turns and we can go outside, we can go outside,” said Draeger. “There is nowhere else that can really do that.

“We are pretty lucky to be in here and have that opportunity.”

Draeger said the Going Yard staff has enjoyed being on the grounds of the Gordie Howe Sports Complex for just over 21 months, and they look forward to what the future could hold.

A pitcher sets to deliver a throw at a Going Yard training session.

“Going Yard is happy to call the Gordie Howe Sports Complex their new home,” said Draeger. “We’re excited to be a part of the team, and we are looking forward to developing baseball in Saskatoon and raising excitement.

“Eventually, we’d like to see our Goats programs reach even more ages. We just want to see the competitive level of baseball just increase at all age levels old and young.”

If you want more information on the Going Yard Training Centre, the staff can be contacted by phone (306) 954-1544 or email at goingyardbaseball1@gmail.com. You can check out Going Yard’s website at gytc.ca.

Nordic skiing a natural lifelong sport

By Darren Steinke
Gordie Howe Sports Complex

A young skier works her way up an incline.

When Alison Meinert sees the youngsters she coaches in Nordic skiing, she hopes they realize the sport can truly be a lifelong love.

Meinert is one of the coaches for the youth high performance program at the Saskatoon Nordic Ski Club. During some practice sessions that take place on the trails and hills that run through the Gordie Howe Sports Complex and neighbouring Holiday Park Golf Course, there are times the club’s young skiers will share those trials with competitive and recreational skiers from all ages.

While the Saskatoon Nordic Ski Club coaches try to instill a love of the sport into their athletes, Meinert said it great for the young skiers to see a variety of adult skiers at various skill levels enjoy the sport, which is best known as cross-country skiing.

“We hope that we’ve instilled in them that it is a sport for life,” said Meinert. “A lot of the new long term athlete development, all those models across sport have an active for life section.

“I think cross-country skiing is probably one of the best sports for being active for life. We have kids from three-years-old and probably in the same park at the same time we might have an 80-year-old out skiing. It is for all ages, and that I think appeals to a lot of people and families that you can ski your whole life.

“I hope that the kids see it that way too. There is a future for them whether they want to ski race, whether they just want to recreationally ski, whether they want to be an official at a race, or whether they want to be a coach. There is lots of options.”

Ivan English, who is vice-president of the Saskatoon Nordic Ski Club, said Nordic Skiing is just like the cross-country skiing you see on television when a Winter Olympics is on. On the trails, you can encounter all sorts of terrain.

“Cross-country skiing is basically up and down skiing,” said English. “You climb hills.

A young skier takes on a downhill part of a trail.

“You get a good workout that way, but you also want hills for going down as well, because that is fun. The sport is huge in Europe, especially Norway and Sweden and Finland. It is quite a popular sport.”

Within Nordic skiing, there are two different types of skiing in classic skiing and skate skiing.

Classic skiing is what most people think of for cross-country skiing. A person’s skis are parallel in a track, and you do a parallel or a diagonal stride so that the skis are in the track. It looks a bit like running with your arms moving diagonally with your legs.

In skate skiing, the track is wider and it is packed. You glide on your skies by pushing off at an angle similar to the skating stride of a long track speed skater. A skier pushed off at an angle and glides on their skies and uses poles.

English said the coaches try to get the Saskatoon Nordic Ski Club members to try both techniques.

“You will have a race for classic skiing, and you will also have races for skate skiing,” said English. “For instance, some races you might have on a Saturday you might do a classic race and then the Sunday you will do a skate race.”

As for competitions themselves, Nordic skiing has a lot of options. Young children will do races anywhere from one to four kilometres in length.

Teenagers and young adults will take part in races 10 to 15-kilometres in length. Adults might take part in races anywhere from five-kilometres in length all the way up to 50-kilometres in length.

While those race lengths are used for traditional Nordic skiing competition, the sport also had sprint races, where racers go all out to finish first in a one-or-two-kilometre loop and there is a lot of jockeying for position. Sprint racers are very spectator friendly.

Besides the traditional and sprint races, Nordic skiing offers loppet ski races. Loppet ski races are conducted in a similar style to marathon or fun run races.

Those races can be anywhere from five to 10-kilometres in length and can run as long to 50 to 60-kilometres in length.

A coach, right, instructs a Saskatoon Nordic Ski Club skier.

Skiers take off in a mass start, and those races can attract skiers who want to compete and those that are there just to participate. There is usually a social gathering after those races.

“Skiing tries to offer something for everybody from the recreation skier up to those who want to race and have a sport and train hard at it,” said English.

The Saskatoon Nordic Ski Club has a pretty lengthy history in “the Bridge City” too. Back in 1928, Nordic skiing was first offered when the Saskatoon Ski Club was established.

In 1968, the Saskatoon Ski Club’s Nordic and Alpine disciplines were split up which saw the creation of the Nordic Ski Club of Saskatoon, which officially took on the Saskatoon Nordic Ski Club name in 2011.

In the youth high performance programs, Meinert said they have a group of 30 skiers that come out and train multiple times a week.

“We’re pretty passionate about skiing and getting kids active and enjoying and loving the outdoors,” said Meinert. “We get exercise too, while we are out here.

“The kids have been really improving over the last couple of years. We’ve really made an effort to try and train more times a week, work on our technique. There is a provincial race series that we attend, and we’ve gotten some great results there.

“We’re just at the age with some of our older kids, our 14, 15 and 16-year-olds to try to get them to race a bit out of province and see what that competition is like in other places, because it is pretty steep. It gives them an idea of how hard they need to train here in Saskatoon to be able to compete out of province. They are great kids, and we always have lots of fun out here.”

English said the Saskatoon Nordic Ski Club is looking forward to growing the sport at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex, where the club will benefit from a new Multi-sport Centre that is currently under construction along with a timing hut and storage garage.

Nordic skiing is a sport that can be enjoyed for life.

“We’re super excited,” said English. “Our club for being around so long we’ve actually run youth programs basically out of very limited facilities.

“We had to bring in hot chocolate for the kids on a little sled just trying to make due. With the Gordie Howe Sports Complex, we are really excited that we’ll actually have a facility to call home to share with speed skating in the winter and other sports in the summer. We are actually going to have a place for kids to come in and warm up and bathrooms and change rooms and access to a canteen and be able to grow our sport.

“We’re going to have this great new home where we can really have a lot more amenities for all of our skiers.”

For more information about the Saskatoon Nordic Ski Club, feel free to check out their website at www.saskatoonnordicski.ca.

Johnny’s sweet construction photos - a collection

By Gordie Howe Sports Complex staff
Gordie Howe Sports Complex

Protective fencing goes up at the ball diamonds.

Construction action has hit another high gear here at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex in 2020 starting in August.

Crews have been building new buildings and working on improvements to the facility.

Since August, our Operations Manager Johnny Marciniuk has gone on a number of tours collecting photos of the construction action and improvements to the facility. We’ve featured the photos on our social media Facebook, Instagram and Twitter lines along with creating picture round up posts for our main gordiehowesportscomplex.ca website.

Johnny’s photos have proven to be popular. He has captured some sweet images, and they have all come from the camera on his mobile phone.

For the December upload of new content for Howe Happenings, we figured we’d show a collection of some of the coolest and sweetest photos Johnny took on his tours.

The lead photo for this post shows fencing that was installed at a diamond facility to help secure the site and protect athletes and spectators from errant balls for adjacent facilities.

Anyways without further ado, here is a selection of seven pictures from Johnny’s tours. We hope you enjoy.

More artificial turf goes in

In this early November tour photo, artificial turf is completed on both the north and south side of the track and field track to provide a level surface for the Clarence Downey Speed Skating Oval along with being a comfortable surface for track athletes to enjoy during their track meets.

Perimeter fencing up at track and field facility

This photo from early October shows the perimeter fence that was installed at the track and field track that doubles as the Clarence Downey Speed Skating Oval in the winter months.

Trees arrive on truck

Near the middle of October, trees that were locally sourced from Zoset and Pleasantdale arrived. They were planted around the new track facility a short time afterwards.

We should add Lakeshore Tree Farms from Saskatoon is also a major supplier of greenery for landscaping, and our landscaping architects in Crosby Hanna have been terrific to work with.

Leakos Field ready for bleachers

In this photo taken near the end of August, it shows an area at Leakos Field that has been mapped out to receive bleachers that will be relocated from Cairns Field.

Leakos Field gets bleachers

This photo taken on November 7 shows the bleachers installed a Leakos Field that were transferred over from Cairns Field.

Tournament building sits near completion

The Nordic Ski/Softball Tournament Building sits nearly complete in this photo taken on November 7.

Speed skating tiles sit ready

The Clarence Downey Speed Skating Oval tiles sit installed in this picture taken near the start of November. The oval ice is flooded and put in place on top of these tiles.

Lions’ Lowe grows into new speed skating identity

By Darren Steinke
Gordie Howe Sports Complex

Bon Lowe skates at the Clarence Downey Speed Skating Oval.

Bon Lowe has started to redefine his speed skating identity in his middle to late teenage years.

The 17-year-old Grade 12 student at Evan Hardy Collegiate has been part of speed skating since he was placed by his mom in a learn to skate program around age three.

Lowe used to play hockey too. He discovered in that sport he liked skating fast on the ice more than any other aspect of the game.

Feeling that need for speed, Lowe decided to focus on speed skating. The Saskatoon Lions Speed Skating Club member enjoyed a fair amount of success in the sport, but as he grew into his current body size of standing 6-foot-3 and weighing 172 pounds, Lowe is finding his new comfort zone with long track events.

“Right now, I like long track just because I am taller than most short track skaters are,” said Lowe. “I have been able to do a bit better at long track.

“It just feels nicer to skate.”

Lowe is a member of the Saskatchewan Speed Skating Association’s provincial short and long track teams, and he is entering his first season as a junior level skater. He sees himself specializing in the 5,000-metre and 10,000-metre distances.

Due to his taller height, Lowe believes the longer strides he can make are a big benefit when it comes to racing in longer distances. He is also intrigued by the strategy that goes into planning out a race that covers a longer distance.

“When you skate the longer distances, you have so much time to think,” said Lowe. “It is not a race that is won by the start.

“It is how you skate all throughout. You kind of have to be able to think about your race in the middle of it. You have to think about how you are doing it and what you are doing good and what you are doing bad.

“It gives you lots of time to work on the race, while you are doing the race. You are not necessarily stuck with the result you get right off the start.”

Veteran Lions coach Tim Comfort has coached Lowe for 10 years and has enjoyed watching the young skater evolve. Comfort said Lowe reached the top of the podium quite a bit in younger age groups before he hit his growth spurt.

Bon Lowe aims to make longer distances his skating specialty.

“When he was younger, he won three out of four years in a row Western Canadian Championships in short track,” said Comfort, who is also a Saskatchewan Speed Skating Association provincial coach and technical director. “He was the absolute dominant skater.

“Nobody could basically touch him. As they grow, you can be really good when you are young, and then all of a sudden, the day comes when people catch you, and then you have to decide how much you like it. I love the character building in that.

“When there is a little bit of adversity and you are not beating everyone easily anymore, then you really, really, are tested as to how much you love what you are doing. Anybody that ever plays a sport will have a taste of that. To see them face that and to figure it out is very, very, fun.”

Comfort said Lowe had to adjust his skating the taller he grew.

“Every year he has to get used to a new height, because he has grown so much, and he just doesn’t ever seem to stop,” said Comfort. “He may be at his adult height, and there are adjustments you have to make to your new height.

“Speed skating is a highly technical sport. He is needing to be adaptable and keep learning, because of his new height.”

Comfort has enjoyed watching Lowe evolve and gain an interest for competing in longer long track events. With that noted, Comfort added Lowe is still taking his first strides in a bigger world there.

“He has had some success, but he will have to keep working at it for a longer period of time, if he is going to be really good at long track,” said Comfort. “He is really good compared to others his age in Western Canada and Canada.

“Really good doesn’t mean he is in the top two or three, but he is still really good. The long legs could help him quite a bit in long track, if he keeps training.”

To this point in his career, Lowe has had limited opportunities to skate in a distance as long as 5,000-metres in competitions. Early last February at long track meet in Regina, Lowe won the 3,000-metre race in his age category in a time of four minutes and 55.76 seconds.

Now part of the junior level of competition, Lowe expects to go through some learning curves going up against more experienced skaters.

“Now, I am sort of mixed in a bigger pool again,” said Lowe. “I’m kind of the small fish in the pond.

Bon Lowe enjoys being a part of the speed skating community.

“I think there is lots of experience that I can gather being around all the older skaters. I’m looking forward to it, when I get to compete again. Right now, I’m really enjoying being able to gather all that knowledge.”

He looks forward to taking on that adventure as a member of the Lions, because he has had so many great experiences being part of that club.

“It has been really great,” said Lowe. “Some of my best friends that I’ve ever had I’ve met with skating.

“Being able to have this community that follows me and supports me and I can support them back too, not only is it just here in Saskatoon, but the sport is able to foster a good community all across the country. I know people all across Canada.

“I think wherever I go, I am able to be apart of this community of speed skating and of sport in general.”