Mississauga SC, winners of the 2024 Skate Ontario Club of the Year Award have earned the very first Skate Ontario Member Spotlight. MSC focuses on building community within their club by offering quality programs, engaging the wider community through events and social media, speaking with their members on a regular basis at the rink and much more!

During the Skate Ontario End of Year Live Broadcast held on June 7, 2024, we were delighted to be joined by Sandy Luluk, MSC President, Aryana Shanab, MSC Technical Director and Leanne Pilon, MSC CanSkate Director as they accepted the award on the club’s behalf. Check out the wonderful moment below!

Sandy mentioned after receiving the award, “Skating clubs are continual ‘works in progress.’ We have been tracking with forward thinking and adapting for the last 3-4 years culminating in many positive changes. It is wonderful to see the efforts and great smiles from our skaters, from youth to adult! Skate Ontario’s validation of our endeavors with this inaugural award is greatly appreciated!”

Courtesy of: MSC

When a club is a well-oiled machine, you don’t always see the hard work that actually happens behind the scenes, day in and day out to ensure the club runs smoothly.

“We are really proud to receive the inaugural 2024 Skate Ontario Club/Skating School of the Year Award. It truly is a validation of all the hard work and collaboration that goes on behind the scenes with our coaching team and our board members. We continue to strive for excellence in delivering quality programs that push the boundaries, with positive energy, encouraging personal growth and independence while promoting a life long enjoyment of skating,” said Aryana.

In addition to attending and participating in Skate Ontario’s monthly Presidents Club calls, MSC has achieved Exceeded Standard status in Skate Ontario’s CanSkate Excellence Program and provides quality programming to its members of all levels.

“Winning the 2024 Skate Ontario Club of the Year has definitely been one of the biggest highlights for MSC as the club begins to celebrate its 75^th Anniversary.

A lot of hard work has gone into MSC into making the club look more professional in appearance, along with great programming development. Programs at MSC over the past few years have developed to “exceeded standard” status. This award acknowledges all the contributions and efforts coaches and volunteers have put forth. Gives the feeling of accomplishment!

Winning an award like this only encourages and motivates MSC to keep on continuing to strive for even more excellence for its skaters,” added Leanne.

Aryana, Sandy & Leanne congratulated by Skate Ontario staff

To top off the joyful day of receiving the award, Sandy, Aryana and Leanne were still in the building (Skate Ontario office) when everyone learned during the Live Broadcast that a member of their club had won the grand prize of a new Nissan Kicks in the Ontario Skaters Promotional Contest, Leigha Dell’Anno. It was an exciting moment for everyone!

Courtesy of: MSC

One of the ways MSC encourages the growth of their skaters is by making coach development a priority. They do this by holding monthly meetings, hosting a coach training day, attending Skate Canada Ice Summit for learning and bonding, and continuing education beyond required courses, just to name a few. All coaches complete Coaching Foundations and CanSkate Foundations courses and the STARSkate coaches have also competed the third course for Regional Coaching Foundations. The coaches fully support each by implementing team coaching which fosters collaboration for the benefit of their skaters.

Courtesy of: MSC

The club also truly enjoyed hosting STAR 1-4 Mississauga Snowflake this past February, the first event they have hosted since before COVID. The experience really brought the club and their community together and the club had a great response from dedicated volunteers who helped make the event possible and an overall success.

MSC proudly offers programming starting at 2.5 years of age through to adult classes, and have recently added a growing PowerSkating program. Off-ice Flexafit classes are offered for their Pre-Junior and STARSkate programs to encourage well-rounded fitness and to help with on-ice technique. To enhance the skater and family experience, each year they host a highly anticipated Holiday Gala where skaters create a mini-exhibition, have a family skate with Santa and end with a social with friends and family. The season wraps up with skater social events, such as laser tag, pizza parties and fun times at Activate, where coaches and board members engage with skaters and parents in a fun environment outside of the rink.

Skate Ontario is delighted to recognize and celebrate the Mississauga SC for being the very first Member Spotlight. Please join us in congratulating them once again for winning the Skate Ontario Club of the Year Award!

#SkateOntarioProud