By Dylan Nazareth

September may mean that summer is coming to an end. But it also means the start of another exciting season of skating!

Skate Ontario enters the 2026-27 season with a strong roster of skaters looking to give their all on the ice. This includes multiple national team members, including four singles skaters, three pairs, an ice dance duo, and a synchro team. Overall, Skate Ontario boasts the most national team skaters of any province, on top of a strong cohort of junior and senior skaters across the board.

With the season getting underway, I spoke with Skate Ontario Director of Sport Chris Mabee for a deep dive on the exciting names to watch, competitions to keep circled, and the top priorities for the organization this season. Let’s get into it!

ATHLETES TO WATCH

If you’re looking for the top talent in Canada, Ontario has it. Representing the province this season are reigning Canadian champions Stephen Gogolev, Maddie Schizas, and the pairs duo of Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud. All three represented Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan. For seasoned skaters like these four, Mabee said the new season presents a real opportunity.

Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud

“What’s kind of nice for the athletes that have been on the national team for the last couple of seasons is that it’s now an opportunity to reinvent and reintroduce yourself,” he said. “Say to the world, hey, I’m a person to watch for this next quadrenial.”

Beyond these top names, there’s a whole lot to be excited about in Ontario skating this season.

“I think the really fun thing to watch this year is the juniors that are stepping into the senior spotlight for the first time,” said Mabee. “It’s been really fun to watch these athletes, to support these athletes through their junior careers, and watching them step into their senior careers for the first year. It’s a really special moment, not only for Skate Ontario’s programming, but just for the athletes themselves.”

In men’s singles and ice dance, Mabee highlights some young up and coming talent to keep an eye out for.

“I think David Bondar is someone to watch, Grayson Long could potentially have a very exciting Junior Grand Prix season. Charlie Anderson and Cayden Dawson in ice dance could be really fun. They had great success last season. And then Summer Homick and Nicholas Buelow, who are kind of riding the wave of going to Junior Worlds last year and are looking to really prove themselves. I think there could be something really exciting there.”

At August’s China JGP, Hoemick and Buelow earned a bronze medal, while Long finished eighth. Anderson and Dawson will kick off their JGP circuit in Turkiye, where Long is also set to compete. Bondar’s first international competition this season is the Nepela Memorial, a Challenger Series event in late September.

Over in women’s singles, there are a whole lot of names to watch, from emerging talent to familiar faces.

“I think the really exciting piece is that in women, we have a lot of junior age-eligible women, and we have people that are in that middle transition between junior and senior that could really spice things up a little bit,” said Mabee. “You have Reese Rose who’s just this powerhouse of an athlete and is looking to put it together in competition. Megan Woodley is a very similar person in that conversation. I think some of the senior women that I’m really looking forward to seeing are Katherine Medland Spence, seeing what Gabby Daleman‘s gonna bring forward, and Minsol Kwon as well. We have so much depth in women’s, that was really showed showcased last year at the Senior National Championships.”

Gabrielle Daleman

Daleman and Kwan finished second and third, respectively, at last year’s National Championship. Medland Spence finished on the podium in 2025 and is now looking to get back in form after dealing with a number of injuries through last season. Meanwhile, Rose and Woodley are on the senior circuit this year and looking to prove what they can do.

In pairs skating, Mabee points to two young teams he thinks should garner some attention this season.

“Brianna Dion and Jacob Cote have really just grown so much in the last couple seasons and are really looking to make a splash on the junior circuit this year. Then we have a new pair team of William Bocskay and Alia Tang. They’re brand new, but they look like they’ve been skating together for years. I think they have so much potential in this upcoming junior season.”

The two pairs finished sixth and seventh, respectively, at the China JGP.

COMPETITIONS & PRIORITIES

While the Grand Prix events usually steal most of the attention through the fall, there’s lots of exciting skating to keep tabs on right here at home.

For fans of local skating, the best thing to look out for is the Skate Ontario Sectional Series, a set of events that take place around the province featuring homegrown skaters. In August, the Sectional Series traveled to Waterloo. Next, an event is scheduled to take place in the nation’s capital later this month.

Grayson Long

“Our sectional series is always gonna be really exciting,” said Mabee. “We’re bringing back the September event, that’s happening in Ottawa. I think Barrie, the Sectional Series in October, is gonna be a really exciting moment because a lot of those juniors will have finished their Grand Prixs and will be looking for another opportunity leading to the Sectional Championships. Then the Sectional Championships is always a really exciting watch, cause not only is this an event where people are trying to qualify for the Skate Canada Challenge, but this is where we get to have all the disciplines together. So singles, pairs, dance, solo dance, and synchronized skating. It’s just a really great amalgamation of all the disciplines coming together to showcase Ontario’s best.”

With so much exciting competition taking place in the coming months, Skate Ontario is here to support its skaters every step of the way. For Mabee, that means always bearing in mind the person at the heart of the skater.

“We really come from an athlete-centred focus,” he said. “Even beyond that, we tried to design the high performance program so that it’s human first, athlete second. Making sure that not only are these athletes having great successes, but they’re doing it in a happy and healthy way.”

To all the skaters representing Ontario this season, good luck and remember, you make us #SkateOntarioProud!