Andrew Skater to Compete in Skate Canada Challenge

Andrew Skater to Compete in Skate Canada Challenge

Michelle Pinon - News Advertiser

Colton Foreman never planned on becoming a figure skater. The unplanned journey, along with his hard work and determination to excel in the sport, has landed him in a spot to compete in the Skate Canada Challenge in Regina, SK. from Dec. 1-5.

Colton said he was progressing through the Can Skate program in Andrew with the intention of playing hockey, however, there was no minor hockey program operating at the time. So, when he was told he would need recreational skates to continue in the Can Skate program, he decided to do just that.

A lot has happened since he began skating at 10 years of age. Now, at 16 years of age he is one of two male novice skaters from Alberta who will be competing in the Skate Canada Challenge. For novice, junior and senior skaters, this is the only opportunity to qualify for the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in Ottawa from Jan. 6-13.

For the past two years, Colton has been skating out of Sherwood Park as he needed a higher level of training than what Andrew was able to offer for him to excel. Under the direction of Coach Terri Gallant, Colton has continued to excel.

Colton practices four to five times a week out of the Sherwood Park Skating Club. Colton feels receiving and applying constructive feedback is one of his greatest strengths and says he performs best when he is able to stay in the moment. “I’m becoming more comfortable in my abilities and skating,” said Colton.

Coach Gallant said, “I started coaching Colton when he joined the Sherwood Park skating club in the spring of 2019. Colton has thrived in a more disciplined competitive atmosphere. He started to improve quickly and has continued his upward trajectory which culminated in a 2nd place finish at the 2022 Alberta Sectional championships earning him a trip to the 2022 Skate Canada Challenge competition.

Colton is a pleasure to teach. He enjoys learning new things and pushing himself to be better. He has really been focused on improving since we got back on the ice in June after being shut down for so long due to Covid. He has shown a lot of dedication making the trip in from his home 4 times a week to train. He has gone from barely landing double jumps when he started with us to now working on triples. He loves to perform for an audience and has an engaging personality and style on the ice. Right now we are working on polishing his 2 solos and gaining consistency in his run-throughs at training. Goals for the Challenge competition are to achieve personal best scores and to show what he is capable of doing in his solos.”