Starskate

STARSkate offers opportunities for skaters of all ages to develop fundamental figure skating skills in the areas of ice dance, skills, free skate and artistic skating.

Unique in Canada, this program teaches figure skating skills in a group and/or private lesson format in a progressive and sequential manner and includes specifically designed awards and incentives. Skaters have the opportunity to take Skate Canada Assessments through a nationally standardized assessment system. Skaters who have mastered figure skating skills in STARSkate may also choose to pursue Synchronized Skating or Pairs Skating.

When you/your child registers for a STARSkate program at your local Skate Canada club, you also become a member of Skate Canada and will have access to:

• opportunities to be recognized through a nationally standardized assessment system for achieving specific figure skating skills
• invitational and interclub competitions, including the STARSkate championship stream
• STARSkate Skater of the Year awards program
• Special STARSkate events and club functions
• Opportunity to be talent-scouted
• Opportunity for personal growth and the development of important life skills such as goal-setting, self-discipline, confidence, time management, healthy lifestyle and coping strategies to deal with success and failure.

These are some of the awards and incentives that have been developed to encourage athletes in the STARSkate Program.

How STARSkate works

The STARSkate program consists of figure skating skills in four areas –  Skills, Ice Dance, Free Skate and Artistic.

Each area is divided into the following levels:

STARSkate Pathways

Once a skater is in the Skate Canada STARSkate Program, there are several  options. Skaters may choose to remain in the STARSkate Program, taking assessments (although not mandatory) at organized assessment sessions and honing learned skills. Skaters may also choose to enter competitions, while still trying Skate Canada assessments. Other skaters may feel that they have progressed to a point where they may wish to enter the Skate Canada Competitive Skate Program or become involved in synchronized skating, evaluating or judging, or participate as an adult or varsity member.

Skills

Skills are a combination of fundamental skating movements, executed on a pattern and skated solo. The basic components of all disciplines of figure skating are incorporated into the program. The movements are derived from former compulsory figures, free skating and ice dance. The objective of the Skills program is mastery of the basic fundamentals of skating – edge quality, control, power and speed.

Ice Dance

Ice Dance consists of 12 levels of assessments. The Dance assessment program teaches timing, musicality, rhythm interpretation, structure as well as basic skating skills such as edges, flow, control and unison.

The dances in the STARSkate Program can be tried in any order but a candidate must pass the required number of dances in a dance assessment before proceeding to the next level.

FreeSkate

Freeskate consists of the execution of jumps, spins, footwork, field movements and stroking, either in isolation or performed in sequence to music.

Each assessment consists of 2 parts – Elements in Isolation and a Free Program except for the Gold.  The Gold assessment is a program only.

Artistic

The focus of the Artistic discipline is the development of program components, musical movement and creativity. Artistic combines skating aspects such as turns, edges and field moves, with creative spins and the ability to project emotion and artistry. The aspects developed through Artistic assessments benefit every discipline in skating.

Please note, skaters need a strong foundation of basic skating skills, edges and turns, spins and field moves for the entry level of Artistic (STAR 5).  Skaters must have completed STAR 4 Skills prior to entering STAR 5 Artistic.

There are four Artistic program assessments in the STAR 1 – Gold structure: STAR 5, STAR 7, STAR 9 and Gold
All Artistic programs offer assessment in two main areas:

• Required Content
• Program Components

Competitions For STARSkate Athletes

STARSkate participants love to compete! Our feedback indicates that even though a skater may choose not to participate in the Skate Canada CompetitiveSkate Program, they still want the opportunity to test their skill in a competition situation. Skate Canada offers several opportunities to do this.

Club Competitions

Clubs offer competitions for their own members to compete against each other. The club determines the categories which generally follow Skate Canada STARSkate guidelines (e.g. length of program, category name, type of event offered, etc.) The club may also offer other creative events such as longest shoot-the-duck, similar pairs, spins and jumps, etc.)

STARSkate Interclub Competitions

These are events involving a number of clubs in the same region or area. The competition categories offered generally fall in line with the applicable Skate Canada Section specifications, so that all Interclubs within the Section are standardized (this allows Skate Canada Sections to offer a Section Final). The STARSkate Championship program provides opportunities for skaters who want to remain in the STARSkate program but also want to have the challenge of competing up to a Sectional level in a credible, nationally standardized event.

Invitational Competitions

These are events coordinated by a Section or Club(s) and offered, generally, to STARSkaters and competitive skaters. Most events fall within Skate Canada’s specifications regarding program length and eligibility to compete. For more information contact the hosting Section or club.