The medals and accomplishments are piling up but it's at the grassroots level where the progress being made by the Connaught Skating Club can really be measured.
The Richmond-based organization opened its competitive season last weekend in Regina at SaskSkate where six Connaught skaters reached the podium including gold medal performances by Emma Carr (Novice Ladies), Kurtis Schreiber (Novice Men) and Larkyn Austman (Junior Ladies).
Danielle Gordon (PreNovice Ladies) and Shawn Cuevras (Junior Men) took home silver.
Connaught's competitive program is now preparing for its next event - Autumn Leaves in Kamloops - which will serve as the final tune-up for next month's B.C./Yukon Sectionals in Parksville.
What has the club even more excited these days is the amount of skaters par-ticipating in its introductory programs. Over 600 children are registered for the fall and winter sessions and many are coming from outside of Richmond to be part of the Connaught experience.
"We seem to have a lot of people now that are coming from all over the Lower Mainland and are driving here," said Keegan Murphy, the club's director of programs. "That type of commitment to the sport and to their children is absolutely remarkable.
"That's what it takes to be the best at anything in life. The overall development of our skaters has been really solid and consistent."
Murphy doesn't need to promote his programs or convince parents its worth making the trek to Richmond a couple of times of week.
His skaters are doing that for him.
When he first landed the job with Connaught three years ago, some of his skaters from the Sunset Skating Club in East Vancouver followed him. Among them was Mitchell Gordon. Today, he is the Canadian men's junior champion and has moved up to the senior ranks at the age of 16, representing Canada in international competitions.
Gordon is among a steadily growing group of 20 skaters currently in Connaught's elite competitive program. Murphy enjoys watching these athletes flourish and achieve new goals, but has an equal passion for working with kids coming through the CanSkate programs.
"As much as we love to coach triple jumps and triple axles, we love to coach the seven-year-olds and maybe find the next Mitchell Gordon," said Murphy who continues to work alongside his mother Eileen who once coached him during his competitive career.
"The base of the club is huge right now and it gives us an excellent foundation for everything. They have role models right here in the club and that just sets the tone for what type of athletes they want to be.
"The club is turning in to what we wanted it to turn into. It takes a lot of team work and effort from everyone to do it, board members included."
