HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Hello and Happy New Year from the OOC! We hope this newsletter finds you all safe and healthy. It is a different season to be sure- not only in the virtual Artistic Swimming world, but also within our own personal family and friend groups. It is our hope that each and every one of you were able to enjoy some quality time with the important people in your lives whether it be in person within your bubble, or on Zoom, FaceTime or other.
INTRODUCING MARGIE SCHUETT
The OOC is pleased to announce that Margie Schuett has agreed to join our committee as an Ad Hoc member. Margie brings with her a wealth of experience in sport, and Artistic Swimming specifically. Most recently, Margie completed her term on the Canada Artistic Swimming Board of Directors. Having been a key resource for officials at the national level, Margie was invited to share her wealth of knowledge with the officials in Ontario.
Margie will be working closely with the Officials Committee to create development opportunities for all officials in our province. Margie joined us in our November meeting and we look forward to working with her this season!
WELCOME TO OUR NEW OFFICIALS!
Registration closed with 54 officials registered for the 2020-21 Season. We have had a few retirements and a few others taking a leave of absence from officiating for the season.
We also welcomed several newly certified Level One Officials to our community:
Mara Bender
Maddie Carrie
Julia Koldachenko
Chantal Pardis
Meghan Rickwood
David Seed
Manny Wu
VIRTUAL LEVEL 1 JUDGING COURSE
OAS will be offering a virtual Level 1 judging course this March to all those interested! The course will include certification requirements, an introduction to ethics in judging, judging basic body positions and movements, how to judge figures and an introduction to judging free routines. The course will be run on either Saturday, March 20th from 9:30am – 4:00pm, or Tuesday, March 9th and Thursday, March 11th from 6:00-9:00pm.
For more information and to register, please contact Lauren Lindner at llindner@ontarioartisticswimming.ca.
VIRTUAL COMPETITIONS
Our OAS officials have been busy this virtual season! Earlier this season, the Early Bird and Dryland Routine Meets were a huge success with over 600 athletes and 35 Officials attending online. Several Officials mentioned that it was nice to see friends and colleagues from the Artistic Swimming community after our extended hiatus. This past month, we saw our OAS athletes competing in the Lisa Alexander Tech and Routine Meet, and were able to virtually judge routines for the first time! Officials judged pre-filmed videos of figures and routines, as well as the dryland routine for any athletes who were unable to video live figures prior to lockdowns in their areas.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Registration for clubs will be closing soon for both the Leslie Taylor Provincial Championship Meet and the Novice/Masters Meet. Requests for availability for Officials at these meets will be sent out shortly. Due to the continuing provincial lockdown, both of these meets will be a dryland routine. After feedback received from our last two meets, we have separated the 11/12 and 13-15 events into each specific age category. This will make events more manageable for officials and the time length of each event not as daunting.
We look forward to seeing everyone at the upcoming competitions!
Stay safe,
