A few good years left

The North Shore International competition is a big one that skaters all over North America look forward to and, for local skater Sarah Pousette it will be the last competition to take part in until the end of summer.
The North Shore International is a large competition that is always a challenge to place well at, but for the 10-year-old Hart Highlands skater, she has experience under her belt which makes a big difference when it comes to the nerves.
“I’m not really nervous because last year I came in the top three,” says Sarah. “I am in a new level this year but I’m not that nervous. I know all the people from down there because I go down there every summer. I would like to be in the top half, that would make me happy. I know one of the girls I will be competing against and there will be 12 people I have to skate against.”
Winning isn’t the most important thing in Sarah’s mind, as a matter of fact, she doesn’t really remember how she did at most of the competitions she talks about of which there are many.
She has competed at the provincials more than once, she’s competed at the Boots-n-Blades in Williams lake for as long as she can remember, the North Shore competition and many more, but for the most part, all she remembers is how much fun she had and how many friends she has made. She does appreciate doing well though, and making it to provincials is one of those times to remember.
“I’m most proud of last year’s provincials because you have to go to a qualifying event in your group in Northern British Columbia and you have to get out of that to go to provincials,” says Sarah. “You have to be in the top three to go there. I can’t remember how I did at provincials but it was a lot of fun. I like going to competitions because you get to compete against people. I just like doing it because it’s fun. I like the jumps, that is my favourite part.”
Sarah has had blades on her feet since she was a one-year-old learning to skate while her brother and sister were in CanSkate. Sarah says she spent a lot of time at the rink while her siblings took part in lessons and it was watching them that piqued her own interest in taking up figure skating.
“I’m lucky because I have a coach, her name is Anne McGraw, and she has been my teacher since the very beginning. I really like her, she is a good teacher,” says Sarah.
With nine years of skating experience and too many competitions to remember Sarah has her ways of keeping motivated to carry on and eventually reach her goals of going to the Canadians and eventually the Worlds.
“Sometimes I get tired of skating but then maybe I’ll land a hard jump that I have been working on or do a spin that’s really hard, and that motivates me again. I want to keep going until I am too old to skate because then my legs won’t work properly. I think that will be around when I’m forty, maybe a little bit younger than that.”