Chantal ready to skate and teach

Chantal Pazdzierski-Litke has a busy weekend ahead, as she will be skating in an ice show tonight at the Coliseum, coaching a group of junior skaters in the show, and then taking skating tests tomorrow. Allan WISHART/Free Press

For Chantal Pazdzierski-Litke, this week has been a little crazy.

“We’ve got the ice show coming up, so I’m working on my part in that,” says Pazdzierski-Litke of To the Tune of Sport, which takes to the ice tonight (Friday) at 6 p.m. at the Coliseum. “I’m also coaching some of the junior skaters in the show, and we’ve got a test day on Saturday.”

Pazdzierski-Litke can’t count how many years she’s been skating, and added coaching to her list about three years ago.

“It was a one-day decision,” she says. “I hadn’t really thought about it much while I was just skating. It can be pretty time-consuming, especially for the full-time coaches at the club.”

This is the first time Pazdzierski-Litke will be coaching and performing in the show put on by the Northern B.C. Centre for Skating.

“I’m not worried about the junior skaters,” she says with a smile. “It’s a really fun thing for them, and even though you hope nothing happens, if one of them falls, it’s not a big thing.”

Pazdzierski-Litke will be skating with some of the other senior skaters to a Shakira song during the show, and says there’s quite a mix of music.

“The junior girls are skating to Cotton-Eye Joe. It’s a real mix. We had actually been training in our routine for about a week before (head coach) Rory (Allen) let us hear the music.”

She says she looks forward to the ice show because it’s a break from routine.

“We don’t get a chance to perform like this in front of friends and family very often, and we hardly ever get the chance to perform together.”

Pazdzierski-Litke doesn’t see her skating ending any time soon.

“I just started skating and went into CanSkate, then they pulled me out of that for Junior Academy, and I just kept going.

“I’ve always loved it.”

She has one advantage on some of the other skaters in the club, since she knows she’ll be able to see at least two of the routines as she takes part in them.

“I might be able to sneak a peek at some of the other skaters. It depends so much on the schedule for who’s on the ice when.”

Andrea Ludditt, the centre’s director of competitive development, says there will be close to 100 skaters taking part in the show.

“It’s my job to figure out a theme and then pick the songs we want to use. A lot of the hype this year has been the Canada Winter Games, and I was watching some of the events and heard the music they used, and I thought, ‘That would be a good idea for the show’.”

She agrees with Pazdzierski-Litke that the timing has made it a bit harder than usual to get the show routines down.

“We’ve only had three or three and a half weeks of practice. We want to keep the numbers ‘crafty’ so the skaters can show the skills they’ve been working on.

“It’s a fun night for the kids.”

To the Tune of Sport starts at 6 p.m. on March 27 at the Coliseum. Admission is by donation.