We are excited to welcome our new Head Coach, Steph Bowskill to the Markham Speed Skating Club. Steph has sent along this message to introduce herself.
Hello, nice to meet you!
I’m Stephanie Bowskill, your new head coach. I am a retired short tracker from Ontario. I first started skating out of Kawartha Quarks Speed Skating Club, and moved around frequently in search of the most ice time. I skated with the Quinte, Clarington, Markham, and Toronto Clubs.
When I was 15 years old, my parents let me move to Montreal to skate on a full time basis at Montreal St-Michel under Frederic Blackburn, who is now the National Team coach for the women’s team. I was the provincial champion for 8 years consecutively, and won the Canadian Age Class Championships in 2009 before moving away at the end of the season. In 2010, I accepted a second invitation from Montreal-International (now known as the RTC). I skated at the National Training Centre for 3 years and competed nationally. I was always a high-ranked Junior skater and participated in the National Team Selections each year, placing within the top 16. I also competed at the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax.
At the beginning of 2013, I decided I wanted to pursue my educational goals and be closer to my family. I moved back to Peterborough and attended Trent University, earning my Honours Bachelor of Science in Biology. I now live in Toronto with my partner, our dog, Dakota and our cat, Summer, and work at Main Street Veterinary Clinic. I love my job and our team.
I’m thrilled to be back on the ice and look forward to sharing the things I’ve learned along my journey with a great team of athletes! I'll be taking coaching courses this spring and summer in order to be behind the bench at all of the competitions this season and help the Markham skaters to set and work toward all of their goals. With my experiences skating and training, as well as with what I'm learning from the coaching courses, I'll be putting together an on and off-ice training program to help our athletes peak in time for their critical competitions, while having lots of fun! We'll be addressing challenges like technique, strategies for training and racing, as well as nutrition and equipment. I can't wait to start working with all of the athletes and families, and to ultimately be part of the Markham Speed Skating Club
Best,
Steph
Club fees for the 2019/20 season are not yet available. We will update the site and send an email to everyone once this has been finalized. Thanks.
