Local skaters call cancellation of BC Winter Games disappointing

Two Smithers skaters qualified for the 2022 BC Winter Games that were scheduled to take place later this month.

Taya Kasum and Adison Labonte qualified for the Juvenile U15 category.

According to Labonte, the two skaters travelled to Vancouver Island in November to qualify.

She said it was a fun experience going to the qualifiers.

“It was very cool to see all of the older skaters because here we are the older skaters, we are the role models but down there we had role models and we had skaters who were better than us, bigger than us in our category and in the next category up,” Labonte said.

Organizers of the BC Winter Games announced last month that the games were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Labonte also said she was disappointed and upset when she heard the announcement the games were cancelled.

“Taya is quite a bit younger than me but, I age out of our category next year so, I’m too old to go again so, I can’t go anymore unless they postpone it or I go the next level up which, is quite a high level so, I was definitely super upset,” she said.

Both of the skaters added that they were excited to qualify for the games.

This is the first time in over 10 years where skaters from Smithers qualified for the games.