For most of her life, a fast-moving Blizzard on a frozen ice surface has always been comforting sight to Taryn Vansickle.
Ice was the playing field for her and teammates decades ago when she was on her way to becoming a provincial-level athlete with what was then known as Prince George Recreational and Speed Skating Club and her commitment to the sport has never wavered.
After 27 years as a Prince George Blizzard Speed Skating Club coach, producing talented young skaters who went on to national and international competitions, Vansickle is finally getting some official recognition for her voluntary efforts to teach kids how to skate fast. The 50-year-old is viaSport’s choice as the province’s community coach of the year for 2021.
In its release, viaSport explained why Vansickle was selected.
“Always positive and encouraging to all athletes, Taryn believes in the importance of spending time learning the basics and developing core skills. Lesson plans always include a healthy mix of competition and fun, which keeps athletes of all ages, skills and abilities, engaged and motivated. She is known as a fierce cheerleader for all skaters at meets and has actively been a mentor for other coaches in her community.
“As a role model, Taryn continually shares her experience and education with all athletes and coaches. Within her club she acts as the coach coordinator and implements the PG Blizzard Junior Coaching Program, a program focused on mentoring young coaches. Taryn also regularly participates in local seminars and workshops offered within her region to continue her own development.. Over the years Taryn has also acted as a B.C. provincial coach and a BC Games zone coach.”
She knew she had been nominated but…
“To actually win it amongst some amazing community coaches, not only my sport, never mind all sports, I sure wasn’t expecting it,” said Vansickle. “I just do it because I’m passionate about it and I like helping.”
As a youth skater, Taryn Brain (Vansickle) raced short track at Kin 2 arena and also practiced her long track techniques on the 400-metre oval built on the former Prince George Auto Racing Association track at its original site on land now occupied by the Real Canadian Superstore parking lot. The club also flooded West Lake, southwest of the city, where early ice gave skaters a longer season.
She grew up in Prince George and lived in the city until her high school years, when the family moved to Victoria. Vansickle attended UVic, where she studied geography and psychology until she moved back to P.G. in 1994. She competed that season as an adult skater and also began coaching with the Blizzard club.
“There’s always a need for coaches and it was a natural progression from skating as a young adult to step into that next role if you’re not competing at a higher level,” said Vansickle. “I come from a family of teachers so teaching is just what I’ve grown up with.
“I just love helping kids achieve something, whether it’s sport or its learning how to handle social situations, and that’s what sport provides, life lessons. I just love seeing kids grow. I might not be me that has an impact on them but our skating community has an impact and it kind of grows these great kids.”
Taryn met her husband Jarod Vansickle when she moved back to the city and they were both coaches with the club. They took pictures with both of them in their wedding attire wearing their speed skates with the kids on the ice. They now their own two kids, 15-year-old Nolan and 13-year-old Megan, and both are speed skaters. Megan and Nolan also both play lacrosse and Taryn is involved as well as a house league coach in the Prince George Minor Lacrosse Association.
The Vansickles own an auto repair shop – Fort George Alignment – and while Jarrod no longer coaches, Taryn has remained with the speed skating club’s competitive group to help her own kids climb the provincial ladder.
Four Blizzard skaters – Megan Vansickle, Emily Clarke, Kaitlynn Konwicki and Pippa Earl - were set to compete in the B.C. Winter Games in Vernon but a few weeks before the competition in February organizers were forced to pull the plug on the Games due a flareup in COVID infections that brought back provincial health restrictions on competitions and crowd sizes. The Games have been rescheduled for next year and the same group that qualified last year will be eligible.
There were no competitions for two years while the pandemic was on and the club focused on skill development.
“It took all that pressure away from competing, I don’t think kids realized how much pressure they out on themselves when they compete,” said Vansickle. “When you take that element away, we had an amazing last two years. The kids thought they were just playing and having fun. But I actually kept our training programs competitive, like we would have been competing through the year, so they weren’t left behind coming back to competing two years later.”
She plans to keep coaching at least until her own kids decide to stop skating.
“Sounds like that will be quite a while,” said Vansickle “(Megan) has earned her position on Gen BC, a youth performance group and they get some assistance with provincial coaching and mental performance training and nutrition training, the next level above what a club can offer.”
Vansickle still competes as a long track skater and is hoping to race in the world masters long track championships in Quebec in 2023, along with former Blizzard coach Adam Ingle, now a club coach in Vancouver. Ingle won viaSport regional/provincial development coach of the year award in 2017.
