The Ontario Figure Skating championships will be held in Kingston this weekend, and favored to win the under-12 Juvenile ladies division is Reese Rose from the Gananoque Figure Skating Club.
Rose is only nine years old.
“I love figure skating, I love performing, I love the jumps and spins. I love everything about it,” said Rose, who lives in Lansdowne, about 10 kilometres east of Gananoque.
The child prodigy started skating at the age of three and since then has excelled in every aspect of the sport. She has won numerous competitions and most recently captured the gold medal at the Whitby Winter Skate competition. She currently ranks first in the province in the Juvenile division for girls 12 and under.
The young phenom looks forward to showcasing her skills this weekend at the Invista Centre in Kingston. “I’ve been training so hard and I think I’m going to do well. There’s really not that much pressure. I don’t get nervous. I’m just happy to go to competitions and perform, relax and have fun.”
Rose trains six days a week: three in Ottawa and three in Gananoque with her coach, Janice MacDonald.
“She is quite fantastic,” says Macdonald, who’s been coaching Rose for the past six years.
“She’s a special little person with a package that nobody else can understand right now. She is just so blessed to be able to not only skate, but she has this lovely presence on the ice. She can spin, she can jump and she can present. I, too, am blessed to have her in my skating life.”
As an elite skater with incredible talent and potential, Rose is already on the radar of the Canadian Figure Skating Association. Her mother, Nicole, was a talented skater, and her father, Brett, was a star forward with the Gananoque Junior B Islanders.
“I work really hard and I try my best all the time,” says the likable youngster, who attends St. Joseph’s Public School in Gananoque. “When it comes to a competition, I just remember what my coach tells me. I try to remain calm and try not be nervous. I love figure skating and I love coming to the rink every day.”
And what about her future goals and aspirations?
“Well, the Olympics of course,” she says. “A gold medal would certainly be nice.”
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