For the first time in nearly four decades, Mariposa School of Skating won’t have any of its athletes going for gold at the Winter Olympics.
Founded in Orillia in 1973 the popular skating school moved to Barrie’s Allandale Recreation Centre in 1988 and has served as home to national champions, Olympic medallists and world champions from around the world. The school also boasts Canadian champions like Brian Orser, Elvis Stojko, Jeff Buttle, Jennifer Robinson, Jacinthe Lariviere and Lenny Faustino among its alumni.
Paul Matheson, co-owner of Mariposa School of Skating, told BarrieToday the pandemic - and ongoing restrictions because of it - has served as a significant stumbling block for many skaters' ability to train and plays a big role in why the local club won’t have any of its skaters competing at the Olympics, which begin next week in Beijing.
“There are a lot of years where we’d have international federations send us their skaters that are either Olympic hopefuls or that they know will be going and they will send them one or two years prior,” he said. “They’d train here with our coaches and then go to the Olympics. With the pandemic, and with Ontario’s reputation worldwide as being so lockdown-oriented, that just wasn’t going to happen.”
Four years ago, Mariposa-trained Julian Yee competed for Malasia at the Winter Games in PyeongChang, China. Matheson said Yee had originally returned to Barrie to continue training with the intention of competing in 2022, however when the pandemic hit, he was forced to return home.
“He didn’t have citizenship here and wasn’t able to get any of the pandemic relief. It ended up being too much of a burden on him financially so he ended up having to leave skating completely,” he said, noting travel bans and lockdowns have all played a role in the club’s inability to welcome international skaters over the last two years.
Witnessing skaters he and the club’s other coaches have helped train compete at the Olympics - no matter which flag they’re representing - is always inspiring, Matheson admits
“The international component of Mariposa makes it even more interesting. You get some really interesting perspectives,” he said. “Helping them come and take that next step and then watching them have that success and have that moment - whether it be at the Olympics or winning a national title … is definitely pretty cool.”
While it’s impossible to predict what the future will bring, Matheson is hopeful the club will be represented at the 2026 Olympics in Milan, Italy
“It’s so hard to predict something like that four years out, but if you talk to many of our skaters, that would be their goal,” he said. “We have some very good younger skaters coming up right now.”
With pandemic restrictions set to begin lifting on Monday, and a possible light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, Matheson is hoping to be able to begin attracting international skaters back to the club sooner rather than later.
“For Mariposa, the international component is a big thing for us. It’s part of what we’ve done for years. Our local skaters are a huge part of it, but being able to train with the international skaters is part of the experience of skating at Mariposa too,” he said.
“We are very excited to be getting back into our arenas and to be able to train again. Hopefully getting back to normal training so our skaters can do what they do.”
