Kasprick seizing new opportunity
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/02/2023 (1177 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Jada Kasprick narrowly missed out on one opportunity, but another has quickly presented itself to the young speed skater.
Kasprick, 16, nearly earned a spot with Team Manitoba at the upcoming Canada Winter Games in Prince Edward Island, but fell just outside the top five times at the Prairie Challenge Short Track Championships in Portage la Prairie on Dec. 10-11. She said it wasn’t easy to learn she had just missed her opportunity.
“It was very tough,” Kasprick said, adding at least she was named a women’s short track alternate. “If someone can’t go, I get to take their place.”
Jada Kasprick of the Westman Speed Skating Club poses in her starting position at the Sportsplex on Sunday. (Perry Bergson/The Brandon Sun)
However, the next opportunity will keep the Brandonite busy this weekend. She’s one of five Manitobans heading to Calgary for the second race in the Skate-Tec Western Elite Circuit, which is aimed at developing young athletes who have met minimum time standards. It’s her first chance to compete at that level.
“I’m both nervous and excited,” Kasprick said. “My main goal going into this competition is that I get a personal best. I’m looking forward to the experience overall but mostly hoping for personal bests.”
She left on Thursday, practises today and skates on Saturday and Sunday.
Westman Speed Skating Club coach Jen Forbes likes the way Kasprick is trending. She said it was ultimately about the teenager committing herself to the sport.
“Last year with COVID and everything, I think Jada was just a little undecided on how competitive she wanted to be in this sport,” Forbes said. “This year she’s changed gears and decided to go all in. She narrowly missed making the team — she was the sixth spot — and it was just by a very small margin she missed.”
The Crocus Plains student has been in the sport for six years. While she struggles to come up with a reason why she enjoys it so much, she said she definitely likes working hard at it.
And, of course, once an athlete starts to make progress, that can be a powerful motivator.
“When I started, I looked on Bambi on ice,” Kasprick said with a chuckle. “As the years went by I go better, and I made the most gains this year since I started working with the provincial team.”
She added one of her strengths is the mental part of the game, which is essentially a high-speed chess match on ice.
“Short track is very much a strategic sport,” Kasprick said. “Even if you miss a split-second chance to pass someone, it may cost you the race. Overall, you just have to wait for your moment and take it when you get the opportunity.
“That’s one of my favourite parts.”
» pbergson@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @PerryBergson