Well done - and thanks - to Sandra and Frazer who have supported the club by selling football cards to raise funds for the club. Sandra has more cards to hand out, so if you have not yet been approached please ask Sandra for a card.

If, like me, you have a card and have got stuck, please keep trying and you too could get your name up in lights on the site ..

The Scottish Ladies championship was held at the Magnum on 31st January. It is an indication of the breadth of talent amongst the Scottish ladies that this year saw the fifth different winner in 5 years. Well done to Shelley.

The men had some short, sharp and fast races, with the Walkers Sprint competition. A new format was tried this year with the focus on times in the early rounds. The final race in the competition was a closely fought sprint, with Scott managing to hold on to his lead.

Eight Ayrshire Flyers braved the elements and headed down to Nottingham for the last competition of the year. The JBO attracted skaters from all British clubs, and from many international clubs, including France, Germany, Belgium, Austria and even Australia.

Fiona and Megan competed in the Girls Junior E competition, one of the largest categories. They both had an excellent competition with Fiona coming 7th overall and Megan taking 11th place in her first international competition.

Roy skated in the Boys Junior C event. A collision early in the first race left him with a sore arm, but he carried on, skating well to take 8th place.

Alison, Rosslyn, Shannon and Shelley skated in a very competitive Girls Junior B event. All girls qualified for the 1500m super final, with only 5 points separating them. Alison took the lead early in the 1500m, and held her position for a very convincing win, closely followed by Rosslyn, earning both the girls a podium place. Alison came 2nd overall, with Rosslyn in 3rd place, Shannon in 5th and Shelley in 6th.

Euan was the Flyers only entry in the Boys Junior B. He was recovering from illness and had to withdraw after the first race. We hope you feel better soon, Euan.

Craig represented the Flyers in the Boys Junior A category. Another very close competition with 3 of the skaters on equal points at the start of the 1500m super final. Craig took the lead early on, was caught in the later stages of the race, giving him 3rd place overall.

Relays

Relays races were held at the end of the first day of the competition. These were fun events which included combined teams to ensure that as many skaters as possible could take part. While we say they were fun - the prize was chocolate, which makes it fairly serious.

Megan and Fiona took part in an international relay team, with Melanie Branter from Austria and Leo Demolinis from France (ASMV). The team worked well and they achieved 3rd place in a close race.

The Ayrshire Flyers B team was another combined team, consisting of Alison, Roy, Shelley and Claire from Dundee. Inspired by the chocolate on offer, this team excelled and pulled of a convincing win.

The Ayrshire Flyers A team was another combined team, with Craig, Shannon, Rosslyn and Mathias Voste from Belgium (BSC). Mathias was a great help to this team, but even with Mathias's help, this team could only manage 3rd place in a very strongly contested race.

This was an excellent event overall, and thoroughly enjoyed by all. Thanks are due to all the officials and helpers who gave up a chunk of their Christmas holidays to organise and run this event. I am sure the skaters would also like to thank the many parents who braved the weather on a long journey to and from Nottingham, luckily without incident.

Many thanks also to Stewart who coached all the skaters over the two days, his help and encouragement made a huge difference, and to Carol who spent a lot of time with Megan and Fiona, helping them prepare for their races and keeping them cool, calm and collected, and stepping in to help the other skaters and team leader when required - much appreciated!

The overall classification can be found here, with the majority of the racing results available on Shortrack Online.

Scottish 500m 1st Craig Miller Ayrshire Flyers 2nd Euan Taylor Ayrshire Flyers 3rd Stewart Logan Ayrshire Flyers	Scottish 3000m 1st Craig Miller Ayrshire Flyers 2nd Euan Taylor Ayrshire Flyers 3rd Alan Dobbie Falkirk

Full results available in the protocol.

Both these races are taken into account when determining the Fitzroy Rankings.

Ayrshire Flyers are very proud of our three new Blood Donors who rose to the challenge and donated blood for the first time on Tuesday, raising £60 for SANDS in the process. Big thanks to Bennie and all other parents who have donated before and gave the necessary encouragement.

There will be no more off-ice until the New Year - when it will restart in Whitletts Activity Centre on Tuesday 5th January 2010.

Please note that there is no ice available on the following dates so will be no training sessions on:

• Thursday 24th December
• Friday 25th December
• Sunday 27th December
• Thursday 31st December
• Friday 1st January

Club sessions will commence on the 3rd January, 2010.

It is with regret we report Alex's death on Thursday November 26th.

In his racing career Alex was a British Champion and Record holder and the winner of 10 Scottish national titles. Undoubtedly his greatest achievement in speed skating was representing Great Britain in the 1956 Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Alex loved to speed skate, coach speed skating and talk speed skating and will be missed by all in the sport who knew him.

The funeral will be at Masonhill Crematorium on Tuesday December 1st at 10:30.

The first of the races in the Fitzroy series took place in Irvine, with some interesting racing. This year, for the first time, there will be a separate Fitzroy ranking for Ladies and Men. The results of the 100m are:

This was a great competition, with a good attendance from the Ayrshire Flyers. The flyers were represented in the novice category by Gail, Crawford and Jordon - who was racing in his first ever short track competition after only being in the sport for a few weeks. Jordon skated really well earning some PB's, Gail just missed out on the podium, while Crawford brought home the bronze medal for Novice.

Kristopher and Frazer represented the flyers in the Junior E category, where both boys skated well. Kristopher got a PB in the 333m semi-final. Frazer was on target for a PB, but unfortunately picked up a DQ for Impeding ( it was a brave move though).

Sammy skated well in the Ladies Junior B, and even with a fall in one of her races managed to come home with the Gold medal.

In the men/masters category, we were represented by Paul and myself. This was a great category with a big turn out from all over. Paul had a good weekend and skated very impressively with a PB for his 777m of 1.49.06, earning 5th place over all in the men's.

I skated well reaching the A final and looking good for a podium place. However, I did not want Frazer to feel bad about being the only one with a DQ. After a false start in the A final 777m, then a restart after a bad fall by Keith,  I then had a second false start resulting in a DQ with me having to stand in the middle of the track and watch the final.

There were relays of mixed teams. We had an all Scottish masters team of Stewart, Barry, Alison and Brian, took to the ice and won.

We also had two referees from the flyers with both Lorraine and Alex on the ice.

Full results can be found here.

The Star Class competitions continued at Hasselt, with 6 Ayrshire Flyers attending, with varied Results. Shannon skated consistently well and finished in 11th place overall. After following the Flyers' tradition of not making things easy for themselves, the rest of skaters (Alison, Rosslyn, Shelley, Euan and Craig) also shared moments of brilliance ... along with some not-so-brilliant (resulting in some interesting two-skater races, see Rosslyn for more details). All skaters put in a good effort in a challenging competition with everyone learning from the experience. Shelley had a bad fall, resulting in sprained ankle and knee - we hope you are back on the ice soon, Shelley.

Full results can be found here.

Roy attended the junior Star Class event in Mannheim in October. This was Roy's first International competition, but it didn't seem to phase him. He manage to rack up PBs in both his 1000m and 1500m. A huge achievement in his first Star Class - hopefully the first of many.

Many thanks to Stewart who travelled with Roy - also best wishes to Kathryn who should have, and wanted to, be there. We hope to see you back on the ice soon.

Many thanks to Jennifer, and her helpers for organising the Halloween Party. I will let the photos speak for themselves.

More photos ....

A (large) car full of British skaters ventured to the Opening Games in Belgium. As the number of British flags in the results show, they had some success.

The Flyers managed to get 3 of their skaters in top 5 of their groups (Frazer, Samantha and Stewart) and 6 Scottish skaters (including Barry, Murray and Alison). A combined British team added to the honours, winning the relay.

However we have to give special mention to Coach Stewart, who came a fantastic 1st in Senior Men (we will drop the Veteran bit). An inspiration for the skaters.

When asked to comment, Stewart said it was a long trip, but full of fun - including the 3am blow out on the M1 and having to wait for the AA for 2 hours, outside the car, on the hard shoulder. Then getting up at 8am to go training at Sheffield to find out that it was not on. Once again the Flyers have more success on the ice than with transport to and from the competitions.

4 Ayrshire Flyers, Alison, Rosslyn, Shannon and Shelley, set off to Milan in the first Star Class event of the season. For three of the girls, this was their first Star Class skating at Junior B. With a large entry of 28 European skaters at Ladies Junior B, this was a big step up. The girls stepped up to the challenge with some tremendous racing. Shannon, in particular, had a very impressive competition finishing 10th overall. The other girls held their own, with Shelley finishing 14th, Alison in 15th and Rosslyn in 19th. Claire, from Dundee, did a good job of putting up with the Flyers for the weekend and gave a very strong performance in her first Star Class event. Full results are available here.

Some aspects of the weekend were not so straightforward. Public transport proved to be more challenging than the skating - although the Milan underground turned out to be a good training ground for the very physical Junior B races. And it is probably best just to gloss over the relay ...

Many thanks to Stewart for coaching the girls through the weekend, to Andy, our Logistics Director (he was due a title bump), and to Lainy for moral support.

The Dundee open kicked the 2009-2010 season off to a great start for the Ayrshire Flyers, from PeeWees to Seniors:

Many thanks to Dundee Club for hosting a great event. Well worth the journey up north.

The Ayrshire Flyers had a double success at the Dundonald games on Saturday. Billy and Fiona organised another tombola and bric-a-brac stall. Despite the rain, this raised over £210 for club funds. Thanks to all helpers and supporters, including Sylvia, Gail, Andy, Cathy, Lorna, Rachel, Shannon, Alison and Rhys. But a huge thanks to Billy who over the last year has organised much of our fundraising and organised our sponsors; to Fiona, for the ideas and garage space; and to Stewart and Lainy for their enthusiasm and transport help for all events.

However - the highlight of the day has to be the Ayrshire Flyers Tug-of-War team. Billy, Andy, Fiona, Gail, Alison and Shannon stepped up to the challenge and in a closely fought match won the *cough* Ladies *cough* competition. I don't think the other team will object to being described as substantial ... and it was a very evenly balanced competition. After a dodgy start, the Flyers, well used to starting as the underdogs, showed grit, determination and some really scary facial expressions - and won the match, 2 to 1.

You really, really, don't want to take on the Flyers ... you doubt me? Have a Look.

Alison, Shannon and Rosslyn from the Ayrshire Flyers, with Claire from Dundee and Alison G. and Barrie from Stirling, attended the Short Track Summer Camp and Competition at Chamonix. By all accounts (although I am sure we have not heard all accounts) this was an exciting 10 days. The camp consists of two on-ice training sessions each day, an up-hill run and a cross country cycle. And if short-track skating is not dangerous enough, they went paragliding off the mountain side, as light relief.

The camp finished with a 2 day competition, the first one of the new season, with the flyer's girls skating as Junior B for the first time, and Alison G. taking part in the Masters. At the end of the skating Alison was in 7th place, with Rosslyn in 8th, Shannon in 10th and Claire in 12th. However taking the running and cycling into account, Alison moved into an overall 3rd place. Rosslyn and Alison G both achieved PBs, with Alison G. adding to her Scottish Records. Sounds like a great way to pass the summer.

Many thanks to Gerard Williams for taking the British training sessions and to Barrie for the videos (search on youtube for ChamonixLeonQuaglia2009). Also a huge thanks to Billy and Fiona for very generously using their holiday time to take the girls. Above, beyond and over, the call of duty.

This week The Magnum hosted the Sk8scotland Speed Skating Junior Development Camp attended by Scotland’s most promising young skaters. Scottish Coach Archie Marshall and Korean coach Hye Won Park, Gold medal winner at the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City led the coaching.

In recent years Korea has been the dominant force in the sport and the camp was used to bring Korean training methods and techniques to our skaters. The camp proved a great success and the new skills the skaters have learned will be a boost to our already successful squad in the coming season. Also in attendance was the British Speed Skating Performance Director Stuart Horsepool who was here to view training methods and have a close look at some of the talent that he hopes will be joining the British team in the coming years.

A great deal of time and effort was required to make the camp a success not least by The Magnum ice rink management and staff who deserve a great deal of credit for their support.

Jnr Club Captain: Jennifer M.

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