Troy Lucyshyn was recently recognized for all of the hard work he has put into figure skating over the last number of years with the Skate Canada Saskatchewan Section Volunteer Award.
Lucyshyn admitted it came as a bit of a shock to him that he had won the award, given that typically the award goes to volunteers who have put in between 20 and 30 years, while he has only been volunteering for 12.
“I’m a relative newbie with only about 12 years in… it’s greatly appreciated.”
Skate Canada Saskatchewan Executive Director/Event Manager Danielle Shaw says Lucyshyn was an easy choice for the award given the extensive resume he has built up over the last 12 years.
“He’s just a great volunteer, very deserving of this award.”
Having Lucyshyn and the numerous other volunteers is great to see and integral, says Shaw.
“If we didn’t have the volunteers such as Troy and others then our sport would not be as prominent as it is. We’re a volunteer non-profit and so it is the volunteers that drive the organization and provide the opportunities.”
Lucyshyn started volunteering with Skate Humboldt in 2005, when he took on the role of CanSkate Coordinator, before moving on to hold a variety of roles including communications/promotions, treasurer, test chair, and president, among others, recently taking up the role as Region 7 Coordinator for Skate Canada Saskatchewan.
Lucyshyn began volunteering with Skate Humboldt after his daughter join the club and has continued on over the last couple of years, despite his daughter graduating.
Lucyshyn says he continued volunteering because he noticed a lack of coaching available and wanted to help change that.
“Skate Canada requires that all the coaches be N.C.C.P. (National Coaching Certification Program) certified, and without them these programs don’t exist so the coaches and the volunteers are just equally important in order to deliver programs.”
Over the last couple of years Lucyshyn has taken on a leadership role in the region noting he has helped not only his daughter but also a couple of other coaches get their coaching certification.
The big story coming out of Lucyshyn getting this award is the need for more people to volunteer, he says.
“A lot of us get into volunteering with our kids sports because our child is in it and it’s to the benefit of the child and the activities but I think a lot of people who stay in volunteering realize well there’s a benefit to them later on.”
Some of those benefits include the socialization aspect and learning new skills, he says, noting he learned how important it is to manage volunteers.
“It’s very important to actually provide a really good environment for volunteers to participate that it makes it fun and makes them want to participate,” says Lucyshyn noting that volunteers are different from employees because they do not have to participate.
In addition to learning being a volunteer is also an important part of the community.
“I think what we’ve really got to do, all of us, is kind of participate more in volunteering to the benefit of our communities and try to get that recognized at an earlier stage amongst really parents and everybody.”
Moving forward Lucyshyn plans to continue volunteering in figure skating and says the focus will be to continue developing the surrounding clubs.
“(I want to) try to develop coaching skills and also to develop volunteer skills to participate in the club operations… I provide advice on club operations, navigating Skate Canada Saskatchewan policies and all the programs that they provide and really just trying to make it a fun environment for the kids and the parents and the coaches.”
