The BC Winter Games is a family endeavour for a trio of Oak Bay Figure Skating Club members.
Brothers Nico and Luca Conforti will compete in separate men’s categories during the Games in Vernon this weekend, under the leadership of coach and mom Kirsten Conforti.
The Saanich siblings – Nico competing in pre-novice and Luca in the juvenile men – are among the 10 members of the Zone 6 team from Vancouver Island.
“It’s exciting to get to share that, not only with my group of 10 but with my sons, too,” Kirsten said.
In another rarity, the team is made up of six boys and four girls.
“In a sport that is female-dominated – at this age definitely – I have a bigger team of boys, which is kind of cool,” Kirsten said.
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Nico, 16, and Luca, 14, have both skated and trained the majority of their lives – beyond 10 years.
“I like competing and I’ve made a lot of friends in our home club and in Vancouver too. It’s a good environment to be in as much as we are,” Luca said.
Both say the lead up to the BC Winter Games has been filled with daily training.
“I feel ready for it,” Luca told the Oak Bay News shortly before hitting the road with the team Tuesday. His goal is to achieve a personal best skate.
It’s a sentiment echoed by his older brother.
“I just want to compete the best that I can. I’m hoping to place but that’s not always a guarantee,” Nico said. At 16, it’s likely his last opportunity to participate in the massive multi-sport competition.
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The BC Winter Games date back to the late 1970s and Kirsten is among the young athletes who brought home a medal in the same sport back in the late 1980s. She’s excited to see her boys enjoy a similar experience.
“This is the only multi-sport competition in B.C. that (figure skaters) get to attend, so the whole atmosphere is different,” she said.
The event includes 1,300 athletes in a variety of sports, with activities like opening and slowing ceremonies.
Oak Bay club teammate Salome Diaz is also an alternate on the Zone 6 team at the BC Winter Games that run March 23 to 26 in Vernon.
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