Wanda Kelly-Backus
wandabackuskelly@gmail.comMy mom started me in this sport when I was five years old, when she came to Langton to help establish Langton’s club. She had skated as a teenager with Woodstock and went on to become a CFSA judge. Balancing skating with a love affair with horses, I skated long enough to get my Sr Bronze Free Skate, my 4th figure and am just two dances short of my Gold Dance medal! During that time I also skated on a number of Langton’s early synchro teams, which we called ‘precision’ skating at the time. During University, I decided to become a professional coach with two of my other long time club members, Michele Evans and Michelle Van Louwe. We all took our Level 1 NCCP technical together at the Delhi Arena in 1988. The first club I coached at was Listowel Figure Skating Club, and after that I returned to coach here at Langton, and eventually in most of the clubs in the Tri-County region, coaching all the disciplines as well as offering off-ice programs in artistic expression. Other than club coaching, I have also volunteered on several committees and special projects with the former Western Ontario Section, and served as a skills seminar coach for the Section for three years. I have some very fond memories of serving as an Amateur Coach Clinic Conductor for two years, during the time that CFSA (Skate Canada) took the responsibility for training the amateur coaches (‘program assistants’) for the CanSkate program. After some time off to establish my school teaching career and start a family, I was very happy to return to Langton to give back to the club that started me.
Professional Accomplishments
I attended the University of Waterloo after high school and graduated with an Honours BA in Dance in 1989. I travelled to Buffalo to take teacher training in 1993 and am now a member of the Ontario College of Teachers. After spending the majority of my career in gifted special education within Grand Erie District School Board, I finished my career serving as Teacher Consultant for Gifted Students.
When not at the arena…
Life outside of skating is just as busy! My husband Richard and I enjoy various hobbies and activities including motorbiking, boating and camping. My volunteer work consists of chairing the ladies’ group at our church, as well as a community fundraising foundation and writing for our local paper. My family history dates back to the founding of the Long Point Settlement, and I maintain an extensive archive of scrapbooks and memorabilia, and also volunteer at the conservation authority that bears my family name. I still have an on-going love affair with horses, and I try to sneak away to a friend’s barn after the laundry and the dishes are done.
Favourite skaters
I have admired many national and international competitors, but have never wanted to emulate another skater so much as our own dear Cheri Woolley. When I rose up through the ranks to the sufficient age and skill to be able to step onto the same ice as Cheri, I came each day to the arena inspired beyond measure. I was certain that just being able to call myself a fellow senior skater made my jumps higher and my spins more centered. I was unstoppable the year I skated in a pair of her hand-me-down Kneblis: I was now literally walking in my idol’s shoes!! A force to be reckoned with on the ice, but poised and polite off the ice, Cheri represented to me everything a skater could be and should be: grace, power and perseverance.