Pittsburgh club developing speedsters on ice | YourSewickley.com

View photos

The growth of hockey and the increased number of junior and pro-level players from the Pittsburgh area has been well documented over the past decade.

But it's another sport on ice that may end up producing the city's next winter Olympian, possibly as soon as 2014.

Short-track speedskating has developed a small but dedicated following in the Pittsburgh area through the Pittsburgh Speedskating Club, and what the club currently lacks in size, it is making up for in prestige through its skaters' performances, rapidly rising to become one of the country's top clubs of its kind.

With three members of this year's USA Junior National Team among its ranks and a coach ? Kwang Jae Lee ? who recently was picked as a national junior developmental coach by US Speedskating, the sport's national governing body, club officials hope to continue its growth in the upcoming years.

"We get new people all the time who are surprised, because they had no idea there was something like this in Pittsburgh," said Alan Burkholder, the club's president. "We have around 40 members now ? some as young as 6, and our oldest is 57."

"When I came here in May of 2006, I had five or six skaters," said Lee, known to his skaters as ?Coach K,' who works with the club's most advanced skaters. "Now, I have three times as many, 15 or 20, that train hard and go to meets."?

One of the biggest signs of the club's rise in stature occurred last week, as it hosted a USA Junior Category 1 training camp, bringing the top short-track skaters in the country between ages 15 and 19 to Pittsburgh.

The camp, held on the ice at Robert Morris University's Island Sports Center and the Mt. Lebanon Ice Center, was led by Lee and U.S. National Team coach Jae Su Chun and attracted nearly every member of this year's junior national team.

"This camp is the first camp like this, and it is part of our plan for the future," Chun said.?

"I'm very thankful for the skaters coming, and they give me a new feeling of confidence for the future of US Speedskating."

Most notable among the attendees at the camp was 19-year-old Simon Cho, the current world champion in the men's 500-meter and a bronze medalist last year in the 5,000-meter relay the Vancouver Olympics, an event in which he skated alongside U.S. star Apolo Anton Ohno, by far the sport's most famous athlete in this country.

Although Pittsburgh may seem like an odd location to have such a select training camp, Chun sees the city playing a big part in the sport's future.

"Here in Pittsburgh is one of the most important areas for us to develop," he said. "I am very grateful for the Pittsburgh Speedskating Club and Coach K, and also Robert Morris University, who are very important partners to improving speedskating in Pittsburgh."?

Robert Morris' role in the sport grabbing hold locally has been significant, much as it has for hockey and figure skating, because of its Island Sports Center facilities.

With an Olympic-size rink, measuring about 20 feet wider than an NHL rink and the standard rinks at most area facilities, it is one of the few local places where a short-track course can be set up.

"The Olympic-size surface is very meaningful for short-track speedskating, because it leaves more room on the outside of the track," Burkholder said. "That makes it safer when skaters fall, and in short track, there are falls."

That led to the school becoming the first in the United States to establish a club speedskating team in 2009. Lee also coaches the club team, drawing top national talent to attend college while still training for most skaters' ultimate goal, making the U.S. National Team.?

As nice as that facility is, the Pittsburgh Speedskating Club still faces challenges in getting ice time, as the ongoing growth of hockey and other ice sports often leave the club seeking a home and needing to take odd hours, such as 6 to 8 a.m. for the USA Junior Camp's morning sessions.

The club has used five rinks around the city, according to Burkholder, and it has regular slots at the Island Sports Center, Mt. Lebanon and BladeRunners in Warrendale.

"We're still kind of a small, niche sport in the area, so we can't just walk in and demand prime ice," Burkholder said. "We've been creative with some of the rinks to schedule time."

Though scheduling is tough for short-track sessions, aspiring speedskaters who prefer the long-track form of the sport are completely out of luck locally. Adequate long-track facilities are few and far between in the U.S., and western Pennsylvania is not home to one.

"It would be outstanding to have one in the region. We have a dream of long-track in western Pennsylvania, but that's all it is, a dream at this point," Burkholder said.?

Just like how hockey boomed again in the area with the arrival of Sidney Crosby and the resurgence of the Penguins, perhaps the biggest way for short-track to grow in Pittsburgh would be for young people to see local success.

Leading the charge of short-track skaters from this area are the three competitors at the Junior World Championships last February in Courmayeur, Italy: Lexi Burkholder and brothers Cole and John-Henry Krueger, all of Peters Township.

While Cole Krueger, 19, now skates at Robert Morris as he moves into the senior ranks, John-Henry Krueger and Lexi Burkholder, Alan's daughter, were just 15 when they competed in Italy.

That means they have four years left in the junior ranks and have set the bar extremely high for themselves after winning the overall crowns at U.S. Junior Nationals in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Although they are two of the top young skaters in the country, qualifying for the 2014 Winter Olympics is Sochi, Russia is quite a lofty dream, considering they will be only 18 when the games are held. Still, reaching the Olympics is any competitive skater's goal, and their coach sees no reason not to strive for it.

"All of my skaters have an Olympic dream, and now, we have a ladies' junior champion and a men's junior champion here in the Pittsburgh club," Lee said. "We're working hard toward the next Olympics. I'm not going to say they will make it (in 2014), but we'll see. They'll be competing for it."

Skating with one the country's top coaches is a huge benefit for Burkholder and Krueger, something noted by the coach they hope to skate for in 2014.

"There is great potential here in Pittsburgh," Chun said. "Coach K has done an amazing job here. This is part of our investment for the future, and I expect a lot from the Pittsburgh club."?

Regardless of whether skaters harbor an Olympic dream, the biggest aim for the Pittsburgh Speedskating Club is to continue to promote the sport in the area, via the club website, www.pittsburghspeedskating.org. The club offers everything from learn-to-skate classes to competitive training with Lee, who would love to find the next Ohno around the Steel City.

"This sport, children can start (as young as) 4 years old," Lee said. "After two or three years (of training), they can be skating very fast."

But even for the less-serious skater of any age group, the club offers an avenue to learn and practice the sport, even getting on the ice with the area's potential Olympians.

"What's great about the club in Pittsburgh is that we can have someone who's 10 or 11 and just starting to skate competitively on the ice with one of our junior national skaters, with one of our skaters that's over 40," Alan Burkholder said.

"We want to open the sport up to anyone."

Source: http://www.yoursewickley.com/sewickleyherald/article/pittsburgh-club-developing-speedsters-ice

bachelorette nats sex and the city 2 camel gis caa make it or break it