Special Olympics

Skate Canada is committed to providing special needs athletes with program and competitive opportunities. Goulbourn Skating Club is honoured to have a Special Olympic Ontario designation. As a registered Skate Canada Club, our Professional Coaches are all NCCP Certified Skate Canada Instructors. Skaters with an intellectual or developmental disability are invited to join our Special Olympic Program to learn and improve upon their skating skills. All levels of skaters are welcome, from the beginner who has never skated before up to and including competitive level skaters.

Registration for our Special Olympics session is managed by Special Olympics Ottawa -- please reach out to them to find out more about signing up.

Special Olympics Canada named both Katie Xu and Michael Raytchev to the National Team to compete in the World Games in Italy in March 2025. They are 2 of only 12 skaters selected from across Canada to compete in Figure Skating.

Two of our Special Olympics skaters received awards at the annual Ottawa Sports Awards Dinner held February 5, 2025. Katie Xu received the Special Olympics Individual Sport Award, while both Katie Xu & Jack Fan received the Special Olympics Team Award.

Goulbourn Skating Club is honoured that our own Jack Fan was inducted into the Stittsville Sports Hall of Fame. We are extremely proud of Jack who has been an active member in the Special Olympics community for over 13 years, representing our club in all levels of figure skating competition, resulting in becoming six-time Provincial Champion, five-time National Champion and two-time World Champion. Jack has also had a city of Ottawa rink named after him in the CardelRec Centre in addition to being the recipient of numerous local, Provincial and National awards honouring his successful career on the ice.

We are the proud home club of Michael Raytchev, Katie Xu, and Jack Fan, winners at the 2024 Canada Special Olympics Winter Games.