Speed Skating Canada

Speed Skating Canada

Sport	Speed skating
Jurisdiction	Canada
Abbreviation	SSC
Founded	1887
Affiliation	International Skating Union
Affiliation date	1894
Headquarters	Ottawa, Ontario
President	Marie-Claire Rouleau
Other key staff	Nicole Slot, Athlete Director
Official website
www.speedskating.ca

Speed Skating Canada (commonly abbreviated to SSC) is the governing body for competitive long track and short track speed skating in Canada. It was founded in 1887, five years before the International Skating Union of which SSC later became a member in 1894.

In 1854, three British army officers raced on the St. Lawrence River, going from Montreal to Quebec City, which marked Canada's first recorded ice skating race. It is believed that from then on, ice skating races became a part of Canadian culture.

In 1887, the Amateur Skating Association of Canada was formed. That year, the first official speed skating championships took place. At that time, figure skating and speed skating shared an organization, however the needs of the speed skaters were predominant. In 1894, the Amateur Skating Association of Canada became the first non-European organization to be a member of the International Skating Union.

In 1905, short track speed skating was created and gaining popularity in Canada and the United States.

In 1939, the figure skaters formed their own organization and thus the Amateur Skating Association of Canada was made up of speed skaters only. Now that it was a speed skating only organization, the name was changed to the Canadian Amateur Speed Skating Association (or CASSA) in 1960.

It was not until 2000 that CASSA changed their name, yet again, to Speed Skating Canada.

The organization is governed by the Board of Directors which is elected by the members. It is composed of the President, the Athletes Director, the Treasurer, and five Directors at Large.

Speed Skating Canada is split up into thirteen branches, each representing a Canadian province or territory, as follows:

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