Today myFM is celebrating local coaches and the impact they’ve had on the St. Thomas-Elgin Community with our Hooray for Coaches Day feature, presented by Kenny Insurance Brokers.
St. Thomas native Sherry Ball represented Canada at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France at the age of 18.
She and figure skating partner Kris Wirtz finished 12th overall in the mixed pairs competition, after capturing a bronze medal at the 1992 Canadian Figure Skating Championships.
Previously the pair posted a 10th place finish at the World Championships.
Following her amateur career the natural direction for her was into coaching.
Ball had to leave home as a youngster and move to a larger centre to continue her training with the national team. And a motivation for her now is to try and provide that higher-level coaching back in smaller communities like St. Thomas.
A passion for Ball is to see young skaters develop in their hometown, instead of having to move away from their family at an early age.
A key consideration for Ball when coaching is to instill confidence in her young skaters.
She explains the importance of connecting with parents and youngsters at an early age in an attempt to determine what path they would like to undertake in their skating.
She is also heavily involved with the GoodLife Kids Foundation and their MOVE program, a free physical activity and fitness class designed to meet the needs of youth with autism and intellectual disabilities through small class sizes.
Ball explains she enjoys being part of a program “that allows individuals with disabilities to live their best life through access to physical activity that in turn contributes to their overall wellbeing.”
You can hear a longer interview with Sherry Ball below.
