Carolyn Fedy
It was 1939 when five-year-old Carolyn Spellman took to the ice for her first performance in the production of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. When she retired from the K-W Skating Club sixty years later she was Carolyn Fedy, the woman who transformed skating for children across Canada.
While Fedy is well-known in skating circles for her dedication to the K-W Skating Club - the largest in the country - it is less well known that during the 1960s she quietly pioneered a new method of teaching.
Her development of skill sets and progression levels was noticed by The Canadian Figure Skating Association at the time, and she was asked to develop the Canskate/Canfigureskate program that has been used in clubs across Canada.
Fedy, who was affectionately known as “Zamboni Mama” for famously driving the ice machine during a skating competition, progressed through the skating club and performed just about every task. “I was five-years-old when I joined the club and I can honestly say that I have seen most, if not all, of what it has become,” she said once.
When she was sixteen she achieved gold medals in figures and the free skate. She set a Canadian record by passing four senior tests in just ten months. In 1953 she was the Canadian Senior Ladies Champion. Shortly after that she became coach and in the 1960s she developed the first Canadian preschool mother-daughter skating program.
In 1983, Fedy received the title of Master Conductor of the National Canskate Program, a job that meant conducting clinics for coaches, administrators and trainers across Canada.
Two years later she became the local club’s technical director which meant she was in charge of the content and teaching methods of every program at the K-W Skating Club. In 1990 she was named Female Coach of the Year for Ontario and in 1996 she received the prestigious Canadian Figure Skating Association Volunteer Award of Excellence.
Despite her personal achievements, Fedy’s focus was always on promoting the K-W Skating Club and its young athletes. “It has been great to see it come from its early stages to the respect it enjoys today,” Fedy said at her retirement.
In 1999, the home of the K-W Skating Club - Rink in the Park - was officially named the Carolyn Fedy Skating Centre. When the club moved to its new home at RIM Park, the title was transferred to the new facility.
“I’ll always be involved. I just can’t give up skating,” said Fedy.
Photo courtesy of the Kitchener-Waterloo Record Photographic Negative Collection, University of Waterloo Library
Carolyn Fedy (Waterloo 150 Profile)
Description
- Creator
- Gallagher, Beth, Author
- Media Type
- Text
- Image
- Description
- To celebrate Waterloo's 150th anniversary, the Waterloo Public Library published a book called "Profiles from the Past, Faces of the Future." This book featured 150 profiles of people who helped make Waterloo what it is today. This is the digitized profile for Carolyn Fedy.
- Notes
- Please visit the Waterloo Public Library to enquire about physical copies of "Profiles from the Past, Faces of the Future."
The Waterloo 150 project was funded by a grant from the Waterloo Regional Heritage Foundation. Beth Gallagher wrote the profiles with the assistance of many research volunteers. Information for the profiles was gathered from a variety of sources from the community and the Ellis Little Local History Room. Notable sources include the Ellis Little Papers, newspaper clippings, local magazines and books. - Place of Publication
- Waterloo, Ontario
- Date of Publication
- 2007
- Subject(s)
- Personal Name(s)
- Fedy, Carolyn ; Spellman, Carolyn
- Language of Item
- English
- Geographic Coverage
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Ontario, Canada
Latitude: 43.4668 Longitude: -80.51639
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- Copyright Statement
- Uses other than research or private study require the permission of the rightsholder(s). Responsibility for obtaining permissions and for any use rests exclusively with the user.
- Contact
- Waterloo Public LibraryEmail:askus@wpl.ca
Website:
Agency street/mail address:35 Albert Street, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 5E2
- Full Text
