The following is being distributed at the request of Sport Newfoundland and Labrador:

The annual general meeting of the Newfoundland and Labrador Figure Skating Association will take place this weekend at The Battery Hotel.

Registration starts at 7 p.m. with the meeting running from 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday. Business meeting re-convenes at 9 a.m. Saturday and concludes 5 p.m. following the election of officers where Christina Moores will be seeking her second term as chairperson.

Special guest speaker is Bill Neale, a Level III Certified Coach, course conductor, member of the MCCP sub-committee, former member of the CFSA education and standards sub-committee, master clinic leader for the CanSkate Program and a volunteer member of the skating unlimited working committee.

He was Junior Mens Champion of Canada in 1964 and a 1968 Olympics competitor. He was coached by Wally Distelmeyer. Wally won the senior pairs and junior singles titles in '46 and won the pairs again in '47. In '48 he was the first person to win the senior men's singles, senior pairs and fours championships in one year. All this was just before capturing the Olympic bronze with his pairs partner Suzanne Francis at the Winter Games in Switzerland. Three years ago Distelmeyer was inducted into the Canadian Figure Skating Association Hall of Fame.

In the late 1960s Neale skated with Ice Capades and Holiday on Ice and then turned to coaching.

Bill Neale coaches with Distelmeyer and his wife, Bette, at the Stanford Skating Club in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Bette is no stranger to the international competitive scene having won the Canadian junior pairs championship in '47 among others.

Neale presently coordinates the recreational programs for the Stanford Skating Club in Western Ontario and has coached competitive and recreational skaters of every age, many of whom have reached the national level.

Neale will make a presentation Saturday afternoon at 1:30 on the Skating Unlimited Recreation Programs offered by the CFSA with special emphasis on methods of blending programs to maximize ice usage.

Neale will conduct an on-ice session Sunday from 9 a.m. to noon at Prince of Wales Arena for all coaches, club executive, parents and those interested in learning more about the Skating Unlimited Program.

The Annual Awards Banquet will take place on Saturday night starting at 8 p.m.

Approximately 150 people are expected to attend the weekend event, including representatives from 25 of the 31 figure skating clubs in the province, including three clubs from Labrador.

Contact: Judy Mugford, (709) 722-5100.

1996 05 09 1:05 p.m. /md