Yvette Delcourt enters the Skate Canada BC Hall of Fame as a Builder. Yvette started her skating career at a young age as she fell in love with the sport and freedom of movement it provided. Yvette's coaches early on in her skating was World Champion Eadie Enders and contributing through the years were famed coaches in Mary Rose Thacker, Gus Lussi and Winnie Silverthorne.
As Yvette started her coaching career she also learned from spending time with Barbara Roles of the United States and Doug Leigh of Canada and numerous other professional skating coaches throughout her time. Yvette coached many years in Victoria, Nanaimo, Prince George, Kamloops and finally settling in Kelowna where she coached for a number of years but it is then that her career took another direction. Yvette got involved in power skating programs and teaching young hockey players at 5 and 6 years of age how to skate. At the same time Yvette took on organizational and leadership duties at the Kelowna FSC and this is where she quietly went about building a competitive enviornment to the benefit of her club, region, province and our country.
It was Yvette who asked the BC Section to invest time and resources to help the club transition from a normal figure skating club operation to a more high performance location. Yvette clearly understood the differences and reached out for guidance and help in convincing the Kelowna SC Board of Directors to look at the operations in a different way. It took 2 years of meetings and discussion before the Board agreed to redesign responsibilities within the club to allow the coaches Karen and Jason Mongrain to take the lead on all things skating.
Yvette worked closely with Karen and Jason Mongrain to develop and delivery programs that created an all inclusive but more competitive enviornment resulting in many Provincial and National medalist and Champions. She ever so quietly connected people, provided support and encouragement to the skaters and developed a safe and supportive home for skaters, coaches and parents.
To watch Yvette's story and Skate Canada BC Hall of Fame Ceremony please click on the video at the right side of this page.
