From the first moment she put on a pair of skates and hit the ice, Charlotte Ross instantly knew figure skating was her calling.

The eight-year-old from St. Thomas, Ont., trains daily, waking up in the early morning hours and leaving school early on some afternoons to inch closer to her dreams of representing Canada at the Olympics some day.

But securing ice becomes becomes a challenge during summer months when municipal arenas reduce or close their ice pads, leaving athletes like Charlotte having to travel to other cities and compete with different sports groups for access to ice.

"They call summer the 'off-season' but it's primarily the training season for higher levels, and it's hard to get skating for ticket ice because it's either far away or not in St. Thomas," said Charlotte, who

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