It's a move which was long overdue.

After nearly 15 years of two figure skating clubs on the local scene, organizers and coaches of the Whitehorse and Fireweed clubs have put the politics behind them, and joined forces to create the Arctic Edge Skating Club.

'The timing was right, I suppose,' said Harold Sher, coach and program director for the new club. 'There was enough will on the part of both clubs to see the advantages.

'The personalities and people were right in order to make it happen.'

While there had been numerous rumors of personal problems between coaches and personnel of the now-defunct Whitehorse and Fireweed clubs, Sher, who recently returned to the Yukon after several years in Ontario, said the real problem was miscommunication.

'Nobody trusted the other, because they didn't really know each other,' he stated, adding that changed in recent years.

In fact, both Sher and Arctic Edge Co-Chair Christine Neufeld said the merger has been talked about for at least a couple of years, and more than a year seriously.

The two clubs were already competing together under the Interclub during the Yukon championships, as well as on test days. That was really the 'beginning of the co-operation,' said Neufeld.

'Then we experimented last year with sharing the ice and that was the next probably major step.'

While there will be growing pains in developing the new skating club, the joining 'opens up a lot of possibilities,' said Sher, though he cautioned the club obviously won't be able to do everything right out of the gate.

Some of the new programs and ideas will take a couple of seasons to put in place, he said.

With an expected membership exceeding 350 skaters, one of the biggest benefits of Arctic Edge will be increased session and coaching options for skaters and parents. Coaches this year include Danielle Armstrong, Lori Austin, Charlene Donald, Kim Hardie, Jutta Hopkins, Patricia Pettitt and Sher.

When there were two clubs, skaters enrolled in the appropriate program at the time that it was offered. Now, they can choose the sessions that best meet their needs. That means a more effective use of ice time, since all the skaters at the same level can use the ice at the same time.

And with a larger core group of skaters, synchronized skating can once again be offered.

This style of skating is featured in the big name skating shows such as the Ice Capades and involves groups of 12 or more skaters performing various maneuvers in time to the music.

'A lot of the younger kids are really keen to try it,' said Sher. 'Anything new and different is always appealing. It's also slightly different in that it's a team sport rather than individual.'

There will also be more opportunity for team coaching, which means you can have a different coach for the different parts of your competitive program. It's a system that is more widely used Outside the territory, said Sher.

'It basically allows coaches to utilize their areas of expertise.'

Team coaching is one of the areas Sher originally planned to get involved in, when he returned to the territory.

'I got back into skating with the idea of being a consultant or a team coach, and thought I'd do occasional fill-ins,' he said. 'But there was obviously a demand for more coaching. I was approached by a variety of people, so I started to take on more students.'

When Sher was asked if he would be interested in the title of program director, he decided to give it a try, mainly because he has a lot of experience in the area and knows he can share good ideas with the club, he said.

He spent time at the Hamilton skating club as program director and was hired as the executive director of the Oakville club following that, a club that boasts more than 2,000 skaters and operates out of four rinks.

So really, this should seem like peanuts to him, right?

'It's going to be doing the simple things here,' he said. 'I'm very enthusiastic about the coaches we have. They all have things to offer and they're highly skilled. We have a nice mix of experience.

'The quality of instructing in this area is comparable with any area I've seen.'

In fact, he said, the Yukon provides more at the lower levels of skating than any other place, and the cost is anywhere from one half to one third cheaper. And the results are also starting to show, especially at the StarSkate level, which is a test program as opposed to a competitive program.

'We have a large number of StarSkate skaters doing very, very well,' he said. 'A great number of our skaters will be gold medalists in different disciplines over the next couple years. That's quite a remarkable feat, when you consider the size of our club.

'It speaks again to our coaching.'

Sher is also confident in the Yukon's skating team for the 2007 Canada Winter Games. There are a few young skaters who have the ability to be very competitive in 2007, if they maintain their current level of improvement over the next year and a half, he said.

'I expect to see these skaters develop more consistency in their skills and more sophisticated programs,' he said. 'If they do, they're right on the trail to do quite well at Canada Games.'

The new skating club will go a long way in ensuring the success continues past 2007, and Sher has every bit of faith in the new executive, which he called dedicated and experienced.

'It's the right board for the right time. There's a lot of energy and great commitment.'

The first event for Arctic Edge will be See It Try It, hosted in conjunction with the Whitehorse Rapids Speed Skating Club and Whitehorse Minor Hockey.

See It Try It provides a chance for the community to learn about the new club, meet the coaches, see the skaters' demos, try out the action and register their skaters for the upcoming season.

Skating is free all afternoon and there is also an equipment swap set up.

The event runs from noon to 4 p.m., Sept. 17, at Takhini Arena.