A former Chatham-Kent minor hockey player is set to hit the ice for a nationally televised figure skating competition this week.
Chatham-Kent AAA Cyclones and Chatham Outlaws alumna Meghan Agosta is taking part in the CBC's new season of Battle of the Blades, which is set to premiere Thursday night.
Agosta, who grew up in Ruthven and now works as a police officer in Vancouver, will be paired with Andrew Poje, a three-time world ice dance medallist, competing on behalf of the BC Children's Hospital.
She said she was in disbelief when she got the invitation to join the competition.
"I was sitting on the porch with my mom and my daughter Chance and I received a text message from Natalie Spooner asking me if I would be willing to participate on Battle of the Blades and I literally laughed out loud reading the message to my mom," said Agosta. "My mom said, 'Meg, you have to do this,' and I looked at her and said, 'But mom, I'm going to be wearing figure skates and they have toe picks!'"
Agosta said she did figure skated for a couple of years when she was younger, but quickly made the switch to hockey at six years old and never looked back. Now 33, and with four Olympic medals to her name (three gold and one silver), she's looking forward to the challenge of switching back.
"I thought to myself, what an amazing opportunity and journey this will be," said Agosta. "I'll totally be out of my comfort zone, but I'm up for it."
According to Agosta, one of the biggest challenges in making the switch is remembering that she's skating with toe picks after hitting the ice countless times over the years without them.
"It took me three weeks to fall on my toe pick... and then I fell again the other day," said Agosta. "You start to get comfortable and confident and you don't think about what type of skates you are wearing."
Agosta says one of the other challenges with filming this season in particular, is the COVID-19 restrictions. The series was originally scheduled to premiere on October 15, but the production was halted earlier this month after a member of the production crew tested positive for COVID-19.
Season 6 of Battle of the Blades will launch with a two-hour premiere on Thursday, October 22 at 8 p.m. EST on CBC TV and CBC Gem.