SEDLEY, Sask. – On the surface, farming and figure skating don’t seem
to have much in common.
But for Skip Groff, both offer an intensely personal challenge that he
enjoys.
Groff grew up in Vancouver, but spent summers on the farm homesteaded
in the early 1900s by his mother’s parents southeast of Regina.
“Never in a million years did I think I’d be living in Saskatchewan,”
he said while hauling canola on a windy November day. “I thought I had
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to be in a big city. This was a fantastic decision.”
The decision to live in Saskatchewan was made after he and his wife,
Karel, who also grew up in British Columbia, both left competitive
figure skating.
They met as teenagers at the Canadian championships in Toronto. In
1981, they moved to Regina to coach skaters in the city, open a skate
shop and take on farming.
The latter was something Groff said he just had to do. It wasn’t an
option to let the land go out of the family.
“I started with equipment from the ’60s and ’70s; an 18-foot discer,”
Skip recalled.
Before their children were born – Kristine is now 16 and Shawn is 15 –
Karel was pressed into service operating various types of machinery.
“Under his instruction, of course, because I was a city girl,” she said.
The farm was a half-section then and is now 1,300 acres. Groff grew
canola, flax, wheat, canaryseed and French, Eston and Laird lentils
this year.
Prices are generally strong, and his crops did well.
“This year the farm is going to do better than anything else, but it’s
not always that way,” he said.
Other years the income from coaching skaters and fitting and sharpening
figure skates has been better.
“I farmed 12 or 14 years before I took five cents out of this farm.”
There was a time when skating might have won out over farming.
“It was really who I was until the age of 22,” he said of being a
skater.
He competed at five national championships, placing second, third and
fourth. He was also fourth at the Canada Winter Games.
“Those were the days when you spent four to six to eight hours a day
training.”
He and Karel spent a year training in Los Angeles. They had an offer to
stay in the United States and open an Ice Capades chalet.
The pull to the farm was strong, however, and they came to Saskatchewan
instead, where they have since coached skaters to the national level.
And where Skip is sometimes sharpening skates at 2 a.m., especially
during harvest season.
Karel said Skip’s love of farming is ingrained.
“I was there because of him, so I accepted it,” she said. “It’s really
who he is.”
This fall, Groff was custom combining and left most of the coaching to
Karel.
He is considering buying another quarter of land, because it’s adjacent
to his own and interest rates are low.
He said he has learned plenty in the last 20 years. He spends a lot of
time on the phone trying to find the best prices for his crops.
Asked if he watches what other farmers are doing in order to make his
decisions, Groff said others likely watch him because after he sells,
prices go up.
He has one part-time hired man, whom he trusts to make immediate
agronomic decisions when he isn’t around.
Groff also keeps a close eye on his debt level. He wants it manageable.
“I’ve had a few sleepless nights, but I’ve also realized there aren’t
too many guys who are debt-free.”
While juggling all three enterprises can get complicated – coaching
hours are evenings and weekends, and the shop operates by appointment –
Groff said he wouldn’t trade places with anyone.
“I really think I’m lucky. I love both (skating and farming) and I’ve
been doing both for most of my life.”
When he gets some free time, he can be found racing his car at the
Saskatchewan International Raceway south of Saskatoon.
“Seems like everything I do has an element of luck and risk to it,
doesn’t it?”
