I'll have to mark Christmas of 2008 as one of the pleasantly memorable ones. I got to enjoy my nephew's first Christmas, good weather, perfect coffeecake, pretty bows and packages and getting tickets to see the ladies' long program at the World Championships this March in Los Angeles! Woohoo!
I've been to Worlds once before in Minneapolis in 1998. It was a worlds after an Olympics, which generally means the Olympic medalists skip it. This year being pre-Olympic, I'm looking forward to some great skating.
I get to see the Mao Asada - Yu-Na Kim battle live! Plus we'll see how Joannie Rochette fares and if the US ladies who make the world team rise to the occassion with fan support.
Ooo, I may see a lady complete a triple axel. I've only seen that on TV. Come on Mao you did two triple axels in the long during the Grand Prix Final... let's do it in LA too!
Friday, December 26, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
With the holidays approaching, work travel and my first synchro competition, I’ve not taken the time to stop and post. However, it’s been an eventful and fun few weeks in my skating world.
Monday, December 1st: We had our final regular practice before the Dr. Porter competition in Ann Arbor. We had to wear our dresses and tights and practice entering the ice.
Both or our coaches were going to be skating; one as the definite alternate for a skater who decided to move to the lower open adult team, the other coach just decided to skate to give us an extra oomph – which added an extra skater to the lines and formations. We briefly ran through the areas that would be different with an extra skater so everyone would know where to go. Then we practiced coming on to the ice for a “mini warm-up” by skating in lines into our beginning position.
Finally, we did the mini warm-up and started the music. We got half way through when BAM! I felt my line collapse and heard a big thud. I turned and saw one of our older members lying on the ice with her hands clutching her nose and mouth. Never a good sign. Amazingly, she wasn’t bleeding horribly which would be good news considering hitting the mouth and nose area, but it predicted something being broken instead. One of the coaches called EMS and an ambulance came. She got to go to the emergency room in her sparkles and tights!
Through email I got the news that she did in fact break her jaw. She had to have it wired shut for several weeks. She put a long post on the group discussion board that she wasn’t feeling comfortable with this program and wanted to ask our coach about sitting out the Dr. Porter competitions and practicing more so she felt comfortable for sectionals. I think that thought plus practicing with an extra person next to her who is naturally faster in the last practice before this competition probably freaked her out a bit.
On that note, I left for Ann Arbor on Friday morning with some of the other veterans of the team. A lot of the car conversation was devoted to the incident and the older members of the team feeling like the program goes at “warp speed.”
Friday, December 5th: This was travel day. The team veterans were so sweet the entire trip to me, since this would be my first synchro competition. I think it’s been 12 years since I last competed as a single skater, but I wasn’t nervous at all. I was actually looking forward to skating with a team and not worrying about jumps or everyone looking at me. I felt comfortable with the program too.
Overall, I’d been really excited about the whole trip and competition. I looked forward to seeing some of the big name synchro teams like the Haydenettes and Miami University. I also thought I might see some coaches I know from other rinks or skaters I knew who had become coaches. Plus, I can count Michigan as a state I’ve been to now. It’s always a bonus to see a new state no matter how briefly.
It was snowing when we got to Ann Arbor and we went straight to the rink to register the team. The 2008 Dr. Porter Memorial was held at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube and it is a three rink facility, two surfaces have arena seating. While the team manager registered us and picked up our information packets, I got to witness several teams warming up which was too awesome as I discovered most warm up in synch! They had a little workout routine to music that they all did together. It brought up images of the teams eating cereal and brushing their teeth in synch…. How far do they take the synchronization??? ;)
We had arrived at a good time during the junior teams’ short program practice. So, we went out into the Stadium Rink to watch. This block of girls came by and I felt this big gush of wind as they glided past. They skated so smoothly and fast with seamless transitions. The formations were solid and all of the girls’ eyes were looking up and center, not an eyelash out of place. I was transfixed to my spot as they finished running through the program. It was just beautiful. I have seen synchro programs on YouTube and the LSA’s teams at our rink, but I just can’t describe seeing a good team live and the sound of 40 blades powering down the ice at once, the wind that swoops by and the precision of their movements. That first team I saw was called Gold Ice, a junior team from Canada.
Our practice was at friggin’ midnight. 12:07 a.m. We went and checked into the hotel, grabbed something to eat and did an off-ice practice run through as best we could in a small conference room. I went to the rink a little early to see the LSA juvenile team practice. In doing so, I caught the practice session of the Master Denver Synchronicity team that we would be skating against. They are the reigning National Champs and the director of synchro programs at US Figure Skating skates on this team. They were soup.
12:07 a.m. Practice – so we had our skating dresses and tights on again and ran through the entrance and then the program several times. The first time through a few people fell but I think that got it out of the system. We improved each time.
Saturday, December 6th: The masters’ competition wasn’t until four or something. The beginner and juvenile teams all competed early in the day and I missed all of their events. We had more off ice practice in the conference room. Then we had to put our itchy, black, glitter-shedding dresses and tights on again to hang out in all day. This time we got to add hair and make-up. We had to buy matching long-last lipstick (which brought out the yellow in my teeth – I felt like a bridesmaid) and the team bought eye shadow and blush to share. We gelled up and slicked back the hair before attaching the hair pieces. We look a bit like librarians getting wild.
Finally, we got in our locker room got into our skates and took to the warm-up ice. We ran through our program with one fall. Then we walked over to the stadium rink, entered the ice and performed the program for real. Most of the juvenile team was still around and they cheered us on. No one fell and all felt well. We celebrated with an assortment of carbs at the Macaroni Grill.
Saturday, December 13th: I really didn’t see any of our competitors. What I did see confirmed what I already knew, my team’s footwork is much more basic and at a much lower level of difficulty. We finished last, but the veterans were happy two judges placed us 5th.
We changed the majority of our steps in our elements to increase the difficulty in the first practice after the competition. No more pumps, it’s all about crossovers and chasses now – much more challenging. I’m very much enjoying the changes and looking forward to practicing the steps on my own and I hope the rest of team does as well and doesn’t freak out. Only three more practices until our next competition.
Monday, December 1st: We had our final regular practice before the Dr. Porter competition in Ann Arbor. We had to wear our dresses and tights and practice entering the ice.
Both or our coaches were going to be skating; one as the definite alternate for a skater who decided to move to the lower open adult team, the other coach just decided to skate to give us an extra oomph – which added an extra skater to the lines and formations. We briefly ran through the areas that would be different with an extra skater so everyone would know where to go. Then we practiced coming on to the ice for a “mini warm-up” by skating in lines into our beginning position.
Finally, we did the mini warm-up and started the music. We got half way through when BAM! I felt my line collapse and heard a big thud. I turned and saw one of our older members lying on the ice with her hands clutching her nose and mouth. Never a good sign. Amazingly, she wasn’t bleeding horribly which would be good news considering hitting the mouth and nose area, but it predicted something being broken instead. One of the coaches called EMS and an ambulance came. She got to go to the emergency room in her sparkles and tights!
Through email I got the news that she did in fact break her jaw. She had to have it wired shut for several weeks. She put a long post on the group discussion board that she wasn’t feeling comfortable with this program and wanted to ask our coach about sitting out the Dr. Porter competitions and practicing more so she felt comfortable for sectionals. I think that thought plus practicing with an extra person next to her who is naturally faster in the last practice before this competition probably freaked her out a bit.
On that note, I left for Ann Arbor on Friday morning with some of the other veterans of the team. A lot of the car conversation was devoted to the incident and the older members of the team feeling like the program goes at “warp speed.”
Friday, December 5th: This was travel day. The team veterans were so sweet the entire trip to me, since this would be my first synchro competition. I think it’s been 12 years since I last competed as a single skater, but I wasn’t nervous at all. I was actually looking forward to skating with a team and not worrying about jumps or everyone looking at me. I felt comfortable with the program too.
Overall, I’d been really excited about the whole trip and competition. I looked forward to seeing some of the big name synchro teams like the Haydenettes and Miami University. I also thought I might see some coaches I know from other rinks or skaters I knew who had become coaches. Plus, I can count Michigan as a state I’ve been to now. It’s always a bonus to see a new state no matter how briefly.
It was snowing when we got to Ann Arbor and we went straight to the rink to register the team. The 2008 Dr. Porter Memorial was held at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube and it is a three rink facility, two surfaces have arena seating. While the team manager registered us and picked up our information packets, I got to witness several teams warming up which was too awesome as I discovered most warm up in synch! They had a little workout routine to music that they all did together. It brought up images of the teams eating cereal and brushing their teeth in synch…. How far do they take the synchronization??? ;)
We had arrived at a good time during the junior teams’ short program practice. So, we went out into the Stadium Rink to watch. This block of girls came by and I felt this big gush of wind as they glided past. They skated so smoothly and fast with seamless transitions. The formations were solid and all of the girls’ eyes were looking up and center, not an eyelash out of place. I was transfixed to my spot as they finished running through the program. It was just beautiful. I have seen synchro programs on YouTube and the LSA’s teams at our rink, but I just can’t describe seeing a good team live and the sound of 40 blades powering down the ice at once, the wind that swoops by and the precision of their movements. That first team I saw was called Gold Ice, a junior team from Canada.
Our practice was at friggin’ midnight. 12:07 a.m. We went and checked into the hotel, grabbed something to eat and did an off-ice practice run through as best we could in a small conference room. I went to the rink a little early to see the LSA juvenile team practice. In doing so, I caught the practice session of the Master Denver Synchronicity team that we would be skating against. They are the reigning National Champs and the director of synchro programs at US Figure Skating skates on this team. They were soup.
12:07 a.m. Practice – so we had our skating dresses and tights on again and ran through the entrance and then the program several times. The first time through a few people fell but I think that got it out of the system. We improved each time.
Saturday, December 6th: The masters’ competition wasn’t until four or something. The beginner and juvenile teams all competed early in the day and I missed all of their events. We had more off ice practice in the conference room. Then we had to put our itchy, black, glitter-shedding dresses and tights on again to hang out in all day. This time we got to add hair and make-up. We had to buy matching long-last lipstick (which brought out the yellow in my teeth – I felt like a bridesmaid) and the team bought eye shadow and blush to share. We gelled up and slicked back the hair before attaching the hair pieces. We look a bit like librarians getting wild.
Finally, we got in our locker room got into our skates and took to the warm-up ice. We ran through our program with one fall. Then we walked over to the stadium rink, entered the ice and performed the program for real. Most of the juvenile team was still around and they cheered us on. No one fell and all felt well. We celebrated with an assortment of carbs at the Macaroni Grill.
Saturday, December 13th: I really didn’t see any of our competitors. What I did see confirmed what I already knew, my team’s footwork is much more basic and at a much lower level of difficulty. We finished last, but the veterans were happy two judges placed us 5th.
We changed the majority of our steps in our elements to increase the difficulty in the first practice after the competition. No more pumps, it’s all about crossovers and chasses now – much more challenging. I’m very much enjoying the changes and looking forward to practicing the steps on my own and I hope the rest of team does as well and doesn’t freak out. Only three more practices until our next competition.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Preping for 1st Competition
We've had two more good practices and run through the program several times. This is apparently a first for the team to have the program actually complete a few weeks in advance of competition.
I've been scoping out the teams we'll be competing against at the Dr. Porter Memorial Synchronized Skating Competiton in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Master Teams listed are:
I'm on the RiverStars, we're a team of 12, the minimum for a team
The site links photos on snapfish of the teams. Here is my assessment of the teams with photos:
For the teams that do not have photos, I recognize their names:
Should be interesting.
I've been scoping out the teams we'll be competing against at the Dr. Porter Memorial Synchronized Skating Competiton in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Master Teams listed are:
- Allegro
- DC Edge
- Denver Synchronicity
- Louisville RiverStars
- Team Delaware
- Team Glace'
I'm on the RiverStars, we're a team of 12, the minimum for a team
The site links photos on snapfish of the teams. Here is my assessment of the teams with photos:
- Allegro - large team so they can use their best skaters and have the others as alternates
- DC Edge - lots of tan skates worn in the photo which suggest several "pros" either as coaches or Disney on Ice veterans
- Denver Synchronicity - Matching practice outfits, large team, several tan skates visible, and they are the reigning national champions.
For the teams that do not have photos, I recognize their names:
- Team Delaware - I believe these are veterans of the University of Delaware Skating Club and Synchro Team. UD is a big training center with international coaches so they are usually good, even the older skaters.
- Team Glace' - I've seen that name often, it seems to be an established program in synchro and I would assume the masters team is made up of a lot of veterans.
Should be interesting.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Finished Program
We completed the program choreography, practiced a few sections and we skated the ENTIRE PROGRAM once by the end of practice! Woo hoo!
Friday, November 14, 2008
Halfway through the Grand Prix Series
What do 30-something, throughly modern, figure skaters do when they are not skating? Watch international figure skating competitions through a live feed at coffeeshops before going to work.
I just wrapped up viewing the compulsory dance event at the Trophee Bombard in Paris, France whilst enjoying a grande mocha with mint and whip at Java Brewing Company.
Trophee Bombard is kinda the halfway point through the Grand Prix Series - six international competitions for top competitors that takes place over the fall. Skaters earn points for their placements and the top 6 point earners in each discipline then face off in a final and can earn a lot of money. This series and substantial purse winnings sprouting from the post-whack days of figure skating when there were sponsors pouring money into figure skating federations and events. I think the winning amounts have dropped over the past few years and it's no longer on TV. It used to be on ESPN Monday nights while ABC had "Monday Night Football." ABC/ESPN/Disney used to have a fantastic opportunity for ratings IMO by broadcasting sporting events on two channels - one catering to men and the other to women. Now, I can get complete coverage of the event and see skaters I never would have for a meager $30.00 on icenetwork.com.
Much to the chagrin of my man, I've been watching the live feed when I have time on the weekends and then scrolling through the archives. My thoughts so far on the skaters from Skate America, Skate Canada & Cup of China:
Ladies:
It's all about Asian skaters - the battle for the world championship will be between Yuna Kim of Korea and a Japaneses skater. Miki Ando is skating well and seems to be in better shape this season. She's probably keeping in shape from looking over her shoulder at Yukari Nakano. The Chinese skaters are also seeming to come on the scene. While not medal contenders this season, they are making a statement.
Canada's Joannie Rochette rocked Skate Canada in her win there. Her long program is the first program I've seen from her that I would want to watch again.
The Americans have some catching up, I'm hoping Kimmie Meissner gets her confidence back, and I'm looking forward to the future of Mirai Nagasu after she adjusts for her growth spurt. Caroline Zhang has grown but her jumping technique wasn't solid to begin with so I think she'll have problems. Alissa Czisny is looking great this season, she'll be a big threat at Nationals if she puts two programs together.
Men:
Patrick Chan of Canada is delightful, he looks like he was born on skates he has such flow and spirit on the ice. Such a skater's skater with clean edges, solid spins and great positions - If I could ever skate the way he skates on a bad day. I don't think he quite deserved to win Skate Canada if you had judged him simply looking at a sheet outlining the elements in a program in comparison to his competitors. He didn't complete a triple axel in the long - he never fell on anything either - just completely skipped over a jump and put a hand down. Still, his skating is so enjoyable and inspiring you forget he had a single error at the end. Oh yes, he's only 17!
I must say the US Nationals could be interesting just based on what has transpired in these past competitions. Ryan Bradley soared at Skate Canada - a quad in the short and a quad in the long. His spins have improved and he sells his programs, he's such a performer. He could have won Skate Canada. Jeremy Abbott dominated Cup of China with two excellent skates in the short and long. Johnny Weir was Johnny Weir at Skate America, he's trying quads but he's not doing anything new in his programs - no skating as birds this year or inspiring Blades of Glory characters. I'm really not liking Evan Lysacek's skating this year after his two competitons. He went to the grand dame of Russian skating Tatiana Tarasova for choreography in the off-season and if doesn't become him. Over the past few seasons I think he made a point to be the non-Weir both on and off the ice. Now I think Johnny attempting quads, tying him at Nationals and getting to the World's podium got in his head and he's swinging the pendulum towards "I'm still macho and I'm not going to portray a bird, but I'm going to do what Johnny does." He'd do better if he kept crafting his own style. Anyways, it amounts to four men vying for the top spot at Nationals as opposed to two this year.
Dance:
Americans Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto switched coaches in the off-season. They went back to basics and it shows in their confidence in the compulsories. They did well at Skate America and Cup of China. I'm not too thrilled with their choice of music in their free dance: "Tosca". Music from that opera has been used by a top competitor every season for at least the past years. If you're trying to reinvent yourself and improve by going back to the drawing board and starting afresh - why use a theme that has been done every season? Oh well. They look great and have a great lift in the free. Interestingly, they switched coaches and moved across the country this spring after failing to medal at Worlds when it was their's to win last year. A month after that move, the top Russian couple also decided to relocate and make a coaching change. This would be like two teams in the regional championships in the NCAA tourney who just barely missed the Final Four hiring Roy Williams of North Carolina to coach them. Roy Williams would still coach North Carolina plus the new teams. Interesting, huh? So, the Russians debuted at Cup of China and beat Belbin & Agosto - barely. They won by a hundreth of point. I detested their free skate, I'm not into skaters dressed a nearly naked Roman slaves and flinging their arms to a "Spartacus" ballet. They should have been dinged a hundreth of a point for those costumes.
I did like all of the performances of Meryl Davis and Charlie White at Skate Canada. I would watch those again. They may give Belbin and Agosto some problems at Nationals.
I've also enjoyed the French team of Delobel & Schoenfelder - at least their compulsory and original dance at Skate America. I wasn't too impressed with their long to Pink Floyd - it never seemed to pick up energy like a winning free skate should, it was more of a relaxing exhibition piece.
The brother and sister team of John and Sinead Kerr of Great Britain ROCK! Love their skating and the live feed of Skate America is the first time I've really got to see all aspects of them. I'm lookinf forward to seeing them again and I'll be pulling for them at Europeans.
Pairs:
I haven't watched any so I have no comments! Watching Katya Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov skate together on TV at the Calgary Olympics when I was nine made me beg my parents to give me skating lessons and check out skating books from the library. I should watch pairs more, but the past years of pair skating have just not enthused me. I would like to see the German pair and I hear the American couple McLaughin & Brubaker are a sight to see. Maybe by the end of the Grand Prix I will have sat down to watch some.
I just wrapped up viewing the compulsory dance event at the Trophee Bombard in Paris, France whilst enjoying a grande mocha with mint and whip at Java Brewing Company.
Trophee Bombard is kinda the halfway point through the Grand Prix Series - six international competitions for top competitors that takes place over the fall. Skaters earn points for their placements and the top 6 point earners in each discipline then face off in a final and can earn a lot of money. This series and substantial purse winnings sprouting from the post-whack days of figure skating when there were sponsors pouring money into figure skating federations and events. I think the winning amounts have dropped over the past few years and it's no longer on TV. It used to be on ESPN Monday nights while ABC had "Monday Night Football." ABC/ESPN/Disney used to have a fantastic opportunity for ratings IMO by broadcasting sporting events on two channels - one catering to men and the other to women. Now, I can get complete coverage of the event and see skaters I never would have for a meager $30.00 on icenetwork.com.
Much to the chagrin of my man, I've been watching the live feed when I have time on the weekends and then scrolling through the archives. My thoughts so far on the skaters from Skate America, Skate Canada & Cup of China:
Ladies:
It's all about Asian skaters - the battle for the world championship will be between Yuna Kim of Korea and a Japaneses skater. Miki Ando is skating well and seems to be in better shape this season. She's probably keeping in shape from looking over her shoulder at Yukari Nakano. The Chinese skaters are also seeming to come on the scene. While not medal contenders this season, they are making a statement.
Canada's Joannie Rochette rocked Skate Canada in her win there. Her long program is the first program I've seen from her that I would want to watch again.
The Americans have some catching up, I'm hoping Kimmie Meissner gets her confidence back, and I'm looking forward to the future of Mirai Nagasu after she adjusts for her growth spurt. Caroline Zhang has grown but her jumping technique wasn't solid to begin with so I think she'll have problems. Alissa Czisny is looking great this season, she'll be a big threat at Nationals if she puts two programs together.
Men:
Patrick Chan of Canada is delightful, he looks like he was born on skates he has such flow and spirit on the ice. Such a skater's skater with clean edges, solid spins and great positions - If I could ever skate the way he skates on a bad day. I don't think he quite deserved to win Skate Canada if you had judged him simply looking at a sheet outlining the elements in a program in comparison to his competitors. He didn't complete a triple axel in the long - he never fell on anything either - just completely skipped over a jump and put a hand down. Still, his skating is so enjoyable and inspiring you forget he had a single error at the end. Oh yes, he's only 17!
I must say the US Nationals could be interesting just based on what has transpired in these past competitions. Ryan Bradley soared at Skate Canada - a quad in the short and a quad in the long. His spins have improved and he sells his programs, he's such a performer. He could have won Skate Canada. Jeremy Abbott dominated Cup of China with two excellent skates in the short and long. Johnny Weir was Johnny Weir at Skate America, he's trying quads but he's not doing anything new in his programs - no skating as birds this year or inspiring Blades of Glory characters. I'm really not liking Evan Lysacek's skating this year after his two competitons. He went to the grand dame of Russian skating Tatiana Tarasova for choreography in the off-season and if doesn't become him. Over the past few seasons I think he made a point to be the non-Weir both on and off the ice. Now I think Johnny attempting quads, tying him at Nationals and getting to the World's podium got in his head and he's swinging the pendulum towards "I'm still macho and I'm not going to portray a bird, but I'm going to do what Johnny does." He'd do better if he kept crafting his own style. Anyways, it amounts to four men vying for the top spot at Nationals as opposed to two this year.
Dance:
Americans Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto switched coaches in the off-season. They went back to basics and it shows in their confidence in the compulsories. They did well at Skate America and Cup of China. I'm not too thrilled with their choice of music in their free dance: "Tosca". Music from that opera has been used by a top competitor every season for at least the past years. If you're trying to reinvent yourself and improve by going back to the drawing board and starting afresh - why use a theme that has been done every season? Oh well. They look great and have a great lift in the free. Interestingly, they switched coaches and moved across the country this spring after failing to medal at Worlds when it was their's to win last year. A month after that move, the top Russian couple also decided to relocate and make a coaching change. This would be like two teams in the regional championships in the NCAA tourney who just barely missed the Final Four hiring Roy Williams of North Carolina to coach them. Roy Williams would still coach North Carolina plus the new teams. Interesting, huh? So, the Russians debuted at Cup of China and beat Belbin & Agosto - barely. They won by a hundreth of point. I detested their free skate, I'm not into skaters dressed a nearly naked Roman slaves and flinging their arms to a "Spartacus" ballet. They should have been dinged a hundreth of a point for those costumes.
I did like all of the performances of Meryl Davis and Charlie White at Skate Canada. I would watch those again. They may give Belbin and Agosto some problems at Nationals.
I've also enjoyed the French team of Delobel & Schoenfelder - at least their compulsory and original dance at Skate America. I wasn't too impressed with their long to Pink Floyd - it never seemed to pick up energy like a winning free skate should, it was more of a relaxing exhibition piece.
The brother and sister team of John and Sinead Kerr of Great Britain ROCK! Love their skating and the live feed of Skate America is the first time I've really got to see all aspects of them. I'm lookinf forward to seeing them again and I'll be pulling for them at Europeans.
Pairs:
I haven't watched any so I have no comments! Watching Katya Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov skate together on TV at the Calgary Olympics when I was nine made me beg my parents to give me skating lessons and check out skating books from the library. I should watch pairs more, but the past years of pair skating have just not enthused me. I would like to see the German pair and I hear the American couple McLaughin & Brubaker are a sight to see. Maybe by the end of the Grand Prix I will have sat down to watch some.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Hair-raising skating
My synchro team has a competition in a few weeks. It should be interesting since with only a handful of practices left we've never done a complete run through of the program. We've never even completed more than three sections together successfully.
We've added a Monday evening practice now. We're running through each section of music multiple times, back-to-back and then adding on a new section. While this would seem like a difficult practice, I'm loving it. Skating hard, listening to the music, and focusing on improvements after coaches' advice is actually relaxing to me. I get in my own zone, just like someone who loves playing basketball who unwinds with a pickup game. I came home in a great mood.
I also came home with something more than an elevated mood.... we have hair pieces, so we all "match." Perhaps the idea is to impress the judges with our snazzy hair instead of messy program. So I had this big, braided, blondish thing handed to me after practice. It's supposed to clip into my real hair and make me look somehow put together. I showed it to my husband and he got a big laugh out of it. Thought I would share...
We've added a Monday evening practice now. We're running through each section of music multiple times, back-to-back and then adding on a new section. While this would seem like a difficult practice, I'm loving it. Skating hard, listening to the music, and focusing on improvements after coaches' advice is actually relaxing to me. I get in my own zone, just like someone who loves playing basketball who unwinds with a pickup game. I came home in a great mood.
I also came home with something more than an elevated mood.... we have hair pieces, so we all "match." Perhaps the idea is to impress the judges with our snazzy hair instead of messy program. So I had this big, braided, blondish thing handed to me after practice. It's supposed to clip into my real hair and make me look somehow put together. I showed it to my husband and he got a big laugh out of it. Thought I would share...
Monday, October 13, 2008
EGL Skaters to watch 2009
I've been attempting to follow the Regionals that have been taking place over the past few days, especially the Eastern Great Lakes Regional in Midland, MI since that's my region and know coaches and skaters from the area.
icenetwork is taking forever to update results. The short program results from yesterday were finally posted this afternoon.
In the senior event I'm following these skaters:
· Ameena Sheikh - originally from Lexington
· Brittney Westdorp - won last year's event
· Melissa Telecky - skated her heart out in the freeskate last year and missed advancing to sectionals by a few points
· Lynzee Broussard - up from Juniors
· Nathan Chastain - up from Juniors, from northern Kentucky
· Parker Pennington – won juvenile-junior Nat’l titles, 11th at Nationals last year, coached by either Carol Heiss Jenkins or Audrey Weisiger
· Eliot Halverson – international junior competitor for two seasons
· William Brewster up from Juniors – should have won Junior EGL 2007 IMO, on JGP circuit this season
Junior Ladies
· Ashley Strojny – coached by Carol Heiss Jenkins
· Christina Gao – up from Novice, NKySC
· Farah Sheikh - oringinally from Lexington
· Lee Keller – up from Novice
· Alicia Hsu – up from Novice
· Lauren Ko – up from Novice
Junior Men
· Victor Travis - Novice winner last year
· Grant Hochstein - Junior winner last year – opposite skater, powerful and fast, good transitions
· Pine Kopka-Ross - pleased to advance to sectionals last year
icenetwork is taking forever to update results. The short program results from yesterday were finally posted this afternoon.
In the senior event I'm following these skaters:
· Ameena Sheikh - originally from Lexington
· Brittney Westdorp - won last year's event
· Melissa Telecky - skated her heart out in the freeskate last year and missed advancing to sectionals by a few points
· Lynzee Broussard - up from Juniors
· Nathan Chastain - up from Juniors, from northern Kentucky
· Parker Pennington – won juvenile-junior Nat’l titles, 11th at Nationals last year, coached by either Carol Heiss Jenkins or Audrey Weisiger
· Eliot Halverson – international junior competitor for two seasons
· William Brewster up from Juniors – should have won Junior EGL 2007 IMO, on JGP circuit this season
Junior Ladies
· Ashley Strojny – coached by Carol Heiss Jenkins
· Christina Gao – up from Novice, NKySC
· Farah Sheikh - oringinally from Lexington
· Lee Keller – up from Novice
· Alicia Hsu – up from Novice
· Lauren Ko – up from Novice
Junior Men
· Victor Travis - Novice winner last year
· Grant Hochstein - Junior winner last year – opposite skater, powerful and fast, good transitions
· Pine Kopka-Ross - pleased to advance to sectionals last year
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Tales of a 30-something figure skater
I celebrated my 30th birthday just a few weeks ago on 9/20.
Approaching and now living in my 30s has brought on a mix of feelings. Some feelings that I've had a great life and I've got much to look forward to. I've been able to share the past several years with a great man and I'm so lucky to be able to share and build a lifetime of experiences and achievements with him.
I also sometimes feel like I've missed several opportunities to accomplish more in my 30 years, like already having a family that includes small children and have a more decisive and thought out career plan.
That's life and I think everyone goes through some of those times and maybe it's more pronounced right now.
One item of my life that has been constant over most of my decades has been a love of a crazy sport, figure skating. My 30th birthday was actually the 20th anniversary of my first time ever skating. I had begged my parents for several months after watching the 1988 Olympics and reading all of the related Sports Illustrated articles over and over to take me skating. I finally got to go on my birthday and I've never really stopped since. I skated as competitively as you could for growing up in Lexington, KY from the age of 10 to 17. In college, I started coaching. Since getting my bachelors degree and starting salaried 9-5 occupations, I've coached intermittently and consistently practiced even less. Still, I attended my first ever PSA conference this spring and passed two coaching "exams" (Power Skating & Hockey I). This fall I've started practicing even more. I joined the local adult synchronized skating team in Louisville, KY.
I was never a great skater but it gave me a lot of satisfaction and taught me a lot about setting goals, creating short term and long term plans to achieve goals, how to win and how to lose, some sense of "listening" to my body, and an ability to be in front of people. I learned a thing or two about classical music and dance, Cold War politics and understanding Russian accents along the way as well. The tiny voice in my head that says, "You've practiced this, you're OK, just breathe, think & have fun" that pops up before an important presentation comes straight from skating. I was reminded of all of this when I realized after my synchro practice on my birthday that I'd been skating for 20 years.
I don't think I'll ever end up coaching full-time or getting too involved in competing and performing again, but skating makes me feel great and I would still like to follow and contribute to the sport. Here's to another 20 years....
Approaching and now living in my 30s has brought on a mix of feelings. Some feelings that I've had a great life and I've got much to look forward to. I've been able to share the past several years with a great man and I'm so lucky to be able to share and build a lifetime of experiences and achievements with him.
I also sometimes feel like I've missed several opportunities to accomplish more in my 30 years, like already having a family that includes small children and have a more decisive and thought out career plan.
That's life and I think everyone goes through some of those times and maybe it's more pronounced right now.
One item of my life that has been constant over most of my decades has been a love of a crazy sport, figure skating. My 30th birthday was actually the 20th anniversary of my first time ever skating. I had begged my parents for several months after watching the 1988 Olympics and reading all of the related Sports Illustrated articles over and over to take me skating. I finally got to go on my birthday and I've never really stopped since. I skated as competitively as you could for growing up in Lexington, KY from the age of 10 to 17. In college, I started coaching. Since getting my bachelors degree and starting salaried 9-5 occupations, I've coached intermittently and consistently practiced even less. Still, I attended my first ever PSA conference this spring and passed two coaching "exams" (Power Skating & Hockey I). This fall I've started practicing even more. I joined the local adult synchronized skating team in Louisville, KY.
I was never a great skater but it gave me a lot of satisfaction and taught me a lot about setting goals, creating short term and long term plans to achieve goals, how to win and how to lose, some sense of "listening" to my body, and an ability to be in front of people. I learned a thing or two about classical music and dance, Cold War politics and understanding Russian accents along the way as well. The tiny voice in my head that says, "You've practiced this, you're OK, just breathe, think & have fun" that pops up before an important presentation comes straight from skating. I was reminded of all of this when I realized after my synchro practice on my birthday that I'd been skating for 20 years.
I don't think I'll ever end up coaching full-time or getting too involved in competing and performing again, but skating makes me feel great and I would still like to follow and contribute to the sport. Here's to another 20 years....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)