Monday, November 26, 2012

California Gold Promotes Skating in LA



It has been a crazy season for California Gold senior so far this year, and we are very excited to shift into competition mode after a few months of training. The last few weeks have been particularly crazy as we have unveiled our programs to the skating public and shown off skating to the public at large. As synchronized figure skaters, we run into the problem of trying to explain to non-skaters what it is that we do, so as a team, Cal Gold jumps on any opportunity to promote our sport.

Several Cal Gold skaters at The Queen Mary 


Around this time of year, southern Californians are desperate for a taste of winter. There are several outdoor rinks in the area that are huge attractions for people looking for the winter experience. As an LA area team, my teammates and I have been asked repeatedly to help promote these rinks, getting a little media attention for our organization and our sport, by performing. 

Emmy and Emiko with KTLA News


 In the past month, we have skated at openings for three outdoor rinks in Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Long Beach. Our team has also been featured on local news (KTLA Channel 5) as well as Univision (the number one Spanish speaking channel).  My teammate Juliana represented the team beautifully being interviewed in Spanish, and Teammate Emiko and myself spoke with KTLA.



Juliana tells Univision about Cal Gold

Its awesome to get out into the world were synchro is less well known and see people exposed to it for the first time. Kids are always so excited to come talk with us and ecstatic when we offer to zoom them around the rink. Doing all these extra events (that require a different program to fit the tiny rinks) takes a lot of extra work. In the last weeks we have skated out in the rain and outside in the dark before the sun was up, but is worth it. Anything we can do to share our love of Synchro :)  


Cal Gold skaters practice in the rain in Santa Monica






Happy Holidays!
Emmy

Thursday, November 1, 2012

How many more days until Christmas?!


Hey Synchro Skaters!!

     I know a lot of you are in school right now and it seems like a long ways away until Thanksgiving and Winter Break, but I just wanted to say how skating on a team and going to school has given me so much drive and fulfillment in my life. 
     At times, you may think it isn’t worth it to give up your time to practice, or your weekends to competitions.  I truly value my education and often felt that I should stay home and study or sleep just because I felt lazy.  But I’m really glad that I didn’t give into those feelings.  The funny thing is that my grades in school were higher when I was skating on my team as opposed to when I wasn’t!  By knowing that I had to get my homework and studying done because I had practice the next morning, I was forced to know the material and work ahead so that I wouldn't get behind.  And as far as applying for college, I was never able to start a club at my school or be in ASB, but I had my team and my vast experience with working with people and being a leader within, even when I wasn’t a team captain. 
     Skating synchro is a privilege and a learning experience.  It teaches you that you need to work hard for your place, you need to work together to reach a goal, and that you are important to the team regardless of where you stand in line. Synchro has so many life lessons to offer!

I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween!

Annaleigh

P.S. I had a mustache for Halloween!!