A New Chapter

Hey Everyone,

This blog is long overdue, but I hope that it finds everyone well at the start of our 2011-2012 seasons. I just recently started a new chapter of my life as I moved out to Oxford, Ohio to start my freshman year at Miami University. One of the hardest things about this transition, other than moving 13 hours away from my mom, dad, and younger sister, was moving away from the other huge piece of my life, my 20 “sisters” and “family”, my team, the Skyliners. After skating with the Skyliners organization for the past 9 years, there were definitely a few tears shed as I had to say goodbye, but that being said, I was excited for the new opportunity that stood ahead of me. My Skyliners coaches, including Josh Babb, Jenny Gibson, and Sarah LeBlanc Blosat, could not have prepared me better as both a skater and person for the challenges that I face in college.

The first few weeks of college were surreal as I could not believe that after 10 years of attending Miami Summer Skating Camps and always dreaming of being a Redhawk, I was finally there. The week of tryouts took me by storm, with so many amazing skaters working for just 53 spots on the varsity teams. I was beyond thrilled when I was placed on the senior team, and it was clear that one of my life long dreams was really coming true.

So far, my experience on the team has been absolutely incredible. Being a varsity athlete at a division 1 university is something so special. Although each week is busier than the next, with classes, on-ice practices, off-ice practices, and much more, you always know that you have 52 other teammates standing behind you ready to support you and help you out whenever you may need it. The veterans on the senior team were so extremely welcoming and have really helped me get through these first 3 months of completely new experiences.

Although Miami Skating gets a much later start than many other teams throughout the country, we really hit the ground running right away. In just the second week of post tryout practices, choreographer Sarah Kawahara came in to piece together the senior free skate. This was a whirlwind experience for the rookies, but ended with a very fun, creative program and 20 extremely exhausted girls. Less than 4 weeks later, choreographer Scott Brown came in to to “Jazz up” our very enthusiastic short program. At the conclusion of fall break weekend, we had 2 programs that we were completely thrilled with and had gotten a great critique from 3 U.S. Figure Skating officials. In addition to all of our busy practice schedules, the Miami teams participated in the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure, supported other Miami varsity teams in their sporting events, held spirit days at practice for homecoming week, walked in the Miami University Homecoming Parade, and had a very successful skating Parents Weekend.

This past weekend was filled with skater-parent reunions, family skates, and crowd filled performances. I was so excited to see my parents after 3 months of not seeing them. I’m so grateful that they were able to make the trip out to see all 3 teams perform their 2011-2012 competitive season programs and be here for such a nice weekend. This coming weekend both the collegiate and senior teams are looking forward to our first opportunity to skate between the periods of the hockey games making the sport better known across the campus.

Best of luck to all teams in their last weeks of practice prior to the competition season. That’s all for now! Can’t wait to see everyone at Porter!

Love & Honor,
Ashley

October with the Haydenettes

October proved to be a very busy month for the Haydenettes. The first weekend in October, the Haydenettes and the Lexettes participated in the Strides Against Breast Cancer walk in downtown Boston. Both teams enjoyed spending our Sunday morning making a difference right in our hometown. We decked out in pink and maroon attire and walked alongside the Charles River. The Haydenettes enjoyed a nice team lunch before heading to practice that afternoon.

The following week, the Haydenettes spent Columbus Day rinkside at our monitoring session. The practice went very well, and we received great feedback from the officials. After monitoring we had a great afternoon of team bonding. We had lunch together after practice then went apple picking. The weather was beautiful and we picked some tasty apples!

The third weekend in October, the Haydenettes debuted the short program at a very special event at Harvard, An Evening with Champions. The Haydenettes have participated in this event for fifteen years. It was an honor to skate between Rachael Flatt and Oksana Baiul. Another featured skater at this event was Olympic Gold medalist Yuna Kim. The audience was very supportive and responded well to our skating. We were all amused bythe “oohs” and “aahs” from the crowd when we stopped in unison at the end of our warm-up block.

The following weekend was the Hayden Synchronized Skating Teams Kick Off. All the teams skated their programs for friends and family. It is a great time of year to come together as a club and support one another. This was the first time the Haydenettes performed the long program for an audience. All of the teams looked amazing, especially for this early in the season.

The Haydenettes spent the final weekend of the month in New York City performing in the annual opening of the Citi Pond at Bryant Park. The Haydenettes love performing at Bryant Park. The audience was wonderful, not to mention the amazing rink-side scenery.

(All above Bryant Park)

photos: Mary Jane Hanlon, Ted Castro

The pre-season has flown by incredibly fast. It won’t be long until our first competition in December. We can’t wait to start the competitive season! We’ll update more as that time approaches.

-Audrey and Tessa

End of the Season Sorrows

Hi everyone! We both simply cannot believe that another season has come and gone. For Jenna, it feels as if she is beginning her first season as a Haydenette, not starting her sixth! Where has the time gone?

The Haydenettes busy schedule becomes rather scarce in April and May. Upon returnig from Worlds we get a small break before the end of the season preparation begins. That small break has never stopped us from seeing each other! Whether it be on a freestyle session at Hayden, hanging around in Boston, or even just grabbing a quick meal, we simply can not get enough of each other.

The Hayden Synchronized Skating Teams held their annual banquet on May 1st this year. This is always such a special event where all the Hayden Synchronized Skating Teams gather together to have a meal and celebrate the season. We get to be with the entire HSST club, including coaches, skaters, parents, and beloved honorary members. At the banquet we were able to watch our skates from Worlds, which we hadn't seen yet. It was great to watch the skates with our other teams; it was a bit of deja vu. Each team presented gifts to their coaches and managers, and the senior plaques were awarded as well as the coaches awards. It was finally time to separate into our own team huddles and give out superlatives! This is a small tradition that has been with the Haydenettes for quite some time. The superlatives always bring back bittersweet memories from the season. As the banquet was wrapping up, there were plenty of hugs and tears to go around, but with a great season behind us we still had one more
opportunity to skate our seasons programs.

Hayden Recreation Center holds an annual end of the year ice show called Ice Time. All the Hayden teams participate, and practices begin two weeks before the show. The Haydenettes are always reluctant heading into these practices as they are bittersweet, and we always fear our lack of stamina from our small break after worlds. There is no way to stay in shape for synchro besides skating together with your team! It is always fun to get back on the ice with no pressure, and skate the programs again. With the two Wednesday practices behind us, it was
already show time! We had plenty of fun skating our programs for the last time, and it felt good to be back on the ice with such a great group of young ladies.
Erika Hoffman reminded our team before the seasons end one of our team quotes:

"Love the sport for the pure joy of accomplishment. Love the sport for everything it can teach you about yourself. Love the sport for the feeling of belonging to a group endeavoring to do its best. Love the sport for being involved in a team whose members can't wait to see you do your best. Love the sport for the challenge of working harder than you ever have at something and then harder than that. Love the sport because it takes all team members to give it life. Love the sport because at its best, its tradition will include your contributions. Love the sport because you belong to a long line of fine athletes who have loved it. It is now your legacy. Love the sport so much that you will pass on your love to other athletes who have seen your dedication, your work, your challenges, your triumphs... and then those athletes will, because of you, love the sport. "

To the past and future synchronized skaters, keep this quote alive and always remember the person skating has made you into.

On behalf of the Haydenettes, we would like to thank each and every person who has had faith in us and who has helped us accomplish our goals. We honestly could not have reached our highest potential without the support from our families, friends, fans, and especially U.S. Figure Skating. Thank you all very much for a great and unforgettable season!!


With love,
Jenna and Noelle

Smuckers Skating Spectacular

Walking into the 2001 U.S. Figure Skating National Championships in Boston, MA at 7 years old with my parents holding my hands was such a cool feeling, and I remember loving every minute of being awestruck by the figure skaters, ice dancers, and pairs skaters as they ripped deep edges and flew through the air. Ten years later, walking into the competitors entrance at the 2011 AT&T U.S. National Championships in Greensboro, NC with my team by my side and an all access pass around my neck, I had a completely different feeling.

As we arrived the first night in Greensboro, we waited in the lobby of the official hotel and all eyes were on us. These eyes were not on us in quite the same way that they were during our exhibition at that 2011 Smuckers Skating Spectacular though. They were eyes of people staring at us and wondering what 20 girls dressed in identical clothing could possibly be doing at that hotel with all of the other very well known figure skaters. As people asked what type of group we were, we explained that we were a synchronized skating team and we would be skating in the exhibition following the competition on Sunday, but it was clear that they were still unsure of our ability and would not truly understand until they saw us skate.

Soon we arrived at the rink and were greeted with amazing southern hospitality. Walking through the underground world of the championships was something so interesting and so different from what we are used to at our synchro competitions. The atmosphere seemed much more tense as figure skaters walked around very focused and subdued with their headphones on pumping them up for their performance, as opposed to boom boxes blasting from each locker room as they are in synchro.

Heading upstairs more eyes were on us as we filled in the empty seats in time to watch the last two groups of the ladies free skate competition. A definite team favorite was the winner of the competition, Alissa Czisny, who skated a beautiful and emotion filled program. We all really admired the talent and confidence that all of the ladies had getting out on the ice by themselves.

We woke up early Sunday morning for a 6:30 am practice session on the official ice. Once we stepped on to the ice and looked up at the huge arena around us, the adrenaline kicked in immediately. We had a great practice and could not be more excited to skate on that same ice with the seats completely packed that night. We then spent the majority of the rest of the day relaxing and preparing for our performance.

Arriving at the rink for the mens competition, the attitude of the arena seemed to be a little bit different and more energetic. Watching the men skate was unbelievable. As the excitement built, the final skater in the competition, Ryan Bradley, took the ice and the crowd went wild. He skated an amazing program with expression that all of us admired and would love to put into our own programs as a team. As the scores came up and he had placed first, we went wild.

Soon it came time for us to get ready for our own performance. We treated this opportunity as we would any competition and completed our usual rituals in our locker room before lining up in the hallway. As we waited in the hallway across from the athlete lounge, we saw, waved to, and chatted with many of figure skating’s top stars including Ryan Bradley, Evan Lysacek, Mirai Nagasu, Rachel Flatt, John Coughlin, Jeremy Abbott, and Meryl Davis.

Finally it was our turn to take the ice. As we stood in our warm-up block they gave the audience our bio and explained that we would be performing our long program. As we skated our warm-up block the crowd was silent, but it gave me the chance to think what an amazing opportunity this was not only for myself and my team, but the sport of synchronized skating as a whole. When we skated our death spirals, 135’s, and our spread eagles, the crowd cheered loudly, very impressed. We skated a program full of emotion and hitting our ending pose, the crowd went wild and gave us a standing ovation. This was an overwhelming feeling for me as I realized that what we had just done was a step towards making synchronized skating a better known sport.

Walking back upstairs to watch the rest of the show, we were stopped by countless athletes and spectators to tell us what a great job we had done. I couldn’t help but smile when a few young girls asked all 20 of us for our autographs on a poster from the competition. This was a completely new experience for us all. Entering the hotel lobby, all eyes were on us once again in our matching Team USA warm-up suits, but this time it was with eyes of admiration and knowledge of exactly who we were and what we did.

Leaving North Carolina, I was filled with pride in myself, my team, and my sport. We had accomplished exactly what we had come here to do. We wanted to push synchronized skating further on to the scene and get it recognized by those who had never seen it before, and we had done just that. About 7,000 people had been in that arena Sunday night and 7,000 people had stood up and cheered not only for our performance, but to say that they enjoyed the sport of synchronized skating. For me personally, I was honored and extremely proud to be a part of that. I would like to take this chance to thank U.S. Figure Skating for this once in a lifetime opportunity and for helping us to promote synchronized skating.

Talk to you from Milan,

Ashley

2011 Smucker's Skating Spectacular

This past weekend, the Skyliners had the privilege of performing at the 2011 Smucker's Skating Spectacular that took place in Greensboro, North Carolina after the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Saturday, we went to the rink for our normal practice, but instead of walking next door to the gym after we got off the ice, we all piled into our parents' cars and caravanned over to Newark Airport. Upon arrival in North Carolina, we went to the hotel for a quick dinner then went to the arena to watch the senior ladies free skate. The stands were packed. As we watched each competitor enter the ice, we realized how nerve racking and intimidating it must be to get on the ice all alone in front of so many people, including judges, spectators, and television cameras. At this moment we knew why we are synchro skaters. We love taking the ice as a team.

Sunday morning we had an early wake up and went to the arena for practice. Although it was very early, we had a strong practice and felt confident for our performance that night.

After practice, we went to a Waffle House for breakfast. I was hungry and in the mood for pancakes. Without checking the menu, and wrongfully assuming that all breakfast places had pancakes, I asked the waitress for chocolate chip pancakes. She replied, "This is Waffle House..." Oops! Then we went back to the hotel for nap/homework time.

After our rest, we went to the rink for the Men's Free Skate. We all especially enjoyed Ryan Bradley's program. His expression was amazing and you could tell he was really enjoying himself. I was so happy for him when he won. When the competition was over we walked around the arena and did a little shopping, then went down to our locker room for hair and makeup. When we finished getting ready, we put on our dresses and skates and did our usual locker room pump-up routine.

Finally, it was time to skate. On our way from the locker room to the ice we saw all the other skaters that were performing hanging out in the Athlete's Lounge. Jeremy Abbott and Ryan Bradley wished us luck, and when Even Lysacek asked us what we skate to, we all replied, "Phantom of the Opera." He laughed and said, "You speak in unison too?" We were star struck.

Skating was surreal. The audience was huge, full of people who had never seen synchro before. They especially enjoyed our moves-in-isolation and moves-in-the-field elements. The crowd responded to our program with a standing ovation.

Overall, going to Greensboro was an awesome experience. Watching the skating was amazing and performing was incredible. We had so much fun. And to top it all off, we got a picture with Tara Lipinski at the airport on our way home!

Ci vediamo a Milano! (See you in Milan!)

Audrey

December Madness

Typically, December is a month filled with shopping, preparing for the holidays and hanging out with friends and family. Well, this month definitely was a busy one, but filled with so many exciting synchro events, that there was minimal time for shopping. Still, with all of these events came several reunions and countless hours spent with teammates.

The month started with a trip to Michigan for the Dr. Richard Porter Classic. The Skyliners junior team was excited because it was the first time we would get the chance to compete against the midwestern junior teams and a few teams from Canada. Before competing the short program, we headed to the rink to cheer on our intermediate team. As they took the ice, we (the novice team, too) cheered as loud as we could to support our fellow teammates. They wowed us once again with their fast and fun "Glee" themed program and won gold in their group.

Finally it was our turn to compete and we were so excited to show the crowd our energetic and bright program to “Don’t Rain on My Parade.” We skated well with just one small fall and were BEYOND ecstatic with our second place finish.

As we waited to perform our long program the next day, we spotted three former teammates, who now compete on two different collegiate teams, coming to cheer us on. We were very happy with the way we skated while still knowing there was room to improve. Hearing our score of 101, we were thrilled and could not believe that we had won the long program and came in second overall to one of the top Canadian teams, Gold Ice. We were extremely proud of our performance that weekend and had a wonderful experience at the Porter competition. Throughout the weekend, we were happy to reconnect with several friends we hadn’t seen in a while, as well as catch up and take a few quick pictures with our Dreammates.

The second weekend of December was upon us and we were off to Cape Cod for the second competition weekend in a row. We once again competed against the East Coast junior teams including the Lexettes, Team Image and the Synchroettes. We were really happy after competing the short program. The next day we had some time before we competed, where we were able to help the younger teams prepare for their competitions including sewing in the juvenile skaters hair pieces for their “Hairspray” program.

As the last division that night, we competed our “Phantom of the Opera” long program placing first. Cape Cod is always a fun competition that brings back so many memories of competing there year after year in the younger divisions.

Weekend number three put us into our favorite city, New York. That Friday, directly after school, we all raced to the train stations in our towns, just in time to board extremely crowded trains and meet each other at Grand Central Terminal. From there, we traveled together to the Chelsea Piers rink, home of the Skating Club of New York, for the annual "Holiday on the Hudson" skating show. We had a great time spending the night together as a team and performing under the spotlights in front of a crowd that doesn’t often get to see synchronized skating.

Finally, this last week of December has been spent busily preparing for the Junior World Team Selection Competition to be held next week in Fond du Lac, Wis. We have spent this week at the rink, once again, for our “Christmas Bootcamp,” as we like to call it. It has been hard, but a lot of fun and we have loved getting to spend so much time together. We are extremely excited to compete again next weekend and cannot wait reunite with friends from all over the country.

See you all at Fondy,

Ashley and Audrey

Bryant Park Christmas Tree Lighting and Dr. Porter

Hi, everyone! It's Jenna and Noelle here.

Our strenuous weekend started out in New York City on Thursday for the annual Bryant Park Christmas Tree Lighting. Driving down New York's famous 5th Avenue, the Haydenettes got in the holiday spirit while window shopping from the bus as we rushed through traffic. We opened the Christmas Show skating to "Let it Snow" and "White Christmas." We shivered along the boards in our dazzling new dresses, waiting in anticipation for the band to set up. We then warmed ourselves up with some hot cocoa and tea. We got to chat with Michael Weiss and the Reed siblings, a dance team from Japan, while waiting to perform our short program. Closing the show with our short program, we then helped count down to the lighting of the tree. We got one more enchanting look at the city decked in lights before heading to the bus en route to Boston.

Arriving back in Lexington late Thursday night, we headed to a few skaters' houses for various slumber parties. We were woken up early with a delicious breakfast before heading to the airport. We weren't the only sports team boarding the plane to Detroit. The Harvard men's basketball team just cleared the plane's ceiling (literally) right next to us! After arriving in Detroit, we were able to settle into our rooms, have a quick rest and prepare for our unofficial practice ice. We had a strong practice, but we were all eager to hop in bed!

Saturday morning we woke up to muffins and bagels in the hair and make-up room. We got a chance to eat and get ready for official practice at the Ice Cube. Our official practice was extremely strong. The Haydenettes returned to the hotel feeling confident for the night's performance.

For lunch, we headed to downtown Ann Arbor. This year's team is keen on playing "contact," a guessing game we learned from technical specialist and former Haydenette Caite Renzi. Two of our teammates were able to stump us for a whole 24 hours! On the bus ride back, we practiced our countoff numbers in Finnish, French, Spanish and Japanese.

After arriving back at the hotel, we had a little break before starting our competition preparations. After some Haydenette traditions, we arrived at the rink more than prepared to compete! All in all, our short program was thrilling and exciting for us to compete for the first time. Although we struggled to hear our scores, we saw our parents' excitment and soon realized how well we had done.

Sunday morning came faster than expected, and we were up and at 'em quite early. Long program official practice went well. After some reassuring words from Saga and our teammates, we felt ready to take on our next performance. We quickly packed, got ready and headed back to the rink to compete our long program.

Skating to Cirque du Soleil's "Kooza Dance," a burlesque piece, we took the ice first in the second group. We were pleased with our skate and all that we had accomlished this weekend. Placing second overall gave us confidence for this season. With the feedback from the judges and protocols, we are ready to head back to work!


The Haydenettes had a great weekend in New York City and Ann Arbor. We were excited to see all our competitors, realizing that the competitive season has begun! We wish everyone a happy and safe holiday!

We can't wait to see our East Coast teams next weeked at the Cape Cod Classic.

Love,

Jenna and Noelle