Latest Scoop on the Crystallettes

The Crystallettes have had quite an eventful summer and fall! With school starting back up and the competition season kicking into gear, we have not had much time for anything except school, skating, and sleep. Over the summer, the Crystallettes trained hard on skating skills, matching movements, and breaking down each element. In September, the choreographing began. This year, we skate to “That Man” for our short program and we are taking on the roles of vampires in the free skate. Both programs are very different from one another, however, incredible to skate. It truly allows us to show off our dual personalities and have fun with the elements and creativity invested into each program. Personally, the long program is my favorite. Our coaches did a wonderful job choreographing this long program. There is always something going on in the program and it seems like the creativity never ends. The program is intense and exciting and is very theatrical. I love getting into the character of this program with my team. During our video sessions we watch our practices and see how truly amazing our programs are and the potential they have to be incredible.

The Kalamazoo Kick Off Competition was successful for the Crystallettes. We may not have skated our short program to the best of our ability, but we came out with the gold and were proud of what we accomplished. We knew we were going to have to clean up our programs quickly because the Porter Competition was right around the corner. As a coach of the Crystallette Preliminary and Intermediate team, I had quite a successful weekend. My preliminary team had a good skate with one minor fall and ended up placing third. Since Porter, my co-coach and myself have made changes to this program to challenge our skaters and improve our program to try to do better at the next competition. The intermediate team I coach skated much better at Dr. Porter than they did at the Kalamazoo Kick Off and ended up placing sixth. My co-coach and I are very proud of the improvements that they have made and the amount of hard work and dedication our skaters have put in. They improved their score by eight points at Porter. Since Porter, my co-coach and I have made necessary changes to the program based off of the feedback we received from the judges and technical panel. We are hoping to continue this positive climb to the top.

As a skater on the Crystallettes senior team, we had great official practices at Porter. We skated a solid short program with a few minor mistakes and ended up in second place. As soon as we found out we were in second place after the short program, we put it in the back of our minds to focus on our long program. This would be our first time competing the long program and we wanted our program to be intense and have an effect on the audience. We attacked the long program with everything we had; we had nothing to lose. We ended up with silver in the long program event and placed second place overall. Our coaches went and spoke with the judges and technical specialists concerning our programs to see what we can do to make our programs better. Since Porter, we have made many changes to both programs and are working very hard to keep improving our scores at the Frasier Competition in a couple of weeks.

Besides our hard work and dedication to our programs, the Crystallettes have also had many team outings to encourage team unity. We had a skater from Finland come practice with us over the summer and fall to see if she would be interested in skating with us the next season. Her name was Reeta, and she was a joy to have around. She was very sweet, caring, and had a very positive attitude at our practices, even if she did not understand a drill we were working on. It was fun to listen to her talk because she had the cutest accent! We had fun discussing the differences in our languages in between our on ice and off ice sessions. It was so sad to see her go just a few weeks ago. We got her a cake and wished her the best before she went back home for Christmas. We miss her dearly and hope to see her next year!

The Crystallettes celebrated Christmas by having a secret Santa gift exchange. We bought our secret skater three gifts and gave them two of their gifts throughout the week. Then, at the end of the week, we had our Christmas party where we had a wonderful feast and exchanged our last gift while guessing who our secret Santa was. It was truly amusing and it is always fun to have team gatherings because it brings us closer together and allows us to open up to one another and strengthen our relationships. Our coaches also got us a very memorable gift; they got all of us team USA mittens and t-shirts for the 2013 Worlds Championships in Boston. Needless to say, we were all very surprised and thrilled about these gifts. We have already made both items a part of our travel outfits for the upcoming competitions!

Our team has worked extremely hard over the past few weeks and is going to continue to push even harder with Frasier right around the corner. We are excited to show off the changes that we have made to our programs and eager to cheer on our other teams as well. Good luck to all of the teams competing at Fraser! The Crystallettes will see you there! 

Catching up with the Haydenettes

This fall the Haydenettes have been very busy with school, practices, exhibitions, and the first competitions of the season. 

Our first event this Fall was An Evening with Champions at Harvard University in September.  The Haydenettes have been performing in this show for many years.  The event supports Cancer research by donating all of its proceeds to the Jimmy Fund. We skated our short program.  Although it was very early in the season, our skate was clean and we got great feedback from members of the audience afterward.  One of the most fun parts of this event was getting to warm up with many amazing skaters including Kimmie Meissner, Emily Hughes, Jeremy Abbott, and Ryan Bradley!

October was filled with lots and lots of practicing and team bonding.  The Haydenettes and Lexettes participated in the Strides Against Breast Cancer walk in Boston.  Although it was a rainy day, the walk was successful.  Afterward, both teams went out to brunch together.  It was a fun way for us to spend time with the Lexettes.  Later in the month we had been scheduled to perform at the opening of Citi Pond and Bryant Park but were unable to do so because of the effects of Hurricane Sandy.  We were all upset by the devastation the storm caused. 

In November we had our annual Haydenettes Thanksgiving at our teammates’ house.  There was an amazing spread of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and all the other regular Thanksgiving foods, followed by divine desserts.  We celebrated like a true family.  After we finished eating, we watched Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights as a team because it is the theme of our long program this season.  The next weekend we competed in our first competition of the season, the Boston Synchro Classic.  This was a great event for us because we received a lot of feedback from the Judges and Technical Panel on our programs.  With help from them, Saga decided it would be best for us to make a change to our short program music.  Finally, at the end of the month we were able to perform at the Bryant Park Christmas Tree Lighting.  There is something very special about skating in the heart of all the tall buildings and bright lights, just a few blocks away from Broadway.  It is especially fun for the Haydenettes that have never been to New York City before. 

December has been jam-packed with skating and studying for finals! We competed at the Cape Cod Classic earlier this month.  This was the debut of our new short program themed “Addicted to the Thrill.”  It is still very new to us, but we had a good skate.  It was very fun to perform.  We are all excited about this new music! During the long program competition we had a bobble in one of the group lifts, but other than that it was a great skate.  Many of the Haydenettes who grew up on the east coast have been competing at this competition since they were very young, so we all enjoy going and seeing the little skaters that we used to be.  It is humbling and reminds us how far we have come.  We kicked off our break from skating with the Hayden Holiday Show at our home rink. 

 Now, finals are finally over and we are enjoying our Holiday break.  While we are all home relaxing with family and friends, Saga is in Finland, getting married!!! This is a very special time in her life, and we are lucky to be able to experience it with her.  Saga has witnessed most of us experience great changes in our lives including graduating from high school, moving away from home, attending college, or starting to work.  Now, we get to watch a huge milestone in her life.  We can not wait to get back on the ice with her next week to practice, and most importantly, hear about the wedding!!!!

Happy Holidays!!!

Tessa and Audrey  

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

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!!

DREAMing in Dearborn - Midwest DREAM Camp

Being a DREAM skater has been rewarding in so many ways, but one of my favorite aspects of the program is participating in the DREAM camps during the summer. This year at the DREAM summer camp I was fortunate enough to meet so many young skaters from throughout the Midwest who came to participate in the wonderful programs both on and off the ice.  The camp started off with an opening presentation that included the introduction of DREAM skaters and faculty.  The experience and knowledge of the faculty members was overwhelming, and this opening gave the skaters some background on their coaches for the day.

The day was filled with classes such as edges, elements, musical interpretation, zumba, and yoga.  The skaters learned a lot of new drills and were also able to let loose and explore the musical part of skating.  These athletes were determined to get the most out of the day.  I had fun helping them learn on the ice and dancing alongside them in zumba class. 

The day ended with a group photo and a pizza party!  The room was fully decorated in beach theme, and the skaters participated in the hula hooping and limbo contests.  I made lots of new friends, and I know the skaters did too!  This was a great opportunity for young athletes to make connections outside of their home clubs. 

I grew up skating in the Midwest, so I was thrilled to take a trip back and participate in this camp.  Thank you to the Crystallettes and Dearborn Figure Skating for hosting the event!  It was a productive and entertaining day.  

Also:  Thanks to DREAM alumni Sarah Arnold for the photos!

Summer with the Haydenettes

The Haydenettes have had a very busy summer! We started preparing for the 2012-2013 season way back in May.  We had a few practices with just the team, then our Elite Camp over Memorial Day weekend.  Elite Camp is very special because all the Haydenettes participate and get to skate next to members of other teams.  The focuses of this camp are basic skating and teamwork.  It is a great way for new members of the Haydenettes to get to know the skating style, and we all bond over our sore bodies!

In June we slowed down, having lots of free time at the beginning of the month.  Those of us who live outside of Boston got to go home and see our families! It was a good break.  At the end of June we had practices where we still worked on basic skating and coming together as a team. During the last week of June all the Haydenettes worked as counselors at the Hayden Synchro Summer Experience.  We all have an awesome time working at this camp.  It is exhausting but very fulfilling for us to get to skate with younger children and hopefully inspire them to keep skating until they are as old as us.  I was Team Leader for Team Italy.  I had a lot of fun trying to teach the little skaters how to count off in Italian, and how to wink.  We had a game going all week to see who could wink at Saga and the other Haydenettes the most.  I definitely enjoyed being silly with them! After that, Haydenettes got the entire month of July off. I went home and stayed with my family and babysat during the day.  Most of my teammates went home to visit with their families or got summer jobs. 

Now, in August, we are back to a regular practice schedule.  The first weekend of the month we all spent together in Waterville Valley, NH working on choreography in our new programs!  We worked hard on the ice together and with Saga to figure out the rule changes and how to best showcase our skills in the new programs.  Outside of the rink we did fun activities such as canoeing on the lake, swimming in the pools, going in the hot tubs, and watching the Olympics!  We also had an awesome surprise Bridal Shower for Saga where we played fun games such as “Make a Wedding Dress out of Toilet Paper!”  It was a great weekend; we all had a lot of fun.

Finally, the Haydenettes participated in our first exhibition of the season at the Tribute to Life ice show in Newington, Connecticut.  We performed an exhibition program to “Canned Heat” which all twenty of us skated in.  It was a great first performance for the team! 

 We are all looking forward to the start of the regular season and school year! - Audrey

The Coaches College/Training Festival Experience

Last week, July 25^th-29^th, the DREAM team traveled to Delaware to participate in the Coaches College/Training Festival. Last year at this festival, I participated in the event as a coach. However, this year I had the opportunity to be a DREAMer! It was a fun, educational, and rewarding experience.

The first two days of our trip were spent at the Coaches’ College.  We were fortunate enough to be allowed to go to the classes that discussed the new rules and clarifications. This synchronized skating season, I will be skating on the Crystallette senior team as well as being a coach of the Crystallette intermediate and preliminary team.  These classes were extremely helpful in distinguishing exactly what the judges and callers are looking for as a coach and a skater. As a DREAM skater, I was also afforded the privilege of demonstrating for the on ice sessions. I learned a lot of helpful drills that I will bring back and share with my teams. The sessions at Training Festival included:   turns and edges, elements, musical interpretation, freestyle moves and much more.  Focusing on the main elements and step sequences in the program was also helpful because the rules have a tendency to be clarified throughout the season and working/actively doing the elements gives me a better idea of how to explain and complete the element so that each maneuver gets called.

The Coaches College ended Friday afternoon and the Athlete Welcome was scheduled for Friday evening. At the Athlete Welcome, I was asked to give a speech on one of the challenges that I have overcome in my synchronized skating career. After some thinking, I chose to talk about having my mother as a coach. After writing my speech and practicing for hours, I was nervous but felt ready to speak in front of the athletes, parents, and coaches. I believe that the reason I was so nervous  was because I wanted to make a good impression, represent the Crystallettes with dignity and make my mom proud. In my speech, I mainly focused on how having my mom as a coach, was hard because she has always held me to a very high expectations. However, I knew she pushed me so hard because she wanted me to be the best I could be and I would not want it any other way. I love having her as my coach and enjoy making my skating memories right along side of her. Remember, if a coach, mentor or parent are tough on you, it is probably because they see something special in you and want you to succeed.  Sennet and Tessa spoke as well and it was interesting to hear their challenges along with how they overcame them. After a successful and inviting Athlete Welcome, it was time for bed because there was still a long weekend of skating ahead.

 Saturday and Sunday were two of my favorite days out of the whole trip because I got to skate with the different age/level groups in the festival. I thoroughly enjoyed working and demonstrating for the different coaches and all of the athletes attending the festival. The skaters were eager to learn and had great personalities. It was evident that all of the athletes are truly dedicated to this sport. I found that through all of my demonstrating and working with the other coaches that I acquired a ton of helpful knowledge and drills! It was very exciting to see how different all of the top coaches in the country were.  I learned many new drills that they teach their teams. I was happy that I received the opportunity to work with all of those different individuals and I am eager to share all that I have learned with my teammates and the teams I coach.

Another part of the training festival that I liked was choreographing the programs with the coaches. I had the opportunity to help choreograph the Footloose number with Josh Babb and Shannon Peterson (my mom) as well as the Across the Universe number with my mom and Brooke Sloan. Along with helping choreograph those two numbers, the DREAM team had a number to Dream Girls! After two short 50 minute practices, our DREAM program came together and was fun to perform at the exhibition. I particularly enjoyed watching the other groups perform their programs! It was clear that the athletes were having fun performing and skating with their “Festival teammates”. I am very thankful for all of the new friendships that I have made and all the information that I acquired over the weekend.  I cannot wait to see everyone at competitions this year.  Training Festival was a great experience and I am very excited to see what experiences next year’s event will bring!