slo’s THURSDAY 12/5 poll - Ice Skating ⛸️

[E&Cmom]

I skated as a child and teen. Not great but I managed. Loved roller skating. Last time I went ice skating was probably in my mid 20s.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

I went once when I was a kid. I remember pulling myself around the rink by the handrails and loathing the entire experience. I never went again, and probably couldn't even stand up on skates now.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

It has been a loooooong time since I have done that. Back in the day, (like the 90's) it was fun although it was a rare opportunity and I was not any good at it. I used to be able to fall a lot and not worry about it. Now I would be afraid of breaking something.

 

[AppleDumpling]

It’s been a long time, but I ice skated as a child and as an adult. At both indoor and outdoor rinks, and also on a small local lake. In college, I took a figure skating class for a PE requirement, where I learned to skate backwards and do a simple spin.

 

[mantysk8coach]

As my user name discloses, I’m a sk8coach of the ice skating variety lol. My schedule has decreased as I got busier with life, but I still coach two days a week, teaching Learn to Skate classes and 3 synchronized skating teams. It’s been a part of my life for 30 years, and even before that I skated on public rinks as a kid. I can’t imagine what my life would be like had I not had figure skating in my life. Thank you Tonya and Nancy for getting me interested in the sport!

 

[KPeterso]

I skated competitively as a kid. It was definitely my sport. I could land all my doubles except the double axel (which I had moments of brilliance on and not so brilliant ones). In college, I played hockey on the women’s team. I played a lot of defense as I was so strong a backwards skater (lol). I then coached for a few years as a second job. I eventually stopped since I moved to an area with not many rinks and no reputation in the skating world in the area.

 

[kimmar067]

...the last time I went ice "skating" [and I use that term loosely] I was wearing a brand new pair of Jordash jeans - I left blue marks all over the ice.

 

[NotUrsula]

I have never tried ice skating. South Louisiana, didn't have any opportunities for that. I am way, way too old to risk breaking a hip, to try it now.
But I've brought the kids a few times, here and there, older son did hockey for several years.

There actually was an ice rink in Baton Rouge for many years in the 70s and 80s; it was a two-rink complex behind Cortana Mall; one ice and one roller. That rink closed some years ago, but there is a new ice rink now in Lafayette called Planet Ice.

As for me, I'm more of an Ice Mom than a skater these days; I have issues with muscle cramping in my left foot that have caused me to fall a few times too many in recent years. (I was an avid roller skater as a teen in the 70s; got fairly decent at it, so when I moved north the first thing I did was sign up for Learn to Skate lessons because I'd always wanted to ice skate. I still love it but cannot spend too long on the ice without cramping up and falling.) My youngest child is a competitive figure skater on a nationally ranked synchro team. Up until she got her drivers license I spent a LOT of time at the rink, and I still volunteer in a big way with her club.

My DD teaches adult Learn to Skate classes; she has a lot of students in their sixties and even one lady in her 70s. Adult Figure Skating is enjoying a lot of growth right now, because it's fun and very social, and excellent for fitness and especially balance.

Our club is the regional synchro hub here, and one thing I'd like to mention is that Adult and Master's synchro teams are a great social and fitness activity. Synchro is mostly a women's sport, but men are also welcome to participate; the discipline is not gender-specific. You usually don't even really need to initially know how to skate beyond staying on your feet to participate in an Open-level team. Competitive Adult & Master's teams attract a lot of former youth competitors who really enjoy taking up the sport again and making a lot of new friends in an atmosphere that is much less pressure than singles or pairs competition. So, if you've always wanted to learn, or if you used to compete and could use a good fitness opportunity, contact your local USFSA or ISI club and give it another try.

 

[mantysk8coach]

I’m a low-level synchro coach, and I’d LOVE to skate on an adult team! I’m too old and far-gone from my competitive days to go back to solo skating, but I’d LOVE to be on a team. We’ve had a few area clubs try to start up adult teams, but they never really took off.

And yay fellow synchro person! Synchro doesn’t get nearly the recognition it deserves. I’m constantly having to explain it to people who ask me about my coaching. It’s just so mesmerizing to watch, especially at the top levels.

 

[NotUrsula]

I’m a low-level synchro coach, and I’d LOVE to skate on an adult team! I’m too old and far-gone from my competitive days to go back to solo skating, but I’d LOVE to be on a team. We’ve had a few area clubs try to start up adult teams, but they never really took off.

And yay fellow synchro person! Synchro doesn’t get nearly the recognition it deserves. I’m constantly having to explain it to people who ask me about my coaching. It’s just so mesmerizing to watch, especially at the top levels.

We had a slow start with Adult, but after the pandemic I think a lot of people decided to revisit their "I always wanted to" list, and our adult program just took off. We now have Adult, Open Adult, and Masters. Most of the Adult Team are fairly recent college skaters, and they are doing especially well, medaling frequently. (All of the "Adult Empire" teams have a LOT of fun with it.) We have 10 teams in the entire program.

I agree about Synchro not getting enough attention; I find that people really like it once they get a chance to watch. Part of it is the ever-present danger in high-level competition. One of my favorite things to do at events is to watch Jr. or Sr. official practice from about the second row; it's always a thrill to get my hair blown back when they come flying past the boards at full speed.

 

[loves to dive]

I don't ice skate, I'm the most un-sports like person around. I grew up with 5 older brother's, all of whom did every sport out there. Being the only girl I didn't have to so didn't. When we lived in Ohio, my brother's did skate on the frozen ponds and I did try it. It did not end well for me, although they enjoyed watching it. Never tried it again.

 

[AlyssaBunny]

Being in the Boston area theres a lot of figure skating around here. I am on an open adult synchro team, on a theatre on ice team, as well as coaching LTS & skating individually.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Although I don't ice skate now, it's not for the reason most people don't. It's that we don't get ice. Average mid-December weather here is 73 degrees, so we hardly ever get ice or snow. But in my younger days in Massachusetts, I owned my own ice skates and ice skated regularly. Not as much as roller skating though!