Competition Season has Begun!

So, like I said in my last post, December is shaping up to be a busy month...and this weekend was a good indication of that.

Today was the first skating competition of the year for my skaters...well, my 'older' skaters, anyway. This was an Invitational competition held in the nearby town of Frankford, and three of my skaters from Tweed competed. This was a big one for two of the girls, it was the first time they competed at the STARSkate level, which is kind of a milestone in skating.

Britteny, my first skater of the day, really rose to the occasion...she skated a great program and placed FIRST! This girl is a little jumping bean...this is only my second season coaching her, but in that time, every new jump I've shown her, she's landed on the first day! Spins don't come as easy to Brittteny, but we've been working hard on them in preparation for today, and she went out and did one of the best camel/sit combination spins I've ever seen her do. The best part of the day was Britteny's attitude towards the whole thing...before she skated she kept telling me that she felt ready and knew she was going to do well...and when she finished, she knew she had done the best she could, and was proud of that...it was great. So, the first place finish was well deserved.

Jillian, my second skater of the day, also had a really good skate...probably a personal best. Jillian struggles with her jumps, and unfortunately isn't landing three of the jumps that are required in her level...she has decent attempts at all of them, but they are all under-rotated. But, she chose to challenge herself this year by moving up to a new level anyway, and I'm proud of her for that! Jillian is a natural spinner, and her spins were great, as usual. I was happy when Jillian came off the ice smiling, she was happy with her skate and knew that there was one jump combination that she could have done better, but aside from that, she had done the best she could. Her mom had videotaped her skate, and after watching it she told me she thought she might get third or fourth...I had seen some of her competition, and thought fifth or sixth was more realistic...so we were both surprised when she ended up coming in eighth (last).

And then there is Leah, she was my last skater of the day, and probably the one I was most worried about going into the competition. Leah had a pretty rough 'competitive season' last year...she competed in two competitions and placed last in both. And I knew that was weighing on her coming into this competition...that and the fact that she can't land her axel, a key jump at her level. However, a lot of kids skating at the Preliminary level can't LAND an axel, it's more about having a decent attempt...and Leah's attempt has come a long way in the first few months of this season. Her axel today was one of the better ones I've seen her do, and although she two-footed the landing, the rotation was almost there. She did have a funny little fall in her program...but we laughed it off...she was hydro-blading and she couldn't get on a deep enough edge to make it curve, she looked behind her and realized she was getting close to the boards, and she decided she had to fall to avoid crashing into them at full speed! Anyway, the fall wasn't during anything too important, so it didn't effect her too much, and she ended up placing FOURTH! A fourth I will always think of as third, because the girl who placed first is kind of in her own league...she skates in Quinte, and when I saw that she was in Leah's flight I just kinda settled on everyone else was skating for second. Either way, third or fourth, a huge victory after last years competitions.

It's been a relaxing afternoon/evening, which is always nice. Curt is away at a family Christmas party in Toronto...I had to miss it because Leah didn't skate until 2:30pm, and Curt had to be on the road around 1pm...and although I know the party would have been a lot of fun, today's competition went really well, so it was worth staying home for!