I'm making it sound bad, it's not though, it's a great experience for the skaters. They work hard all year, and this is their chance to show-off their accomplishments. It's also great for their confidence; whether they place first or last, going out and skating in front of the judges and the audience takes courage, and they grow from that.
This year, two of my Tweed skaters, Leah and Kate, competed. This was the third time Leah competed at EOSIC, and Kate's first. Leah competed at the Pre-Preliminary level, while Kate skated at the Preliminary level.
Due to the girls skating times, their parents were unable to attend, so we made it a girls weekend. The three of us left on Thursday night after our practice in Tweed; after getting lost, we arrived at our hotel around 10:30pm.
Leah skated on Friday, and although she skated well, she didn't place well, coming in last in a flight of 11. I didn't see anyone else in her flight, so I can't really say whether or not this was fair. She was pretty disappointed, and I thought she may get upset and end up wanting to go home immediately (her parents mentioned she gets homesick, and that if that happened, they would come and pick her up). So, to prevent that from happening we went out for lunch and I let her order a nice big chocolate milkshake!
Kate didn't skate until Saturday, so we had the afternoon to be tourists in Ottawa - and, what would be better for a group of three figure skaters then skating on the Rideau Canal! None of us had ever had the chance to do this, so it was pretty exciting. We ended up skating about 11km (5.5km one way, and then back).
Kate, Leah and I on the canal.
It was the last weekend of Winterlude while we were there, so we got to check out some of the ice sculptures, too!
Not the best picture, but this one was our favourite - a fire-breathing dragon.
It was back to the rink on Saturday for Kate's turn on the ice! I just started coaching Kate this year, and I am really happy with the progress she has made. We just started working on her axel, a jump that some people won't even land the first season, and she is already landing it! She went out on the warm-up and did a beautiful axel, one of the best I've seen her do! When it came to her solo, she fell on the first axel in her program, but landed her second one in combination. A great accomplishment! Unfortunately, she ended up placing eleventh in a flight of twelve...and I saw everyone else in her flight, and I really feel like this was an unfair result. I don't think she should have been first...or even in the top five...but, I don't think she should have been lower than eighth.
After these results, I'm really looking forward to next year when the new judging system will be used at all levels (I think). This means that following their event, they will receive a 'report card' from the judges...it will have a detailed breakdown of their marks, and what elements they gained, or lost, marks on. Currently, at Leah and Kate's levels, all the skaters get to see is their final standings.
*I wish I had more pictures of the girls skating. I had Kate take pictures while Leah was on the ice, but they are taken from too far away, and didn't turn out. And I forgot to give my camera to Leah to take pictures of Kate, but they probably wouldn't have turned out either.
No comments:
Post a Comment