once again lincoln skaters test in omaha

Lindy Pearson tested and passed Preliminary Moves in the Field and Preliminary Freestyle on December, 11th. Lindy is coached by Brad Newman. Other Lincoln Skaters attempted to pass their levels but Lindy was given the nod from at least two out of the three judges.

Lindy Pearson started figure skating in 2005 when she was in 5th grade. In August of this year she passed her Pre-Preliminary Moves in the Field and Pre Preliminary Free Skate and in December passed the Preliminary Moves in the Field and Preliminary Free Skate. Her favorite skaters are Michelle Kwan and Sasha Cohen and her favorite jump is a Lutz. Now at age 14 she enjoys helping on Saturday morning with Learn to Skate and plans to compete for the 1st time in the 2010 Winterfest competition in Omaha in February.

Perfecting skating skills level in order to test in front of a panel of USFS judges is the ultimate goal of most skaters. It requires hours of practice and attention to the tiniest details. Most judges would agree that a skater must train beyond what they feel would be a passing score, because a skater will lose about 10% of their skill when testing. This is due to the nerves and stress of the testing.

Please congratulate Lindy next time you see her at the rink.

Don't miss out!

We are very excited to announce that the Winning Edge will be bringing the Traveling Store right into the Ice Box . This will be your chance to Christmas shop for your special skater.

On December 12th, Phil from the Winning Edge will set up his Traveling Store in the lobby of the Ice Box for your Christmas shopping. For those of you who have never shopped at the Traveling Store, Phil brings many products, such as skating dresses, gloves, soakers, skate guards, tights, and even some skates. If you need something in particular, I would suggest you e-mail the Winning Edge and ask Phil to bring it down. The e-mail address is winingedge@aol.com

Or visit the web site to look at their many products.
The website is: http://www.skatewear.com/

The following Saturday, December 19th, Phil has agreed to come back and sharpen skates. So keep that date in mind for skate sharpening.

I would also like to ask that the parents and skaters check out our own fancy “gloves “ for sale. These have stoned by a couple of very creative board members. Think of stocking stuffers when you see them.
These are reasonably priced and are going fast. Prices vary due to complexity of design and glass crystals compared to Swarovski crystals. This last Saturday I noticed the pair I was admiring showed up on one of the Learn to Skate skaters. So I missed out.

Our fundraisers have been a huge success. The wreaths have turned out to be excellent quality and will certainly be easy to market next year. Rada knife sales are brisk and we should have delivery of those soon. The Apple Toss was very successful and lots of fun. Thank you to all the Linder family, the Pearson family, the entire Adamczyk family, two of the Casper boys, and my sister for selling all those apples. See a picture of one of our top apple sellers.

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

Let's Make Some Money!

This year the ice at the Ice Box will cost the club $42,000 by the end of April. Most skaters and parents have no idea that frozen water could cost that much. In fact it is hard to imagine even as some of us old timers that the cost is so high. The great majority of the Learn To Skate money goes to the USFS and the coaches and some ice costs. In order for the club not to raise the ice fees this year we will need to raise some serious cash. Over the years we have participated in many fund raisers from car washes to gift wrapping to selling apples for the Star’s Apple Toss to help pay for the ice. This year we have decided to have two or three major fund raising opportunities.

The Board has carefully selected two fund raising opportunities for the club and the Learn to skate to participate in. The two we have chosen have universal appeal and a good profit margins for the club.
The two that I am going to describe are the major projects for the fall. The first one is selling Rada Cutlery, which consists of primarily high quality knives at a reasonable price. I have personally used this brand of knife and find them very sharp and long lasting. We will have some samples of the knives at the rink to look at. The markup is respectable which should give the club a profit. Candles, cookbooks, other cooking utensils, and packaged dips are included in this collection. Brochures will be available at the rink along with ordering information. We will begin this campaign on Saturday, October 10th and will wrap it up on November 21st. If each skater could sell just ten items, we feel that this would boost funds to keep ice prices down.

The second fund raiser is selling wreaths and evergreen products from Hacker’s Christmas Trees in Minnesota. They are made up of balsam fir and mixed greens, with berries and a red bow. They will be reasonably priced. They have a nice colored brochure that should make this product easy to sell. The brochure and ordering blank will be available at the rink during learn to Skate and the club skates. The campaign begins this Saturday, October 10th and ends October 31st. This is a very short selling time period. If every skater sold ten items the club would benefit.

Skaters can choose to sell both items or one of the fund raising choices. The board expects everyone to participate in order to keep ice prices down. Once the brochures are here, sales kits will be available with everything one needs to take orders. If you have an aversion to selling products to your friends and families, a donation is always welcomed. Please pitch in and help us make this year a success. The club needs your help to prevent ice prices climbing higher. We have a great club and we want to secure the future of ice skating in Lincoln.

Ice, Ice, Ice

• Ice, Ice, Ice
  
  It’s finally almost here. I’m talking about the ice. Most of the population does not look forward to the coming of winter and the ice. Skaters always look forward to the ice coming back to the coliseum on the State Fair grounds. When the compressors come roaring back to life, ice should be ready for our Family Fun Skate on Saturday September, 19th from 8:00 to 9:30AM. Admission is $7.00 per skater with a small additional fee for skate rental. There will be drawings for prizes throughout the session. You must be present to win. So come, skate, and enjoy snacks and coffee or hot chocolate. We look forward to seeing all the returning skaters plus some new faces too. Board members will be on hand to answer any questions you have about the program and the club.
  
  
  Don’t forget about joining the Star City Figure Skating Club! You might be saying, “Well, why would I join the club, especially with increasing membership fees?” Here are a few reasons with more to be found on the USFS web site.

• You get to skate on club ice. That’s four more hours per week to practice and pass Learn to Skate levels.


• You get a chance to have a solo in the Spring show and be in a group number through the Learn to Skate.


• You are eligible to sign up for edge, stroking or footwork classes that have been offered in past years.


• You would be eligible to participate in USFS testing and other activities through the Lincoln and Omaha clubs.


• You can become an assistant to a Learn to Skate coach, once you have passed the basic eight levels.


• You will receive this great magazine that has articles on your favorite skaters, plus exercises and tips for skating every month from USFS.


• It’s fun!
  
  Please ask for a membership form immediately so you don’t miss out on anything! Deb Morgan will have the forms at her table. There will also be a list of private coaches if you want to get a jump on getting just the right coach for your skater. Skaters with private coaches have been shown to progress faster through the levels and have higher confidence levels.
  
  Also pick up a Learn to Skate signup form...............because lessons start Saturday, September 26th. With this being an Olympic year, it will be a big year for ice skating.
  I will be on hand this first week teaching parents and skaters how to lace up their skates properly so ankles stay upright. We can also look at the blades to assess the sharpness and recommend sharpening if necessary.
  
  Nance Harris is once again our “Testing Chair” this year. There is a testing session in Omaha on September 25th. If anyone needs testing forms, please contact Nance at; nharris@nebtrucking.com or call Nance at her home number 484-7226.
  
  PS. The website is promised to be up after this weekend. Check it out – http://www.starcityfsc.org/
  

Lincoln Skaters Pass Tests

We have had a great summer for the number of tests passed. Congratulations go to Laura Barry for passing Pre-Preliminary Freestyle and Lindy Pearson for passing Pre-Preliminary Moves and Pre-Preliminary Freestyle on August 22 in Omaha. Both skaters are coached by Brad Newman.

A Perfect Place to Skate

It was my second visit to the Sun Valley Resort in Idaho. Imagine if you can, skating in the bright sunlight against a clear blue sky and never being cold enough to wear gloves. This is truly what heaven must be like for an ice skater. Anyone who has been to Sun Valley will recognize it as paradise.

The rink is an open air arena with a sunscreen over the top and beautiful flowers surrounding the grounds. A restaurant and a grand old lodge are on one side of the rink. There are no walls or glass marked up with hockey pucks surrounding the ice.

After the public skating sessions the professional skaters and competitors come to practice. Anyone can sit and watch as they warm up triples and other components of their programs. Ryan Bradley and Brian Boitano made appearances as they were preparing for the Sun Valley Ice Show.

I was fortunate enough to book three lessons with Ty Cochran, a marvelous dance coach who spends his summers coaching in Sun Valley. Once my lessons were over, I decked my four-year old granddaughter, Lexie, in one of Daisy’s creations from the Skate Shop and had Ty skate with her. Watching him instill the magic of skating into this four year old warmed my heart. After a few minutes Ty had Lexie doing rocking horses and wiggling backwards. Then he would scoop her up and perform a breathtaking stunt with her while we all looked on with amazement. Lexi did not want to leave the ice when the session was over and stood in the middle crying daring her father to come out onto the ice in his tennis shoes to remove her. This is the true sign of a future ice skater.

When Lexie returns home to Kansas City, there will be a new rink in Lee’s Summit opening sometime in November. This will be where Lexie can begin her Learn to Skate lessons. Learn to Skate lessons provide all skaters with the basic skills to perform the spins and jumps correctly. Now is the time to get ready for the start of the Learn to Skate Program with Star City Figure Skating Club. The first session starts September 26th. Registration for the sessions will follow soon in an e-mail. Don’t miss out on all the fun this fall. Sign up early for the early bird discount.

Testing, testing, testing

Lincoln Skaters Pass USFS Tests This Summer.

USFS Testing can take your skating to a new and higher level of accomplishment. This type of testing is different than the Learn to Skate testing. This type of testing involves paying a fee to a sponsoring club and filling out a test form to be submitted to the sponsoring club. All testing was sponsored this year by the Omaha clubs, Blade and Edge and Omaha Figure Skating Club. Tests are conducted in the following areas of skating: Moves in the Field, Free Style, and Dance and Pairs. There are other areas of testing, but these are the most common ones. Rules and regulations determine who is eligible to test and at what level they can test. At the higher levels three judges sit on a panel to judge the test. The skater must receive a passing score from at least two of the three judges. As the difficulty of the tests increase the length of preparation for those tests also increases. It can take several months to a year of practice to be ready to test. Your coach helps decide when the skater may be ready to attempt a test. Judges look for edge quality, power, form, and pattern when they judge an element. Those skaters receiving passing scores from two judges are eligible to test at the next level. If you are interested in learning more about testing, you may consult The Official US. Figure Skating Rulebook or go to http://www.usfigureskating.org/ website. All coaches are familiar with the USFS testing format.

The club would like to congratulate those skaters who have passed USFS skating tests in June and July of 2009.

Jaz Ocampo for passing her pre-preliminary moves in the field and free style. She is coached by Judy Cobb.
Chris Nguyen for passing his juvenile free skating.
Jennifer Nguyen for passing her free style skating test. Both Chris and Jennifer are coached by Jason Dillworth.
Mike Barwig for passing his adult silver moves in the field. He is coached by Brenda Bader in Omaha.
Erin Mansur for passing her Juvenile moves in the field. Jerry Wheeler in Omaha coaches her.

News Flash!
Carolyn Dow has been reinstated as a USFS judge. Congratulations Carolyn. It’s nice to have you back.

Hey Gang,
We have some exciting updates on the Breslow Ice Center from one of our dearest members.
Nance Harris and Sue Herman report that the word from the Mayor's office is;

"The Breslow ice Center is actually progressing along nicely. The City is working closely with the University Foundation . Mr. Breslow , the major donor for the project, really wants the Ice Center to be a part of the larger West Haymarket redevelopment project. He likes the location of the south end of the redevelopment so we have been working with everyone to design and place the center there.........the Univeristy is also interested in the Ice Center so they can keep the teams here rather than having them drive to Fremont. Mr. Abel is also one of the 2015 members who is also contributniog a lot of time and money to make the whole West Haymarket redevelopment come together."

"Right now, we are finishing up negotiations with the railraods since the proposed location for the Breslow and the rest of the redevelopment is on railroad land. Those discussions are going well and everyone remains enthused about bringing our many months of planning and work to the voters in May."

Nance goes on to report from the Mayor's office that "Even if the vote fails, the Breslow Ice Center goes forward." Last word from the Mayor's office is, "I promise you will be strapping on those skates before you know it."

Thanks Nance, for taking the bull by the horns and asking the questions.
We wait patiently for this wonderful facility.

Skating with the Stars

June 5th and 6th Lincoln Skaters headed to Omaha to participate the Clinic with the Stars with Ryan Bradley and Steven Cousins. Both male skaters had a list of accomplishments that seemed to go on forever. Steven Cousins was the first Briton to land a Triple Axel in competition. Ryan Bradley most recently was the 2009 National Pewter medallist.

We started out with a strenuous off ice warm-up. All skaters know they are supposed to warm-up off ice before attempting anything on ice. We just are so eager to get onto the ice that we often skip the off-ice warm-up. After lacing up our skates we began with edges and the proper preparation and technique. The adults liked this part the kids wanted to move on to the more exciting jumps, which came all too soon for some of us. We learned the correct preparation for the waltz and the axel. We also learned that the toe loop is one of the most complicated jumps of all the jumps. This came as a surprise to me.

After four or five hours our toes were frozen and our feet were aching. Still there was more to come. The next hour was spent on a group number. I must say this was fun until it was my turn to jump and spin. My wobbly legs just couldn’t jump or spin respectfully. I retired for the day. But the others made it to the end.

I wasn’t there for the second day, but reports were just as exciting. I saw most of the program and I must say we all got some good ideas for large numbers as in show finales.

This next week I will be out in Sun Valley skating with some stars. I can not wait to share this experience with you.

Here we go!

Hello members of the Star City Figure Skating Club,

One of my goals to stay in touch with the members of the club. I plan to add new information every other week to keep members informed. I am also going to try to post the minutes on the blog and pictures of members and their accomplishments.

With this type of format, members can comment and make suggestions about topics.

One of the first items I would like to post concerns some wonderful accomplishments of our club members. I have posted a picture of Nance Harris and Mike Barwig, who earned a silver medal at this year's Adult Nationals. They climbed from 4th place to second place this year and we are so proud of them.

Our second congratulations goes to Ashley Rexroth who passed level six of Free Style at the end of this year's season. She is also a junior assistant for our Learn to Skate on Saturday morning. She is pictured below at this year's end show. We are very proud of her.

That's all for now. Let's see if I can get this to post.