officials

Events update: international competitions; summer clinic in B.C.

A couple of quick updates about coming events:

Competitions

I’ve updated the Events page with the ISU’s 2011-2012 international competitions schedule. Most competitions don’t have an event website yet, but I’ll add these as I find them. I’ve moved links to last year’s events to an Archive page.

Of note: a Senior international is scheduled to take place in London, Ontario at the end of December. If it goes ahead, it will be the first international event (other than Worlds) to take place in Canada in a number of years.

Also of note: The World Junior Championships are referred to as just that on this year’s schedule–World Championships–rather than having the usual World Challenge Cup designation. I don’t know if that means next year’s event will be the first official World Championship for Juniors, or if it could just be a typo. Stay tuned.

Summer Synchro Clinic in B.C.

The B.C. Section is hosting a summer synchro clinic in Burnaby on July 23 & 24, 2011 featuring world-level coach and ISU Technical Committee Member, Cathy Dalton. On- and off-ice sessions for Pre-Novice synchro/Senior Bronze level to Senior synchro/Gold level skaters will focus on individual and team skills. An on-ice seminar for coaches will focus on teaching techniques for element variations, and Cathy will also conduct an ISU technical update for coaches, officials, and managers.

UPDATE: The deadline to register has been extended to June 30, 2011. The registration form is available here.

New rules! New rules! ISU Comm. 1678 published to kick off 2011-2012 season

[Update: Since my first read-through of this in May, I’ve noticed a few items below that require corrections or clarifications. Revisions/additions are indicated with bold, italic text in square parentheses. (Oct. 12, 2011)]

Few things make true synchro nerds giddier than the release of the upcoming season’s rules and regulations from the ISU. I suspect I wasn’t the only person who spent my day trying to stealthily scan the contents of the newly published Communication 1678, in between stints of doing actual work. I haven’t had time to thoroughly dissect the new doc yet, but I thought I’d present a quick overview of some of the changes before my inspiration waned. (It is patio season, after all.) (more…)

32 blades. 16 skaters. 1 heart.

My name is Chelsey, and I adore synchronized skating.

I despised the first few years of my skating “career.” My parents enrolled me and my brother in CanSkate simply so we’d be able to hold our own at public sessions when we went skating with our classmates. I had to be dragged to the rink early Saturday mornings, and was filled with contempt as I sat perched atop the tall wooden bleachers in the arena and watched my parents tie my skates for me.

I remember noticing the precision teams performing in the club carnival when I was 9 or 10, and thinking it looked a lot more interesting and fun than skating alone. I joined a team when I was 11. I’d be lying if I said my love affair with the sport was instant. There were some rough patches the first few seasons–which should not come as a shock to anyone who’s ever spent significant amounts of time with large groups of adolescent girls–and at times I was certainly tempted to quit. But I held on just long enough so that something finally clicked…drew me in with a force that I couldn’t, and didn’t want to elude. I never looked back.

I competed for 16 years, up to the national Senior level, and when my desire to improve the sport grew stronger than my desire to compete, I became an official.

My time spent as a Technical Specialist and judge has been far more rewarding than I ever could have anticipated. I don’t know that anything will ever quite beat the rush of having one of “those” skates–the kind where for a few minutes in time, you’re mentally, emotionally, and physically connected to every one of your teammates in a way that’s hard to describe to anyone who hasn’t experienced it–but having the opportunity to offer teams feedback, educate coaches and skaters, and discuss skating ad nauseam with other like-minded officials has provided another level of excitement and inspiration I wasn’t quite expecting.

So. All that said, why create this blog?

In a nutshell–to share. To share information. To share experiences. To share insight into sometimes cryptic rules and communications, from an official’s perspective. To share ideas. To share memories. To share a love of the sport.

Welcome. I hope you’ll enjoy your time here.

– Chelsey