Figure skating club’s competition season underway
With the holiday season well underway and snow flurries finally arriving in Cache Valley, the time to embrace winter is now. Whether a blanket and a warm cup of cocoa, or sledding down Old Main hill is your way of ringing in a frigid winter, everybody has their own. For the Utah State University figure skating club, winter means competition season.
The USU figure skating club is an unfunded club sport through Campus Recreation that welcomes all students to participate in the elegant Olympic sport of figure skating.
The club has two parts, a competitive team and a non competitive team. The non competitive team welcomes any USU student who wants to learn how to figure skate without the pressure of competing. The competitive team learns and practices different skills and routines, which they then take to competitions against teams from other schools.
Club president Kyra Hoctor shared the locations of this year’s competitions, including a potential trip to nationals.
“We had one in November in Fort Collins, Colorado, and then our next one will be in January in Denver, Colorado. And then our last one is in February, and that’s in Los Angeles. If we make it to nationals, that would be in Lake Placid, New York,” Hoctor said.
Hoctor, a native of Charlotte, North Carolina, is in her third year as a member of the club. She is a junior in the kinesiology program and hopes to get accepted into the University of Utah after graduation to go to physical therapy school. Hoctor says it was the scenery that led her to USU over her other school choices.
Hoctor began skating at the age of two and has “quite the arsenal” of medals, but insists that is not a requirement to join the club.
Hailey Cullumber Members of the USU figure skating club pose at the Eccles Ice Center on Friday, Dec. 1.
“We have some members that have just started, like some even just started this year,” Hoctor said. “We have some that grew up in the sport and then quit when they got into high school, and then came back into it when they found out that USU had a club.”
One of those members who got their start in figure skating at USU is third-year Ph.D. student Kat Adams. Adams had never skated prior to her time at USU — not during her undergraduate studies at the University of Virginia, where she studied kinesiology, or during her master’s program at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
“I took the [figure skating] class my first spring, and I could barely even stand up on ice skates. It’s been really gratifying, and in the big picture, I’m still quite bad, but I’m a lot better than I was,” Adams said.
Adams said at competitions, participants compete in many different events, similar to her preferred sport growing up: gymnastics.
“I competed for the first time earlier this month,” Adams said. “I just did free skate, and then I’m doing ice dance at our next competition, and I’m really excited to do pattern dance. I also have done ballet and jazz, so I like being able to just kind of, not have to think too much, and just be able to dance around on the ice.”
Senior Emmaline Haderlie also joined the club after taking the class. Haderlie is a biochemistry major and hopes to get into medical school following her graduation from USU.
“I started in the class here at USU and I was like, ‘I really like it,’” Haderlie said. “And then I joined the club, so this is my third year.”
Haderlie says her favorite part of the club is seeing the progress both she and her teammates make.
“I love the club. I love how inclusive it is. I hadn’t skated before college, so I was able to learn a new sport. I was able to compete, which was really inspiring,” Haderlie said. “I love seeing how people progress, because I feel like it’s an escape, or it’s a sport that can see a lot of progression, especially when you haven’t skated before, and I loved getting to know my coach who is actually part of the club.”
Like all club sports at USU, the figure skating club is entirely student-run, meaning many of the participants have additional responsibilities. In addition to her normal responsibilities as a member of the team, Haderlie also runs the social media accounts for the club.
“I pretty much just take pictures of people during practices and during our competitions. I try to reach out to other clubs on campus and reach out to other figure skating clubs throughout our area. We go all the way from California to like Arizona, Colorado, pretty much the Northwest area. I try to comment and just show that we care about the other bigger skating clubs that are in the area. And then I just try to make my skaters look the best that I can,” Haderlie said.
One thing the club has yet to accomplish is hosting a competition at the Eccles Ice Center. Hoctor says her main goal for next year is to accomplish that feat.
“It takes a lot of effort and funding and approval from higher-ups in the figure skating world, but it’s definitely a goal,” Hoctor said.
While they may not have a home competition this year for Aggies to attend and learn about the sport of figure skating, they do have a “Winter Show” on Dec. 9.
“It’s a show held by the Cache Valley Figure Skating Club, which is like the main club here for all skaters, not just collegiates. We’re performing in the first show, which is at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, the ninth,” Hoctor said.
Those interested in figure skating can sign up for the USU figure skating class or join the club at usu.edu/campusrec/competitive-sports/club-sports/figure-skating.
The club will also participate in the Winter Wonderland program hosted by the Cache Valley Figure Skating Club on Dec. 9 at 5:00 p.m. in the Eccles Ice Center. Tickets are $5 at the door or $3 with a canned food donation.