She represented the Anchorage Figure Skating Association (apparently up until this article lol)... she's an Alaskan (though they don't seem to claim her up here, at least they didn't in the last event newsletter I read... disappointing as she's an amazing skater IMHO)
I really liked watching her in Portland and in St. Louis and I hope she continues in success as she seems to be doing...
it saddens me that while she moved out due to her father's career many other Alaskan skaters have to move out of state to get decent coaching and ice time... with my brother starting up skating and taking it quite seriously (as much as he can in a town that doesn't give a rip about much of anything winter sports [not including snowboarding lol]) my mom is worried that if the kid actually starts "getting really good" we'll be between a rock and a hard place...
sad "skate" of affairs for Alaska figure skating... (though Anchorage seems to be getting its act together...)
oh and just as a side note, not all of us up here skate... she made a major overgeneralization lol... most skate, but it's "recreational" or at best "hockey" lol
I wonder if she will find Eastern Sectionals easier than Pacific Coast? I assume she'd get a bye past regionals, but if not, I'd say that PNW was much easier than Mid-Atlantic. I sometimes skate at her rink....Its not that nice - but being from Alaska myself - the only "good" rink in the Anchorage area was UAA...Ben Boke was old and Dempsey (sp) Anderson was so-so...there was a nice rink in Eagle River if I recall....The Big Dipper up in Fairbanks was okay...If I recall it had this wall of mirrors....
Alaska skating does suffer from its geographic isolation. Most of the skaters who end up in Jr/Sr's and do well, have to move out of state. The others that test that high, have to make do with what the state has. I'm wondering how long it will be untill Keegan Messing has to move to remain competitive.
UAA inactive? what happend? that use to be the best place to skate - really bright and good ice. Do tell....
They still hold Rondy on Ice there don't they?
Ben Boke was so dark...at least the side with the bleachers was. The other side - where we would compete was better. It just seemed more like it was catering to the hockey crowd. Ice rinks are hardly "nice" places, but Ben Boke was okay.
What hapend to Dempsey Anderson? And what is the name of that rink in the Eagle River area - I had a stroking class there once - years ago, and it was a new building and very nice.
Darby - yes Rondy is still held at UAA, but AFAIK the ice is always being worked on by the UAA facility... something about faulty pipes... I personally feel they're just making it up so that they can get a new sports facility and bump my tuition even higher
as for the skating news, I'm not a skater, and really I'm just starting to learn about Anchorage skating info. But if you're not a skater and not related to one it's difficult. For whatever reason they don't understand why someone who isn't related to someone on the ice is even interested... and they wonder why they don't have a lot of local support lol