2019-20 British & Irish Figure Skating

[CaroLiza_fan]

Joan's death was a big loss for British Ice Dance (the tributes paid to her by so many skaters say everything). But, I am sure she would be delighted to see how good a shape British Ice Dance is in at the moment.

We can all see how strong the Senior scene is getting, and I for one can't wait to see Sasha and George face off against Lilah and Lewis. See who will have the upper hand in the Battle Of The Fear Sisters. Admittedly, there is a bit of a question mark over just who will be competing at Junior level. But, there is hope for the future at Novice level.

Ashlie Slatter and Atl Ongay-Perez, from London, have been enjoying a lot of success at Intermediate Novice level this season. And they have been featured in an article on Ice-Dance.com, written by the OP of this very thread.

https://www.ice-dance.com/site/slatter-ongay-perez-a-stellar-season-for-a-young-dynamic-british-duo/

Such a promising young partnership. And, as comes through very clearly in this article, they may be very young, but they certainly have their heads screwed on.

All the best to them for whenever the season does eventually start. And for the future in general!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[litenkyckling]

https://www.ice-dance.com/site/slatter-ongay-perez-a-stellar-season-for-a-young-dynamic-british-duo/

Such a promising young partnership. And, as comes through very clearly in this article, they may be very young, but they certainly have their heads screwed on.

All the best to them for whenever the season does eventually start. And for the future in general!

CaroLiza_fan

Thanks for posting this! I really like these two, and can't wait to see them continue to improve. Who knows maybe we'll have some JGP medals in the future! They seem like pretty well adjusted kids too which is nice, but I must admit reading Homer at age 13 is very impressive!!

 

[La Rhumba]

Thank you so much CaroLiza_Fan for posting the article and interviews with Ashlie & Atl and Coach Pippa. Glad you enjoyed reading. :agree:

 

[Sai Bon]

Thanks for posting this! I really like these two, and can't wait to see them continue to improve. Who knows maybe we'll have some JGP medals in the future! They seem like pretty well adjusted kids too which is nice, but I must admit reading Homer at age 13 is very impressive!!

Thank you for the article, CaroLiza Fan! Atl sounds like a real prodigy - he plays three instruments and is reading Homer (the poet, not Mr Simpson!)

 

[ladyjane]

What a great article, and what a wonderful couple of kids! I love the Odyssey and the Iliad too, but I recall reading special versions at 13, not original translations. Good for him!

 

[La Rhumba]

Thank you for the article, CaroLiza Fan! Atl sounds like a real prodigy - he plays three instruments and is reading Homer (the poet, not Mr Simpson!)

He is also a talented artist (though that part was left out of the article). I call him the Renaissance Boy.

Glad people have enjoyed reading it, writing it was definitely a labour of love. :luv17:

P.S. I shall relay all the kind comments back to the kids & parents. Thank you.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Thank you for the article, CaroLiza Fan! Atl sounds like a real prodigy - he plays three instruments and is reading Homer (the poet, not Mr Simpson!)

Since you are interested, here are some videos posted in the past week of Atl playing the trumpet:

https://twitter.com/ash_atl_ice/status/1251188814753792007
https://twitter.com/ash_atl_ice/status/1252637614047404032
https://twitter.com/ash_atl_ice/status/1253719942672920579

I especially like the middle video.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[elektra blue]

He is also a talented artist (though that part was left out of the article). I call him the Renaissance Boy.

Glad people have enjoyed reading it, writing it was definitely a labour of love. :luv17:

P.S. I shall relay all the kind comments back to the kids & parents. Thank you.

we could name him honorary Leonardo

 

[DSQ]

I love their determination! I’m excited to see how they do in advanced novice.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Back to the Irish side of things, and this week Clara Peters, Laura Hegarty and Sophia Tkacheva (virtually) attended the International Development Project that was supposed to be in Ostrava:

https://www.facebook.com/iceskatingassociationofireland/posts/3429145953781594

Methinks Clara had the best setup!

By the way, in case you didn't spot it yet, I finally uploaded the thread for Irish Nationals to the Competition Forum. Here is the link:

https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?85717

I also wrote a post about how the Irish skaters that stayed on for Skate Southern got on. This may be on interest to more than just Irish fans because, since the Entries / Results page only has tables for each segment's results, I have constructed my own final results tables for the following categories:

• Senior Ladies
• Junior Ladies
• Advanced Novice Ladies U-15
• Basic Novice U-9 (due to their age, names have been removed for non-Irish skaters)

Apologies for the delay. I completely forgot that the thread still needed to be posted, for the simple reason that I haven't been using the USB memory stick that the Word document for the thread was on.

Hope this helps

CaroLiza_fan

 

[DSQ]

With shops opening at the beginning of June how long until you guys think rinks will reopen?

 

[Dreamer57]

With shops opening at the beginning of June how long until you guys think rinks will reopen?

I would say around July 4th which is roughly when some pubs and salons are planning to reopen (according to today's news).
I think social distancing would be quite difficult though, not sure how the rinks will cope with it.

 

[kolyadafan2002]

With shops opening at the beginning of June how long until you guys think rinks will reopen?

For UK September. Unfortunately this is almost certain. Maybe private ice available late august, but probably will be September.

 

[madraykin]

I would say around July 4th which is roughly when some pubs and salons are planning to reopen (according to today's news).
I think social distancing would be quite difficult though, not sure how the rinks will cope with it.

For UK September. Unfortunately this is almost certain. Maybe private ice available late august, but probably will be September.

Planet Ice have released a statement saying they're provisionally aiming for July 6th.

 

[kolyadafan2002]

Planet Ice have released a statement saying they're provisionally aiming for July 6th.

Really?
3 or 4 other ice rinks say september as they cant make money without public

 

[madraykin]

Really?
3 or 4 other ice rinks say september as they cant make money without public

Yup - https://planet-ice.co.uk/planet-ice-re-opening-update/

I don't know if it will actually happen but they've definitely said 6th July.

Possibly because they're a fairly big chain it's easier for them?

 

[DSQ]

That’s a shame but I understand. July or September, skating in a mask would be difficult.

In July there’ll be a F1 race with no audience so hopefully can open nearer July than September. Dependent on what the situation is.

 

[kolyadafan2002]

That’s a shame but I understand. July or September, skating in a mask would be difficult.

In July there’ll be a F1 race with no audience so hopefully can open nearer July than September. Dependent on what the situation is.

I've checked with my various British friends, and it seems certain rinks will open in July for their skaters only, however to maintain social distancing they wont allow other skaters to train with them. BIS may choose to rent private Ice for the top skaters though.
Dont expect larger rinks till September though.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

I would say around July 4th which is roughly when some pubs and salons are planning to reopen (according to today's news).
I think social distancing would be quite difficult though, not sure how the rinks will cope with it.

That’s a shame but I understand. July or September, skating in a mask would be difficult.

In July there’ll be a F1 race with no audience so hopefully can open nearer July than September. Dependent on what the situation is.

Just picking up on the comment about motorsports (don't worry, it'll work around to talking about ice rinks) I was looking at the Eurosport schedules earlier, and spotted that they are showing LIVE motorbike racing this weekend for the first time since the World Superbike Championship season opener at the start of March. The MotoAmerica Championship is kicking off their season with what should have been Round 4 at the Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin with Race 1 on Saturday.

Like the races that F1 are planning to start their season with that DSQ refer to, these races will be held behind closed doors. But, to me, holding races with no spectators is just a gesture. Because I can't see how any paddock / pit garage at a real-life motorsports event can operate under social distancing rules.

I guess it would be a bit easier to operate ice rinks under social distancing rules, if the staff keep a strict limit the number of people on the ice and in the changing rooms. But, it would still not be easy.

A thing to keep in mind is that the different nations of the British Isles are handling the easing of restrictions differently, and at very different speeds. Based on the current progresss of the easing, you could conceivably see rinks in England opening early in the summer, and then rinks elsewhere in the UK not opening until the autumn.

Personally, I would have preferred a strict lockdown to have remained until the end of the summer. I think there is too much rushing to ease the restrictions going on at the moment, and that easing them too early will bite us in the tail.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[DSQ]

I’m not sure how I feel. Easing lockdown might bite us on the tale but I know some people who are really struggling.

If things do ease up I hope people really go out of their way to support ice rinks and shops because they’ll need it.