www.fortcollinsfsc.org WINTER 2018

ICE CHIPS

President’s Letter

December 1, 2018

Dear Fort Collins Figure Skating Club Members,

Winter is nearly upon us and the holiday craziness is in full swing. I don’t know about all of you, but it feels like I blink and December is over.

Our club has had an eventful fall. We had four of our kids complete at the 2019 Southwestern Regional Championships this past October in Plano, Texas. We are proud of all of our competitors. All of these kids are so impressive both on and off the ice. Beck Strommer won the Juvenile Boys event and also competed at the Midwestern Sectional Figure Skating Championships last month in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Way to go Beck!

We held a successful Fright Fest competition in October. This is a fun, one day event that we host. I want to thank all of the volunteers that helped make it a success. I hate to sound like a broken record, but we cannot be a successful club without the support from our fabulous club volunteers!

We have some exciting news to report. This year’s Fort Collins Classic was chosen to be a part of USFS’s new Excel Series. This program will completely replace the old test track system. Within the Excel program, there will be two tracks: an Excel track that is similar to the old test track and an Excel Plus track that will be a competitive track. The Excel series will culminate in a National Festival that will be held each year in the first part of June. This inaugural National Festival will be help in Coral Gables, Florida June 7-9. Competitors who compete in the Excel track are automatically invited to the National festival. Competitors from the Excel Plus track must be invited to complete and will also be invited to a camp that will be held at the festival. In order to be eligible to participate in the Excel Plus series,

a competitor must compete in at least two qualifying competitions. We are lucky to be hosting one of those competitions. The Denver Invitational in March was also selected for this series. We are hoping to host a more detailed information session this winter. Watch the website and your email for more information.

It’s nearly showtime! We are excited to have a new director. Shelby Lyons will be taking over the show this year. We are all excited to start “show season”. It is a lot of work, but it is really fun! I can’t wait to get started!

Also look for information regarding our upcoming annual awards banquet. It is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, March 2nd. This is a fun night of dancing and food. It will be held once again at the Fort Collins Country Club.

We are looking for volunteers! We have some openings in our committees. Specifically, we are looking for someone to chair the ice show committee. This person (or people) will be responsible to coordinate t-shirt/DVD sales, on ice tables at the show and coordinate the backstage volunteers. This is a fun way to get involved in the club and get your volunteer hours in. I know it sounds like a lot, but there will be a lot of support for this position from the board. We are also looking for people that want to be a part of the awards banquet committee. Do you like planning parties? This might be the committee for you! Please contact me if you are interested in chairing or participating in any of these committees.

I hope you all have a fantastic holiday season! Thank you all for making this club the best it can be!

Remember the board meets the first Wednesday of each month at EPIC at 6:30pm. All are welcome!

- Amy Aspelund FCFSC President

www.fortcollinsfsc.org WINTER 2018

Beck Strommer - Skater of the Quarter Favorite jump? My favorite jumps definitely is my double loop. I love how the edge just guides you into the air.

Favorite spin? I really like sit forwards with a core twist. They are so much fun and I can really get spinning fast.

Favorite food? Classic cheesecake

Favorite team? Well, Team USA Figure Skating of course

Favorite movie? Love Simon

What music do you listen to when you warm-up? Depends on how I'm feeling that day, but in general the Foo Fighters get me hyped up.

How did you start ice skating? We had recently moved to Fort Collins when my mom was looking for activities in the city and picked out Learn to Skate group classes. That was about 4 years ago. I've been hooked ever since.

What is your funniest ice skating story? Once during training I fell on a lutz and almost took out a Broadmoor coach. When I got back to my coach he turned to me and said "Beck - please try not to take out two-time Olympic coach Tom Zakrajsek."

Do you have any skating superstitions? I always remove myself from friends and family an hour before I compete so I can get some calm, quiet time

FCFSC home club member, Beck Strommer, is the 2019 Southwestern Regional Figure Skating Juvenile Boys Champion!

www.fortcollinsfsc.org WINTER 2018

Junior Board

The Junior Board has been working super hard these last couple months to provide awesome events for the club. In the last months we hope you enjoyed our Halloween skate night and Mod Pizza fundraiser. We really appreciated the great turnout at these events and we had so much fun putting them on.

This month we are planning a really awesome Holiday Party for the club members to celebrate the end of the year with our skating family. This party is on Sunday, December 16th, from 2-4pm in the blue rink meeting room, at EPIC. We are planning a ton of fun things, such as a cookie decorating, a holiday movie, snacks, ugly

sweater contest, and fun games including dress a snowman, no-peek Holiday drawing, and more. Junior Board is working hard to plan this event and we would love to see you in your ugliest sweater, ready to get your cookie decorating skills on!

For more updates on what Junior Board is doing, follow our Instagram page @foco.skates for all the events we put on. Also look out for emails sent out from the club about our events.

Thank you again for all your support, which makes our events possible and fun!

- Chloe Miller Junior Board President

Our State High School team last year, the Fort Collins Fire and Ice.

Attention 9th-12th graders! The 2019 State High School Competition has been moved from March to January 5th, 2019 at South Suburban Ice Rink. We would like to send at least one team of 6 to compete. Last year, our team took 2nd out 11 teams at the competition. This year the competition format has changed and there is only the team maneuvers event. The registration fee is only $40 for this fun, low-key competition. Registration forms are at the bulletin board at Epic along with instructions for determining your team maneuver level. Forms need to be completed and put in the C Miller family folder in the oak file cabinets near the coach’s room at EPIC along with a check for $40 made out to Lynn Miller by December 9th. Please consider signing up, it is always a fun event! This is not just a junior board event… everyone is welcome! Email lynnmillermiller@yahoo.com with any questions.

www.fortcollinsfsc.org WINTER 2018

Edge-ucation Committee Disney On Ice - Denver’s Pepsi Center Former FCFSC member Lisa Moore (a National pair competitor from 2005-2011) and former coach is currently touring with Disney on Ice’s Dare to Dream. On Sunday, Dec 9th members of the club went down to see the show and were able to go backstage afterwards to meet and greet Lisa.

www.fortcollinsfsc.org WINTER 2018 American Ice Theatre - Kate McSwain & Garrett Kling - October 19, 2018 at EPIC

www.fortcollinsfsc.org WINTER 2018

Showcase Attention skaters and parents! Come join EPIC PRODUCTIONS for the 2019 season! We are in the planning stages now and would love to have you on our team! If you love to perform in the ice show as well as compete in competitions, this is the best of both experiences, all rolled up into one competition. It’s a new way to compete! We are traveling once again to National Showcase, this year it’s being hosted in Wenatchee, Washington! We are also planning on our interested mini ensemble groups to compete at Fort Collins Classic! Interested in finding out more? EPIC PRODUCTIONS has a parent handbook that covers general info, rehearsals, choreography, costuming, costs and will

hopefully answer many of your questions. Look soon for the handbook posted on the lobby board and a PDF version in the Showcase link of the club’s website. Please feel free to reach out to Marianne Strobel, Diana Deka or Rosa Martey with any remaining questions you may have. Coming soon is an updated Showcase link on the FCFSC website to keep skaters and parents informed. Also, look for flyers, sign up forms and updates in early January. Have a great holiday season and we would love to have you skate with us in 2019!

Best regards, Marianne Strobel, Diana Deka & Rosa Martey

www.fortcollinsfsc.org WINTER 2018

Safe Sport: Harassment - Gayleen Fort Collins Figure Skating Club supports the U.S. Figure Skating Association’s stance on Zero Tolerance for abuse or misconduct of its members and athletes. We strive for an environment where our members can have a healthy environment to practice figure skating and participate with events with our fellow members. To this end we will continually provide education and support highlighting how we can cultivate a culture free of harassment and misconduct. This begins with each of us and we should always be looking to ourselves to be responsible for this culture of inclusiveness and kindness. Harassment can be defined as repeated and severe conduct that offends and degrades another to establish dominance or superiority. At its core, we can be uncomfortable with the way we know we are different, but we should let go of that anxiety about our differences. In a situation in which we are confronting these feelings of caution or anxiety about differences in people we have the power to choose hostility or hospitality. A culture of inclusiveness and kindness will go a long way to not allow any harassment. We want all our members to feel included and accepted and harassment should never be tolerated. Together, we all can prevent harassment and misconduct in our sport. Please talk to myself or another trusted adult if you know of a situation that needs addressing. All cases are kept 100% confidential.

www.fortcollinsfsc.org WINTER 2018

Competitions - Kelly Mark your calendar! The Fort Collins Classic is April 4-7, 2019. This is the biggest fundraiser of the year for our club. What is the Excel Series? The Excel Series is a series of designated competitions across the country that offers skaters the opportunity to qualify to compete at the Excel Series Final, held at the National Festival. Skaters from Beginner through Senior are eligible to compete in the Series, and skaters can compete at any designated competition in the Series to qualify. What is the National Festival? A national celebration of skating, the National Festival is made up of three competition components:

1. An invitation-only Series Final for skaters in the Excel Series at the Preliminary Plus, Pre-Juvenile Plus, Juvenile Plus, Intermediate, Novice, Junior and Senior levels;

2. An open invitation competition for skaters in the Excel Series at the Beginner, High Beginner, Pre-Preliminary, Preliminary, Pre-Juvenile and Juvenile levels;

3. An open invitation Compete USA competition for any Learn to Skate USA member. Additionally, the Festival will offer a variety of skater-focused programming, including an Excel Series Finalist camp, off-ice team building and social activities for all participants. The inaugural National Festival will be held June 7-9, 2019, at the Panthers Ice Den in Coral Springs, Florida. For more information on the Excel Series and National Festival, check out the Excel Series page on U.S. Figure Skating’s website, and don’t hesitate to get in touch with any questions! Results from the 2019 Southwestern Regional Championships in Plano, Texas: Merritt Cramer - 11th in qualifying round Juvenile Girls Group B Ella Pilon - 15th in Open Juvenile Girls Sekar Prasetya - 17th in Junior Ladies Beck Strommer - 1st in Juvenile Boys Results from the 2019 Midwestern Sectional Championships in Fort Wayne, Indiana: Beck Strommer - 8th in Juvenile Boys

Membership - Melody

We currently have 255 members! All club parents should be receiving club emails. If your skater would like to be added to the email list or if you have not been receiving emails, please let me know at fcfscmembership@gmail.com

www.fortcollinsfsc.org WINTER 2018

Adult Endeavors - Nancy Riley / Mary Beth Fisher We have a fun group of active adult skaters. We take advantage of the many opportunities provided at EPIC, from contract, public, and fitness skate sessions. Seniors get together each Wednesday morning to share skating, coffee, and snacks. We have an adult off-ice exercise class with Nancy Stilson-Herzog on Tuesday mornings at 11:30am. First time is always free! There is an 8-member adult synchronized team of the Fire Crystals and they are having so much fun this fall under the direction of Coach Denaysa Sisemore.

Competitions: In September, several adults competed in the Colorado Springs Invitational. Alex von Reisen, Mary Beth Fisher,

and Nancy Riley competed in the Adult Silver free skate, and finished 3rd, 4th, and 5th, respectively. Lauren Paul competed in the bronze free skate.

Mary Beth Fisher competed in the International Adult Competition in Vancouver, British Columbia in October and placed 3rd in her event! Congratulations, Mary Beth – now an international medalist!

At Fright Fest on October 28, Trish Brinks skated an exhibition of her new Adult Silver Light Entertainment program and finished 1st in the Adult Interpretive event.

On Halloween, adults had a fun costume party and fitness skate. Check out Ken Miller’s skating partner!

It’s not all fun and games, though. We have had some injuries and we wish Alisa Bruntz, Hillary Payne, and Betsi Mead speedy recoveries.

Upcoming auditions and competitions: Good luck to Trish Brinks, Adri Gill, Lacy Fuller, Kassie Hawley and Denise Pozvek who are planning to audition for the Spring Spectacular on December 15th. Also wishing good luck to Trish Brinks, Mary Beth Fisher and Nancy Riley who are all planning to compete at the Adult Midwest Sectionals in Monument, Colorado, March 8-10, 2019, and U.S. Adult National Competition in Salt Lake City, Utah in April 2019.

www.fortcollinsfsc.org WINTER 2018

Testing We have a new testing committee. Kathy Krzykowski is taking over as chair of this committee. Robyn Seldin and Gayleen Carpenter are members. Betsi Mead is going to be responsible for getting judges for our test sessions. Thank you for stepping up to take on these very important roles in our club! I also want to take a moment to thank our outgoing committee members. Sheldrin Zhu has been responsible for this committee for a very long time. His commitment to this role has made our club a success for MANY years. Kate Corser-James has procured judges for all test sessions and competitions for many years as well. I want to thank you both for your hard work and effort. We are beginning the winter months and the unpredictable weather it brings with it. Please remember that our test sessions can be canceled or altered at any time. Many of the judges we bring come from Colorado Springs, Denver or even farther. We know that a cancelled test session at the last minute can be a big disappointment, but please understand that weather happens, mistakes happen and we have no guarantees. Everyone is just trying their best. Our next test sessions are scheduled for: January 18th, February 15th and April 4th. Congratulations to the skaters that passed tests this fall: Genevieve Bailey: Preliminary Free Skate, Pre-Juvenile Moves and Free Skate RoseMaree Barnes: Intermediate Free Skate Peter Bennett: Pre-Preliminary Moves and Free Skate Regina Bower: Preliminary Moves and Adult Pre Bronze Free Skate Sofia Cann: Pre-Juvenile Moves and Free Skate Grace Carpenter: Juvenile Moves and Free Skate Avalon Cobb: Juvenile Free Skate Merritt Cramer: Intermediate Moves and Free Skate Talia Deka: Juvenile Free Skate Addison Forry: Pre-Juvenile Free Skate and Intermediate Moves Miya Formanek: Pre-Preliminary Moves and Free Skate Elise Gerdes: Preliminary Free Skate and Pre-Juvenile Moves Kaiya Goodwin: Pre-Preliminary Moves and Free Skate Fiona Groom: Pre-Juvenile Free Skate and Juvenile Moves Selene Guilfoyle: Intermediate Free Skate and Novice Moves and Free Skate Nour Hamdan: Pre-Preliminary Moves and Free Skate Grace Hartman: Juvenile Free Skate Claire Hoyle: Juvenile Moves and Free Skate Julia Hurst: Juvenile Moves Brooklyn King: Intermediate Moves and Free Skate Addison Lambrecht: Preliminary Free Skate Reede Lundt: Pre-Preliminary Moves and Free Skate Ben Malone: Pre-Juvenile Free Skate and Intermediate Moves Brook Malone: Pre-Juvenile Free Skate and Juvenile Moves Olivia Melchert: Preliminary Free Skate and Pre-Juvenile Moves Winton Miller: Pre-Preliminary Moves and Free Skate

www.fortcollinsfsc.org WINTER 2018 Mayley Miller: Pre-Preliminary Moves and Free Skate Megan Nelson: Pre-Juvenile Free Skate Asta Noras: Preliminary Moves Rocio Pardina: Pre-Preliminary Moves and Free Skate Sophie Pickelner: Intermediate Moves Ella Marie Pilon: Intermediate Moves and Free Skate Katharina Sekarasih Prasetya: Senior Free Skate Kiley Scherer: Pre-Juvenile Moves and Free Skate Natalie Tallman: Preliminary Moves Emerson Trumper: Pre-Juvenile Free Skate Maddigan Ward: Preliminary Moves Rafaella Workman: Pre-Juvenile Moves and Free Skate Amanda Zou: Pre-Juvenile Free Skate and Juvenile Moves

Published 12/14/18 - Version 1