Off to Cali!!

On October 21-23, skaters from around the world will be getting ready to step out onto the ice to compete in the Hilton HHonors Skate America in Ontario, California.  

This event, even though it may be used just as another competition for some, for others, it takes on the historical aspect.  

Dating back to when it was known as the Norton Skate in 1979, this competition served as one last opportunity to take the ice to work out the kinks in a skater's routine.  It was held in Lake Placid before the Olympic Games were held there the same year.  

This competition was deemed by the Olympic Regional Development Authority, a part of the Flaming Leaves Festival, which was only four months before the 1980 Winter Olympic Games.

When the competition returned the following year in 1981, it was then renamed, Skate America.

From the beginning the event was invitation only to those skaters who were from around the world and were the best of the best.  

So for three days about 60 skaters will compete at the Olympic level in an event that numbers one of six of its kind.  This particular event is part of the International Skating Union (ISU) Grand Prix Series that takes place each year. 

The events they will compete in are the same as today as what they were back then.  Those divisions are, the Men's, Ladies, and Pairs short and long programs as well as the short Dance and the free Dance.  

After all the competing has commenced on the final day there is a Skating Spectacular, which exhibits the skating talents of the top four finishers in each of the four categories.  

Once the scores are tallied from the other competitions in the series being, Skate Canada, NHK Trophy, Cup of China, Trophee Eric Bompard and Rostelecom Cup (also formerly known as the Cup of Russia), as well as Skate America, then the top six men, women, pairs teams, and dance teams are invited to represent their country at the ISU Grand Prix Final.  

Let the Qualifying Begin

It's that time again.  This is the peek time for figure skaters in the qualifying season with the important competitions underway.  It is the make-it or break-it part of the season.  Each competition, each practice, each program determines if you continue on your way to advancing to the next competition or if your season is done.  


The U.S. is broken up into 9 regions, which each hold their own regional competition.  From there it depends on how large your group is at that particular level as to how many rounds you have to skate before even advancing to the next competition.  


When groups number over 100 skaters there are normally 3 rounds.  The initial round, you must place in the top 4 to move on to the middle round and place in the top 9 to continue.  From there, a skater must place in the top 4 in the final round to move on to the next competition being it either Junior Nationals for Juvenile and Intermediate competitors or Sectionals for Novice, Junior, or Senior skaters. 


The levels are the same for both men and women and go up in the order of:
Pre-Beginner, Beginner, Pre-Preliminary, Preliminary, Pre-Juvenile, Juvenile, Intermediate, Novice, Junior, Senior.  


So, the competitions all year that a skater did in preparation leading up to this event were just practice.  This is when the performance really counts.  It does not matter how well you did other times, it's about the presentation and technicality of the performance when you take the ice at that moment.  


Amateur skaters must each go through this process unless the group is significantly smaller allowing each competitor to automatically move on without competing at their specified Regionals. 


"I don't have to do Regionals this year because their are only 4 of us, so we automatically move on," said Alexander Aiken who is competing at the Senior level. 


This means that he automatically advances on to Sectionals and from there he would have to place in the top 4 in the final round to move on to Nationals.  If it was an Olympic year after Nationals comes the Olympic trials and each competitor that is sent there must have a solid history.  There is a limit as to how many skaters the U.S. can send just as well as every other country with the addition of one back-up incase of an injury or illness.  


Based upon the skater's success rate, one has the opportunity to compete overseas and internationally.  


"Whether you are competing overseas or within the continental U.S., the skating is still the same and there are still the same requirements," said Aiken who is currently working on his triple axel (3.5 revolutions in the air) and quads (4 revolutions in the air with the exception of the quad axel being 4.5 revolutions). 


With the competitions  underway, its the beginning of a new season of champions.  

Welcome to U.S. Figure Skating

Alexander Aiken is a member of the US Figure Skating Team (www.usfsa.org)