ICE REFLECTIONS

Welcome to the fantastic team sport of Synchronised Ice Skating! This is a great team sport that involves between 12 and 24 skaters doing manoeuvres on the ice together as a team to music. It is great for fitness, socialising and a great way to start competing at a relatively high level of skating without too much financial or time commitment.

Ice Reflections hopes to introduce skaters into the exciting world of Synchronised Skating. The benefits of joining a team and skating together are numerous, but the most important is to have fun. We hope to start with weekly coaching clinics divided up into off-ice and on-ice time. Skaters will improve their confidence and skating skills and learn to skate faster and stronger than they would as a single skater with the support of their team mates.

Our aim is to develop a squad to train for competition. This will give skaters the opportunity to practice a routine to music much earlier than as a single skater. There is a variety of different events which a team can enter, depending if the team wants to be more social or more competitive. Either way, we would love to have you on board.

What to Wear

Synchro is a very active sport and you should be sensibly dressed. Skaters will be able to purchase a uniform that is subsidised from the teams fundraising at a cost of $90.00. (Valued at $205.00) In the mean time, skaters will need to wear flexible clothing that does not restrict flexibility in any way. It is important that no baggy clothing be worn on the arms. We suggest that girls wear skating outfit and top with tight fitting arms. Boys should wear track-pants with a firm fitted top. T-shirts are OK.

The dynamics of synchro means that there is frequently a lot of tugging with arms, wrists and sometimes even necks! We therefore ask parents to ensure that all skaters wear no jewellery to practice. This includes no watches. Earrings must be stud earrings (ie. No hoops or dangly earrings) for obvious safety reasons.

When

Each Saturday 9:30 - 11:30 (On ice at 10:15 - 11:15)

Payment

We are very lucky to be able to offer you a full hour of coaching and just us on the ice for the small amount of $20 per skater per week in 2006. $1.50 goes to administration & marketing. $2 per week goes into savings. This will save about $100 per skater, per year, which is almost the cost of 1 costume professionally made.

We ask skaters to pay monthly, in advanced. This means that the first Saturday of the month you will need to pay approx $80 for that months skating. Please pay this to the treasurer, Michelle Moran. The amounts for the next few months are:

• November 5th $60
• December 3rd $45
• January – Summer school
• February 4th $80
• March 5th $80
• April 2nd $100
• May 7th $80

Off-Ice

Before Synchro on ice training, we do “off-ice” sessions. Initially this is aerobic conditioning to train the muscles that are used most for synchro. We use a lot more arms, heads, knees and feet with synchro, and this takes some getting used to. Once we have a routine started, we will do run-throughs, in order to assist everyone to remember the steps.

During off-ice practice, skaters will be required to wear running shoes. Please arrive at practice and go to HISS front door each week by 9:30pm. Also, we will be sitting on the ground for some of the stretching exercises, so it is advisable to bring a small towel to sit on.

If you want to be apart of the team, you must attend off-ice! It’s a great team building time.

Terminology

Synchronised ice skating has some very basic skating terminology which we would like you all to become familiar with. Some of the terms are condusive to singles skating or dance; others are used just for synchro. Over the next few months, we will try to introduce some names and manoeuvres through the news letters. Please look at them carefully. We will be learning to skate all of these compulsory moves for Synchronised skating.

I have assumed that all skaters can go forwards and backwards – or will learn quickly. It is important that all skaters understand the following;

1. Inside Edge – The edges of the blade facing each other – where the arch of the foot is
2. Outside edge – The edges of each blade on the outside of the foot, or pointing away from the body on the little toe side
3. Forward Stroking – skating forwards around the rink
4. Backward Stroking – skating backwards around the rink
5. Forwards Cross overs –
6. Backward Cross overs –

So, the first things to learn are as follows. (If you have a coach, ask them to help you with these for a few weeks)

1. Left Chasse;
   Starting on the left outside edge, skate on the left foot, then right foot (picking up the left foot to heal height), then glide on the left foot on an outside edge
2. Right Chasse;
   Starting on the right outside edge, skate on the right foot, then left foot (picking up the right foot to heal height), then glide on the right foot on an outside edge

Some other terms or manoeuvres that we will learn about are;

• Hand holds
• Circles
• Travelling Circle
• Kick lines
• Block work
• Step Sequences
• Wheel

Future Plans for Ice Reflections

The team are planning to compete in 2006 at State and National Championships (Brisbane) as a Junior Team. In September 2006, we will be travelling to Canada and the US to do an intensive training course at the Olympic Training Centre. This is a once in four year opportunity to boost your skating skills, before we seriously compete at Junior International level of skating.

Sponsorship & Fundraising

We are proud to be sponsored by a variety of companies, but are always searching for more ideas. Please see Helen for a sponsorship form to help. More importantly, the team does regular, weekly fundraising efforts. We hope that having sufficient fundraising and financial support from our sponsors that this will largely pay for our travel in 2006. The more support we get from parents in the early stages, the less parents will have to pay out of their own pockets in the long run. So please pitch in and make it a team effort for your share! For fundraising ideas or offers of assistance, please call Kim Bengs on 4955 1663.

Contact The Team Manager

We are always open to suggestions. If you have any enquiries about Ice Reflections Synchronised Skating please contact Helen Beale on (02) 4972 6234, on mobile
0414 237 910 or email