IN SYNCH
February 2003
Meet Team Boston
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| Team Boston |
Club/Level: SC of Boston, Boston, Mass. (intermediate team)
Coaches: Rebecca Stump, Dawn Ponte (warm up and accent choreographer), Byron Darden (edge class), Ron Kravette (stroking)
Team members: Felicia Aikens, Megan DiNocco, Jessica Ewing, Samantha Frick, Melanie Greene, Brittany Hughes, Emily Hutson, Elizabeth Johnson, Kat Kaepplinger, Caitlyn LaBelle, Stephanie LaBelle, Rachel Langer, Kathleen Murphy, Emily Naphtal, Rachael Naphtal, Jamie O'Brien, Samantha Parad, Irene Pasquale, Katie Phillips, Vivian Zhu
Team rituals: Placing a sticker over the heart; kiss the Bozz (our team mascot bear); pass the hand squeeze during our pep talk; coach pep talks in a circle; receiving good luck hugs from our captain
What makes Team Boston special? We're all great friends even though our age range is 8 to 15 years old. We have a big difference in our personal skill levels, yet we have all improved in making our team faster and more exciting. It seems we have just as many similarities as differences, and we use this to make our team even better. We are lucky because our club gives us a lot of support!
Team goals? To be the best that we can be! We try to skate a clean performance at each competition and try to improve our standings each time. We've been working on greater speed and better presentation. At competitions we try to get a judge to smile during our performances! Ultimately, we hope to qualify for the U.S. Synchronized Team Skating Championships.
What is the best part of being on a synchronized team? The best parts are skating as a TEAM, making strong friendships, going to new places and enjoying it with each other. Also, it's great sharing the excitement and thrill of a clean skate at a competition with our teammates!
What are some of your favorite memories?
In our first competition we won the gold! Then, the local Buffalo television station interviewed us. At the Eastern Synchronized Sectional last year we all held an Olympic Torch for good luck. This year at a competition in Lake Placid we taped our division off the television. When we got back to the hotel that night we invited another Canadian intermediate team to watch it with us! It was great fun. We also enjoyed watching our new masters team win its first competition!
Attention, synchronized skaters!
If you'd like to see your synchronized team profiled in SKATING magazine, fill out the Synchronized Spotlight submission form below and send in a team picture to become the next team featured in Synchronized Spotlight! You can send in the form and photo by mail or e-mail them to skatingmagazine@usfsa.org.
Any team in the preliminary, youth introductory, teen introductory, juvenile, intermediate or novice divisions is eligibile. (Sorry higher level teams – this is for kids only!) Teams will be selected by SKATING magazine. We request that the questions are answered by the skaters — not moms, dads, big sisters, coaches or team managers. But please make sure to provide a contact phone number for a representative team member or coach.
Synchronized Spotlight submission form:
Microsoft Word document
PDF file
