IN SYNCH
March 2003
Meet Team Volant
 |
| Team Volant |
Club/Level: Steamboat Springs FSC (Teen Introductory)
Coaches: Courtney Q. Gill
Team members: Jessica Cannon, Mackenzie Frank, Katie Hansen, Jamie Jones, Elise Krueger, Katie Krueger, Allison Lewis, Carlee McLaughlin, Sabra Severinghaus, Brittainy Slade, Ariel Tredway, Lauren Ventrudo
Team rituals: We love to go to a pasta restaurant the night before competing. The day of the performance we dance around to our favorite team song, “Boom, Boom, Boom,” to help get us psyched up. Before we leave the locker room, we stand in a circle and give each other shoulder rubs while our coach adds glitter to our cheeks so we “shine” even more on the ice.
What makes Team Volant special? Vo'lant means flying or capable of flying; moving quickly or nimbly; agile. It is also the name of a ski, and we live in Ski Town USA. The team was started last year and after only 10 weeks of being together, we placed second in our division at sectionals. We then performed for the USA Womens Hockey Team while they stopped in Steamboat on their way to the Olympics. This year we captured the gold medal in our division at sectionals.
Team goals: Team Volant was started so we could have a fun, rewarding and confidence-building experience. Since we are such a new team, our on-ice goal this season was to add harder elements with more speed to our program. We also did off-ice activities to build team camaraderie. We hope to continue to grow in this way. Synchronized skating has given the team the opportunity to compete in levels higher than we would be able to accomplish as single skaters.
What is the best part of being on a synchronized team? It's nerve-wracking to perform alone, so it's nice to have your friends on the ice with you. We learn so many life lessons while getting to travel and compete as a team.
What are some of your favorite memories? Arriving at sectionals last year and thinking we were the worst team ever because we didn't have matching practice dresses or pins to trade. Having secret sisters. Making the team van shake at stoplights. Our coach letting us leave off-ice practice to watch a high school boys hockey game. There are so many memories, such as funny names to help us remember certain facial expressions in our program.
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
