IN SYNCH
October 2003
Meet the Diamond Chips
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| Diamond Chips |
Club/Level: University of Delaware FSC (Youth Introductory)
Coaches: Megan O'Donnell and Wendy Deppe
Team members: Riley Quinn, Rachel Gillen, Chelsea Botsch, Michelle Zilinskas, Alexis Kassees, Sami Shell, Lydia Conaway, Brenna Cagwin, Kayla Longshaw, Sammy Hurley, Alyssa Fox, Jesscia Blair and Ashley Leiker.
Team rituals: We kiss both of our skates, say a lot of cheers and knock on wood. At Easterns last year, one of our teammates said to knock on her head so we have knocked on her head ever since. We also have a great big group hug with Michelle, our team mom!
What makes the Diamond Chips special? Our team is special because we don't just compete to get a medal. We compete because we all love to skate with each other. Even though we all live far away from each other, we're really close friends! At competitions we support each other no matter what!
Team goals: To learn as much as we can about being good synchro skaters, to skate our very best all season long and to move up to a qualifying division for the 2003-2004 season. We would love to compete at championships some day, but more importantly we want to grow stronger as a team each year.
What is the best part of being on a synchronized team? You get tons of friends at the same time who can share your excitement and nervousness. It's like going on vacation with all your friends while getting to do something you love. Another great thing about being on a synchro team is that when you skate great, you have so many people to share it with, and when you don't skate great you're never alone.
What are some of your favorite memories? The whole 2002-2003 season is a great memory because in all four of our competitions we placed first! We worked hard all year, but the greatest memory is when we won Easterns. We all had huge smiles on our faces while we were skating and when the results were posted — we all screamed our heads off. It was great!
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
