Qualifying Events Come Together With Hard Work and Enthusiastic Volunteers

by Joanne Vassallo Jamrosz, special to U.S. Figure Skating Online

October is a banner month in figure skating with many clubs hosting the all-important regional and sectional competitions. These competitions will put many figure skaters on the road to the 2013 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Omaha, Neb. in Januray.

However, few skaters know the many months of organizing and planning that goes on behind the scenes at the host clubs chosen to host these events. Planning often begins months before the actual event, often as soon as the event has been awarded to the host club.

The Greater Green Bay Figure Skating Club in Green Bay, Wis. is proud and excited to be hosting the 2013 Upper Great Lakes Regional Figure Skating Championships Oct. 12-16, and will also host the U.S. Collegiate Figure Skating Championships in August of 2013.

"Our skaters and parents thrive off inspiration," Susan Darling, Greater Green Bay Figure Skating Club President said. "After hosting a successful 2011 Upper Great Lakes Regional competition, our members and their families have been motivated to a new level, by watching the best skaters compete to reach their dreams of moving on to the U.S. Championships."

The Greater Green Bay Club recently hosted their annual competition Skate Green Bay, and the competition was used as a trial run for hosting the Upper Great Lakes Regionals.

"It has been very effective to have the same LOC chairs in charge of organizing a given area, registration, volunteers, hospitality, judges, transportation, etc. and making sure it runs efficiently," Darling said.

The Triangle Figure Skating Club in Raleigh, N.C. also hosted past Eastern Sectionals and South Atlantic Regionals, teaming with other clubs in the area. This year, the club will host the 2013 South Atlantic Regional Championships, and according to Beth Campbell, First Vice President of the Triangle Club, they are ready.

"Our last Regional event had more than 600 non-qualifying and qualifying skaters between our two event weekends," Campbell said. "With such a large volume of information pouring in, it was essential for us to optimize use of electronic data systems to collect and organize everything from practice ice to vendor booths to applications. We have been very fortunate to have a dedicated webmaster who volunteers countless hours programming these various functions on our South Atlantics web page."

Uploading program advertising and qualifying skater photographs also reduced costs and improved time efficiency for the host club, skaters and vendors, according to Campbell. Advance purchase of event merchandise aids in not having excessive inventory. The club uses PayPal for all purchases including practice ice, vendor booths, ads and merchandise.

"This greatly reduces the paperwork demands on committee chairs and eases the bookkeeping process for our treasurer as types of payments are more easily identified and can lead to more accurate revenue entries on our end of event financial reporting," Campbell said.

The use of electronic technology also extends to the recruitment of event volunteers.

"We have used the free online event manager Sign-Up Genius to show our volunteer needs on various dates and times," Campbell said. "The nice feature of this program is that volunteers can see all available slots, hospitality, practice ice monitoring or registration-all in one place. By referring to our website event schedule they can go to the Sign-Up Genius to look for times to work that are distinct from their skater's event thereby avoiding conflict. If some conflict arises they may also revise their volunteer commitment easily."

Both clubs agree the hard work and time invested only makes the events more special for the skaters. Darling attributes their events' success to the many volunteers, judges, skaters, families and coaches who participate in the events.

"The reason we host is to benefit our skaters," Darling said. "It inspires them to participate in these events and they are able to skate at their home club. This naturally leads those to improve their skills, continue to test and compete at other competitions."

Triangle Figure Skating Club has also grown during the past year and current members have gained more experience since the last Regional Championships. The club now has a large pool of volunteers who are more comfortable stepping forward to assist. "We are all looking forward to October and excited to see some more wonderful skating," Campbell said.

Photo 1: Greater Green Bay skaters "love" the idea their club is hosting the 2013 Upper Great Lakes Regional Championships. Photo courtesy Susan Darling.

Photo 2: Volunteers participating with the Triangle Figure Skating Club host the registration desk during the 2011 South Atlantic Regional Championships. Photo Courtesy Beth Campbell.

Photo 2: A volunteer participating with the Triangle Figure Skating Club checks coaches credentials and hands out badges during the 2011 South Atlantic Regional Championships. Photo Courtesy Beth Campbell.