Figure skating club: The u-rah Rockettes of the ice

Figure skating club president Kayla Haag says there’s just nothing quite like the Winter Olympics. “I love every four years when the Olympics come around. The excitement of competition mixed with artistry and athleticism, the Olympics have it all.”

Haag said that she and the members of the figure skating club love to watch and support their favorite skaters together, as they live the dream that most members had as young girls.

Haag has been skating since elementary school and says many members started then too, or even earlier. “Most of us joined (the club) simply because we could not just stop doing something that had filled our lives for so long. It is also very helpful to have an activity that distracts from the stress of school while at the same times gets your heart rate up and makes you strive towards goals,” Haag says.

The club consists of three teams. First is the standard individual team, in which members skate individually and their placements in competitions earn points for the whole team. The club then offers positions on two synchronized skating teams. One competes in the open collegiate division of 12 skaters and the other in the collegiate division with 16 skaters. Haag explains that these teams consist of girls doing all the same footwork, in time with each other while making a variety of shapes. Each element is assigned points and judged accordingly.

“Think of marching band, dance team, synchronized swimming, individual skating and old-school Rockettes Precision all tied together, to music, on skates, with dresses,” Haag says.

The teams compete regionally, sectionally and nationally. The first weekend in February, the collegiate team qualified for the nationals competition that will be held in Minnesota in early March.

According to Haag, the greatest aspect of the figure skating club is the opportunity to share the ups and downs of skating, and all other parts of life, with members who share those experiences.

“The fulfilling part of being an active member is having a group of girls you see three to four times a week … makes the campus seem just a little bit smaller and gives you a place in a healthy, supportive community,” Haag says.

For more information on the figure skating club, visit http://uwfsc.rso.wisc.edu/