Figure Skating Club, Open Skate Provide Winter Fun – The Colgate Maroon-Information

Men’s and ladies’s hockey video games are a success round Colgate University’s campus, even because the temperatures drop beneath zero. But Colgate gives alternatives for college kids to get on the ice and take a look at a extra sleek strategy to skating.

At the Figure Skating Club, there isn’t a checking into boards and positively not any fights. 

Senior Grace Kenney is the co-president of the Figure Skating Club. She has been a member of the membership for 3 years, and a determine skater since age six. The membership often runs from October to February. While sometimes travelling to competitions, the group shouldn’t be characterised as aggressive. Kenney famous that some determine skating environments can have poisonous teaching and excessive competitors between skaters, however she has made efforts to make the membership inclusive and enjoyable for all.

“I like how open it is and how friendly everyone is. Everyone’s coming there to make friends,” Kenney mentioned. “The goal is making it an open space for everybody to feel welcome, make friends, and come to just skate. And that’s my favorite part.”

It additionally occurs to be an excellent exercise. If you aren’t concerned with piling into the gymnasium on a wintery day, determine skating is a good way to get some train. 

“I started [figure skating] again in college, and I immediately got more toned,” Kenney mentioned. “It’s a really good workout. You have to bend your knees a lot. You have to have a lot of power in your legs and keep your arms up.” 

Sophomore Ella Kahn is the social media supervisor for Figure Skating Club and a Learn to Skate assistant; she has been exhausting at work crafting social media posts and educating native youngsters in Hamilton to skate. Learn to Skate is a program provided for kids between the ages of 5 and ten. If you might be bummed to be lacking out on the Learn to Skate program, you’re in luck as a result of the Figure Skating membership additionally helps new members enhance their skating expertise. 

“I have a lot of friends who have never really skated before who have come [to figure skating club] and they’ve had a good time. The club members are super nice and helpful if you want to learn,” Kahn mentioned.

Kahn’s favourite reminiscence was touring with the membership to Lake Placid for a contest.

“I really enjoyed last year when we went to Lake Placid for a competition. It was really fun,” Kahn mentioned. “It was a great bonding experience, and I feel like I got to know everyone super well.” 

The Figure Skating membership doesn’t require college students to have their very own skates; there’s a room filled with skates accessible to borrow. This removes the fabric barrier from determine skating, and permits extra college students to spend their winter on ice. 

Colgate Open Skate, a preferred winter exercise separate from the Figure Skating Club, permits college students to borrow skates and spend time with pals for 2 hours on choose Sundays at no cost. Sophomores Gabby Doehla and Thalia Karajannis mirrored upon their enjoyable experiences with Open Skate. 

“I love going to Open Skate because it gives me a fun break from my work, and is a good way to get active with my friends,” Doehla mentioned. 

Doehla, a molecular biology main and environmental research minor on the pre-health monitor, defined that she is all the time on the lookout for enjoyable, fast actions to do together with her pals as a break from her busy educational schedule. Similarly, Karajannis reminisced on her time throughout finals season. 

“During finals week, my friends and I would go to skate on the ice. It was a great break from studying, and was a very fun and casual experience because we could just show up and skate around,” Karajannis mentioned. 

Students on the lookout for a strategy to benefit from the winter alongside their busy educational lives ought to take into account becoming a member of the Figure Skating Club or stopping by Open Skate.