A Great Skate

 

By

Brigitte G.

(5th Grade)

 

            Brigitte¡¯s skates scratched underneath her feet as she speedily skated into a double flip before soaring across the ice into a double loop combination.  Then, she entered her combination spin, counting the revolutions as she spun around.  Finally she glided into her last jump, the axel, and across the ice into her final spin, a flying camel, and struck her ending pose.  Brigitte has been skating ever since she first stepped on the ice at age four, with a dream to one day become the Olympic champion.  She trains at the Aliso Viejo Ice Palace after moving down from San Francisco one year ago.  After she moved down, her skating has become more competitive, leading to a more difficult practice with stricter coaches.  Brigitte displays hard work as a competitive figure skater since she misses out on fun activities, trains hard, and tried to improve everyday.

 

            At the age of ten years old, Brigitte sacrifices many fun activities to train for ice skating.  For instance, as a homeschooler, someone who goes to school at home rather than at a public school, she doesn¡¯t have many friends that might call her every night when she has to go to bed by 9 pm.  In other words, while many kids go to school, she stays home alone for about four hours to do schoolwork with her mom, instead of playing at recess with her friends.  Brigitte¡¯s many sacrifices makes her feel left out, but it keeps her focused on skating.  Also, she doesn¡¯t have many fun activities to look forward to such as field trips and holiday parties.  Specifically, she didn¡¯t get to stay up until midnight on New Year¡¯s Eve because she had to skate on New Year¡¯s Day when most families stay home to throw big parties.  Brigitte gives up chatting and relaxing with friends to find extra time for skating.

 

            With focus and commitment, Brigitte works hard to strengthen her body.  For example, she trains every morning Monday through Friday for two hours and fifteen minutes until her legs begin to noodle out.  To illustrate, she practices her two-minute long program which has six jumps, such as the axel and lutz, and three spins, such as the layback and flying camel with beautiful choreography connecting each element. Brigitte¡¯s mental strength encourages her to push herself harder and to not give up towards the end of her program when she has to land a combo jump.  Second, she goes to an hour-long conditioning class two times a week to build strength and flexibility even though it¡¯s tough and challenging.  Besides weight-lifting, she also does sit-ups, different stretches, and practices jumps off the ice in order to improve her on-ice posture and air position.  Brigitte¡¯s strength allows her to be able to skate a full program without being too tired or discouraged by other competitor¡¯s remarks.

 

            Furthermore, Brigitte pushes herself to try new skating elements that will be required under the new judging system.  First of all, many coaches teach her new jumps and spins that will help prepare her for the 2008 Southwest Pacific Regional Competition.  Furthermore, they add many new jump combinations like double flip, double toe or spin variations like a catch foot, where she grabs her blade and pulls it over her head so she can earn high points for technical elements.  Brigitte¡¯s perfectionism motivates her to be the best by skating a clean and perfect free skate program.  In addition, she falls many times a day on the cold, wet ice to improve the height and distance of her jumps until she sprains her wrist and has to be stopped by her mother.  To be specific, her whole butt would turn a deep purple after crashing down on the ice, working on her air position on her double lutz.  Brigitte¡¯s perseverance allows her to not give up and she won¡¯t let pain get in her way of accomplishing her goal.

 

            Brigitte smiled from ear to ear as she got off the ice, waving to her family and friends in the audience.  Even if she didn¡¯t win, she knew she skated her best of the season.  Brigitte¡¯s hard work towards skating shows when she misses out on fun activities, trains hard, and tries to improve everyday.  After competing for five years, she has learned how to tame her nerves that tend to overwhelm her before competitions, spelling bees, or state testing.  Brigitte can also tolerate many things most people can¡¯t such as waking up early to go skating or waiting her turn to get on the ice.  Through the aches, pains, and sacrifices, she has learned many valuable lessons that she hopes other people can follow.