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Dear SCNY members and families, |
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Celebrate the 2016-17 season with good friends and club officials! |
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Bid farewell to members graduating from high school and congratulate those who passed a gold test this year! |
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Share delicious food, drink, and views of the Hudson River! |
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New this year! The exhibition will include a group number celebrating our 2017 regional competitors during which each skater is announced and featured in a step-out. If you are interested in participating, please contact Stacie Krinsky. |
Exhibition of SCNY Skaters: 10:30 AM | Family B-B-Q on Sunset Terrace: Noon |
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Skater | Event | Medal |
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Anna Drozda | Championship Gold Ladies | Bronze |
Kenneth Yin | Championship Gold Men | Bronze |
Anna Drozda | Adult Ladies Gold 1 | Bronze |
Mayumi Yamamoto | Adult Ladies Gold IV | Silver |
Narrowly missing the podium were fellow SCNY members Rosemarie Coyle, Stephanie Hao, Tracey Rhodes and Tara O'Neil. |
[…]this story does not end with her winning any championship medals. It doesn’t have to. In fact, this story does not end at all. Because Susan is still figure skating several mornings a week – simply because skating is still the best way for her to unfold a certain beauty and transcendence within her life that she cannot seem to access in any other manner.
– Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear (Riverhead Books 2016)
By Susan Kittenplan, Editorial VP, Yahoo! Inc. and President, The Skating Club of New York
A friend of mine, the writer Elizabeth Gilbert, called me a few years ago to ask if I would participate in a chapter of a new book. “Do you want me to edit a specific chapter?” I asked, since I worked closely with her as an editor at both GQ and Allure, and had assigned her essay that led to her book Eat, Pray, Love. “No,” she said. “I am writing a book about people changing their lives and taking risks, and I want to write about you and figure skating.”
Getting back on the ice after 20+ years didn’t feel like a big hurdle. It’s not exactly like climbing K2 or overcoming a stutter. It’s not even in the realm of risk Liz took when she left everything and traveled the world for a year to write her bestseller. Actually, I was a little embarrassed that people might laugh at this so-called challenge.
I started skating when I was five years old and competed until I was 16. I loved it, but was tired of the early-morning practices, hated doing patch (figure eights), and knew that I was not headed to Nationals, let alone any Olympics. So I gave it up and thought I was done with the sport. However, returning to the ice has been cathartic and life-changing in ways I couldn’t have expected – both personally and professionally.
If you ever see me walking into the New York office on a Tuesday or Friday morning with a huge smile on my face, it’s because I have just come from the rink. I love the feeling of gliding and flying that I get from skating. As soon as my blades touch the ice, I instantly feel better. I also love the camaraderie of skaters with whom I share the ice – from ages 9 to 90. Seriously, there is a judge who is 90 years old who skates regularly, as well as a Nobel Prize winner in physics. Figure skating can seem effortless and elegant, but it takes tremendous strength, agility, and frankly, some acting ability to be a skater. And being a media executive takes some of those same skills as well.
I spent most of my media career at Condé Nast working at Vanity Fair, GQ, Glamour and Allure. But during my time as an editor at Harper’s Bazaar, I remembered that the Hearst offices were located near a skating shop in midtown Manhattan where I bought my ice skates as a little girl. One day, I stopped in after work and bought a far-too-expensive pair. Still, I couldn’t get myself to the rink. It seemed daunting. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to skate at all. It may sound clichéd, but after 9/11 happened, I thought I needed to do something I loved, something that would get me out of my head, something that would get me moving. Those sentiments finally got me to Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers, where I met my coach and my ice dance partner a few weeks later, and started to skate regularly.
Getting back on the ice has made me less afraid of facing challenges. My return to skating as an adult, especially as an ice dancer, emphasizes strategy and teamwork. It’s impossible for me to think about work or anything else when I skate. Ice dancing requires a great deal of focus; I have to be in the moment and be aware of the space around me. There is no room for my mind to wander because I could trip, fall, and hurt myself and my partner or coach.
Skating also helped with goal setting. Just like those we set at Yahoo, I want to pass different test levels in ice dancing. I have been working on my pre-silver ice dances for a while; I keep failing the test for a dance called the European Waltz. I’m determined to pass – even if I have to wear down those judges and test every month until they get sick of me.
It is important to find your passion, something that makes you get up too early, stay up too late, search online for any story on the topic and feel giddy when you find kindred spirits who are also obsessed with your passion. Passion can be used as a form of what I call “Positive Procrastination.” You know how sometimes it helps to put one story or project aside and work on another? That is Positive Procrastination – distraction in a good way. Skating also brings me stress relief. It feels as if my brain completely switches to another frequency.
I believe my passion makes me better at my job. When I skate before work, I come to the office with a clear head. Skating has pushed me to face certain fears, such as stage fright or speaking in public – something I have to do more at Yahoo than I have ever done before. Also, it has allowed me to become more flexible and understanding. Working with a partner requires that you do your best to not let the other person down, but it also helps you to understand that mistakes can happen no matter how much you have prepared (all good lessons that can be applied to any job). Ultimately, my passion for skating has taught me to bring grace and resilience to both the ice and the office. And there’s that whole “You fall, then you get back up” metaphor. Trite but true.
Ultimately, I said yes to Liz, and she did include me in her book Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, writing about my skating as only she can:
“[…]this story does not end with her winning any championship medals. It doesn’t have to. In fact, this story does not end at all. Because Susan is still figure skating several mornings a week – simply because skating is still the best way for her to unfold a certain beauty and transcendence within her life that she cannot seem to access in any other manner.
And she would like to spend as much time as possible in such a state of transcendence while she is still here on earth. That’s all. That’s what I call creative living.”
It is creative living that I have also found at Yahoo. I hope you find your passion and that it inspires you both in your work and, most importantly, in your life.
This article is republished with the permission of Yahoo! Inc.
Helsinki, Finland hosts 2017 ISU World Figure Skating Championships March 29 through April 2, 2017. SCNY members Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani represent the United States in dance and Haven Denney and her partner Brandon Frazier represent the United States in pairs. Other club members include Slovakian ladies champ Nicole Rajicova, Israeli dance champs Isabella Tobias and her partner Ilya Tkachenko, and South Korean dance champs Alexander Gamelin and his partner Yura Min.
2016 and 2017 U.S. Senior Dance Champions
2016 World Silver Medalists
2011 World Bronze Medalists
5X US Senior Silver and Bronze Medalists
2014 Olympians
2010 U.S. Junior National Champions
2011 World Junior Silver Medalists
2016 Skate America, 2016 Cup of China, 2016 Four Continents and 2015 NHK Champions
Maia and Alex Shibutani
2017 US Senior Pairs Champions
2015 and 2016 Skate America silver medalists
2015 US senior pairs silver medalists
2012 US junior pairs champions
Haven Denney
and Brandon Frazier
Haven Denney
and Brandon Frazier
2014 Olympian
7th - 2015 Skate America and Cup of China
5th - 2016 Ondrej Nepela
6th - 2017 European Championships
(representing Slovakia)
Nicole Rajicova
2015 Tallinn Trophy Gold Medalists
2015 Finlandia Trophy and Mordovian Ornament Silver Medalists
6th place - 2016 Skate America
(representing Israel)
Isabella Tobias
and Ilia Tkachenko
2017 S. Korean National Champions
(representing S. Korea)
Yura Min and
Alexander Gamelin
2017 World Junior Dance Bronze Medalists
2017 US junior dance silver medalists
2016 Junior Grand Prix finalists
Silver - JGP Russia, France, Poland
Christina Carreira
and Anthony Ponomarenko
And belated congratulations to
Follow the action live at Ice Network.
Join several SCNY collegians, graduates and officials for an overview of collegiate skating, plus participate in an On-ice Mock Intercollegiate Team Maneuvers Competition 9 am to noon, Sunday, April 9, 2017 at Chelsea Piers Sky Rink.
In addition to free skating and solo dance, intercollegiate teams compete in maneuvers -- leveled skills competitions where each team member focuses on one or two required elements (maneuvers) at one of three test-based levels.
Sign up below, sharpen your skates, and join us for an exhilarating morning of mock intercollegiate competition and college skating orientation.
Maneuvers will be done as a simulation of an intercollegiate team competition. Participants will select up to two elements that they would like to skate at their current test level when they register for the seminar (see the form below for the list of elements).
Overview of Collegiate Skating
Athlete Perspective (current and alumni)
College Test Prep Info Session (Noon to 12:50pm)
The Skyliners returned Sunday from the 2017 U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships in Rockford, Illinois with FOUR NATIONAL TITLES — gold in Junior, Novice, Intermediate and Juvenile, plus bronze for Senior. Gotham City Synchro Masters placed twelfth. We are so proud of every SCNY team and skater! Skyliners Junior heads to Mississauga, Ontario March 10-11 as TEAM USA 1 and the ISU World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships for the third consecutive year. Good luck, TEAM USA! |
U.S. Synchronized Skating National Champions | |
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Click on an image to see a full-screen version and launch the slide show. |
Honorable Mentions | |
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Click on an image to see a full-screen version and launch the slide show. |
The Skating Club of New York's mission is to provide programs to encourage participation and achievement in the sport of figure skating, to conduct figure skating tests as prescribed by US Figure Skating and to organize and sponsor competitions, exhibitions and clinics. The Skating Club of New York is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit amateur athletic organization and all contributions are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
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USFS Safe Sport Program |
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Synchro News |
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94th Annual Middle Atlantic ChampionshipsSeptember 5-8, 2019
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SCNY SynchroSunday, January 27, 2019
Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers |
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New York ShowcaseFebruary 16, 2019
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Wollman OpenSunday, March 3, 2019
in Central Park |
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The Long Island ChampionshipsSunday, April 28, 2019
The Rinx |
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The Rinx Summer OpenJuly 12-14, 2019
The Rinx
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General Test Application
Sky Rink Test Application
Instructions: IJS Protocol for Test Credit