The week after the pep rally, the team had their first competition. The Autumn Classic is held at our home rink. They skated well. They actually skated consistently all season. In Alyssa's first season, I held my breath through every competition because it would be clean one time and a hot mess the next. With this team, I always knew we would see straight lines and synchronized footwork. However, I feared their routine was a bit on the easy side. Other clubs tend to hold skaters back for years to stay competitive. Our club tends to put them on the highest team where they are qualified to skate. After the first competition it was clear that my fears were correct. Our girls skated the cleanest. The other 2 teams all had falls, but our degree of difficulty was too low and we came in 3rd of 3. Alyssa doesn't really care about winning, but the team knew they skated well and they saw other teams fall so they were a little discouraged about what their prospects might be for the rest of the season once they were in a larger field of competitors.
The next weekend we were on the road to Kalamazoo, Michigan for the Kalamazoo Kickoff. We hardly had any snow last winter, but that weekend was a white out. We held our breath the entire bus ride. We even saw an overturned semi that took out 3 cars right in front of us. It was stressful, but we made it. This was a LONG weekend. I think we were at the rink 6 hours on Saturday night and 12 hours on Sunday. They were exhausted by the time they skated, and again, the routine looked a bit easier than the other teams in their field. They also had a one-on-one critique with the judges before they skated and were told the routine was not difficult enough. There were 8 teams in their division, and ours was the only team that did not have a fall...but...we had one girl hit the boards. Hitting the boards is a bigger deduction than a fall, so we got ready for last place and were happy to walk away with 6th. This gave the team confidence. They figured that if they could get 6th with a wall hit and a less than sparkling critique, they might be able to climb up on the podium at some point.
We shared the bus to Kalamazoo with Open Juv. Since Alyssa also trained with this team, she took the chance to sit with one of her OJ friends.
They warmed up about a million times this weekend.
Alyssa's poster from her synchro sib
Alyssa's team poster.
The poster Alyssa made for her synchro sib whose team theme was Wild West.
Pre-Juv and Open-Juv teams cheering for the Beginner 1 team.
A couple weeks later and with a few minor changes to increase the degree of difficulty, we hit the road to Ann Arbor, Michigan for the Porter Classic. We had some free time on our first day in town, so we hit the mall for some team silliness. Our kiddos were once again in a field of 8. There are a few teams that you never want to see in your line up and we skated directly after one of those teams. One of the skaters at our club came to our club from this team because they put her on a beginner team for 5 years straight. These teams have 4 alternates per team, and they rank skaters each week so you are constantly competing for your spot. This makes for extremely competitive teams so they are tough to go up against. That said, we have looked into trying out with some of these clubs and chosen not to. We like the camaraderie and team spirit we enjoy with IceStars. Anyhow, we watched this super team perform and man they were good. Our routine looked a bit easy again, but aside from this one team, I would say our kids looked the most clean and synchronized. The judges agreed! We still took a hit for degree of difficulty, but ended 4th of 8, which in synchro is a pewter medal. It was so exiting to see the kids get a taste of success.
Bus rides and hotel stays are Alyssa's favorite part of the season.
Trying to be the emoji they grabbed
Team dinner at Olive Garden. We loved this! We used to do team dinners at the hotel but this was an experiment and it worked. We will always go out for team dinner in the future.
In Ann Arbor, Alyssa's friend from OJ stayed in our room. Her mom, grandma, and twin sisters were in her room and Alyssa and I were alone so we took her in and watched Mean Girls past their 8:00 curfew. Shh!
Leaving the hotel at 430 AM to go compete
The coaches coming out with results.
Our next stop was in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. This is where Alyssa's team took silver the previous year so we went in with good feelings about this one. We were missing a skater due to an injury, but they skated well. This time they were just outmatched. Everyone skated well, and some of these teams looked better than even our higher level team. We usually know who is and is not a contender, but this time there were some teams we had never heard of, including a team from ND who were the best we had ever seen. We were in a field of 7. We were ready to take last and happily surprised with 5th.
No medals this week, but still plenty of good times.
These three were basically inseparable all season.
Did you notice that one of the girls had a doll with a dress to match their competition dress? The aunt of one of our skaters made those. Here is Alyssa's. So cute!
The fifth competition of the season was Synchro Illinois in North Chicago. They were in a field of 7 and had competed against a few of them previously in the season. We had beat a couple of them, traded wins/losses with a couple, never heard of a couple, and there was one we knew we could not beat because they had beaten us even with several falls earlier in the season. Overall though, we thought this might be the team's chance to crack top 3. The coaches upped the degree of difficulty again by disconnecting the pinwheel. There are 5 elements that are required in a synchro routine (block, line, pinwheel, intersection, circle). They can be in any order. I just listed them in the order they appeared in this routine. If you can do the pinwheel without holding on in the middle, it is more difficult. Or some teams travel across the ice during this element which is also an increase. Alyssa's team did not travel, but they did disconnect and transitioned from a 3 spoke wheel to a 2 spoke wheel. This was their first time debuting this change. Even the parents had not seen it yet. They handled it like they'd always done it this way. We were also missing one skater to an injury, but they adjusted to that without any hiccups as well. As parents, we always thought they looked good, but this time the coaches, who know what the judge are looking for, were also pleased with their skate. We were super happy when they came back from the results room with silver medals. The one team they had yet to beat took first, but our team took everyone else.
Silver!!!
The team's final competition destination was Glenview, Illinois for the February Freeze. The team had about a month between their fifth competition and sixth competition. The coaches took this time to beef up the routine and it looked really good in practice that morning, but for the first time all season they just didn't skate well. It happens. They had their only fall of the season and they were just out of sync for some reason. It was a messy skate and we were not surprised when the team ended 4th of 4. I was bummed because we had family in town for Chloe's baptism. I would have loved for them to see the team skate the way they skated the rest of the season, but I was still proud of these kids for all they accomplished during the season. They managed to snag a few medals, and they were the most fun people to be around ever. Even with new teams formed, the old team still hangs out, and the moms from last season still text on our group thread all the time.
Grandpa Bob and Glenn were also in town for this competition, but I only managed to get a picture with Grandma Susie.
We learned this season that our club is kind of the best of the worst or the worst of the best. We tend to be better than other recreational teams, and not quite as good as the super competitive lot. And we are okay with that. It sometimes lands our kiddos in the medal zone but allows them to compete together instead of against each other. I hope to see them pushed even harder in the upcoming season, but we love IceStars.
A couple weeks after the final competition, we went to Key Lime Cove to celebrate the season.
We brought Alex's friend along so he'd have someone to play with.
Chloe usually buddies up with these two from Alyssa's team.
One of the things we really wanted to do was get the kitchen sink sundae for the team. When I checked in I asked what time the ice cream shop closed. They told me 10:00. We got out of the pool at 9 and went and changed. We got to the ice cream shop at 9:30 and it was closed. I went to the front desk to ask what was up. They said I was given bad info before. I went to the bar and asked if they could scoop it for us since they had ice cream on their menu. They said they would ask. They brought me the hotel manager and he said they could not scoop it in the bar, but that he would personally go and open the ice cream shop and scoop it for us. We were surprised and grateful. I felt bad because other customers also trickled in when they saw that the shop was open, but they served them as well. It made for such a fun team memory and I will sing definitely throw future business to Key Lime Cove for going above and beyond.
The kids also played in the arcade for two hours before bed without any tokens at all and swam again in the morning. The pics are all out of order, but you get the idea.
About a month after the season ended, we had the IceStars awards banquet. Every member of the team gets an award and Alyssa got Most Dedicated. She trained with two teams this year and skated almost every single day. Her progress was remarkable and she never complained. She wanted to prove that she could keep up with the higher team she trained with and by the end of the year she not only kept up but coaches and parents agreed that she was not even the weak link. That is the team she is on for next season and her hard work has her going in strong. The coaches also reward the tape ball for the entire season to the season MVP and Alyssa won that as well. They said, "Alyssa encompasses everything we look for in a synchronized skater." She definitely could have skated with the higher team and it created conversation and controversy at the rink all season, but to work this hard and to earn the respect of her coaches and peers was so much more valuable and validating.
Making a tunnel for other skaters to go through to get their awards
This is one of Alyssa's best friends and they are both heading to the same High School in the fall. They are super excited!
I took another pic when we got home just because I think Alyssa is so pretty.
Embarrassed that I made her pose with her awards. One of the moms turned the tape ball into Aladdin's lamp. So cute!
We also had a banquet for the entire Cutting Edge Figure Skating Club in May, but I don't think I took any pictures. They had a photo booth that printed photo strips so my girls collected a bunch of those while I chatted with friends. Here are a couple other pics that I do have floating around from the season.
All of our teams qualify to go to MidPac Regionals, but it was in Oregon this year so the club decided to just send our Juvenile team. They are the only ones who qualify to go any higher than mids so it didn't financially make sense to send anyone else. Our team decided to send a care package to their hotel in Oregon. Their theme was Wild West so Alyssa and I made this photo booth poster to send along.
I did this to the team's hair for our Ugly Sweater Christmas practice.
Our crazy kids were obsessed with shouting out, "It's a watermelohhn inside a watermelohhn." It was nonsense. One weekend, a couple of the girls needed rides to early morning practice so they stayed over at our house. Since they were there, I had them make watermelon snacks to make the team laugh. It was February and that was the least ripe watermelon in history, but the whole team laughed when we showed up with a watermelohhn buffet.
The competition season ended in February, but the team skated one last time in the Spring Ice Show. They only had one practice in May to prep for this performance and I thought they deserved a team themed snack. I freehanded-ly piped those lamps in melting chocolate and I was pretty proud of them.
Alyssa tested her Preliminary Moves in the Field in March. She was a bit nervous because a few of her friends from the higher team took this test and did not pass. Her coach assured her that no one had worked harder and that she knew she would pass. She was right and Alyssa passed. This was another validating moment for her. She tested with the same two friends she tested her Pre-Preliminary Moves with last year and sadly only two of them passed. The other one tested again the next month though and passed.
With Coach Chelsea
Alyssa's friend from Pre-Juv tested his Pre-Preliminary moves right after she tested so we had to get a picture for the team.
At the Spring Show I was in the locker room so the coaches asked me to warm them up. They were in a bunch of different costumes because some of them still had another number before synchro, but I figured we needed one more pic of Team PJ.
So now we are one week into the new season and part of me is saying "Oh no, here we go again", and the other part is saying "Home Sweet Home". This has become our family. I am so excited for Chloe to experience it as well.
Here is a video from Ann Arbor, where they were 4th of 8 and Chicago where they were 2nd of 7. The fall in the Ann Arbor video does not count because it is before the routine starts. Can you tell which one is Alyssa? In the second video when they are lined up on the wall before the routine she is second from the front. She is one of the ones who lifts her leg at the end of the routine and ends furthest to the left in that same video.
