February 20, 2018
Joy Webb
Aside from perfecting a ‘spiral,’ ‘bunny hop’ or ‘salchow,’ the UCCS Figure Skating club provides an outlet for figure skaters to connect and succeed together.
The collegiate figure skating team competed at the University of California, Los Angeles Feb. 16-18.
“There are about 10 to 15 competitive and recreational people in the club,” said club president, Gwendolynn De Graaf, a sophomore biomedical science major and dance minor.
“(The club) is slowing growing and people are starting to care about us.”
The club requires per-semester fees: $200 for first-time members at the competitive level, and $40 for first-time members at the recreational level. For returning members, the cost is $150 at the competitive level, and $20 for returning members at the recreational level.
Figure skaters who would like to compete at different events those who enjoy getting on the ice regularly, the figure skating club has both options.
In order to attend and compete at many of the events that the club goes to, they must organize fundraisers.
“We are still going through the details of the event but basically people can come and learn how to skate with the team on Saturday, May 5 at Honnen Ice Arena,” said De Graaf. “We’re really excited about that event.”
“The time is still up in the air, but it will be sometime in the evening.”
Instead of having an average fundraising event, the figure skating club is using the skills that they’ve acquired to teach other people how to skate to earn funding.
According to De Graaf the team meets regularly once a week on Tuesday mornings at 6:30 a.m. at Honnen Ice Arena, and on Thursday mornings for members who can’t attend on Tuesdays.
“We practice, have fun together and it’s been such a joy starting a club,” said De Graaf. “Even if someone has never done it before they can still come out and try it.”
A GPA of 2.0 is required to be in the figure skating club since they value earning a degree and getting an education, and dues must be paid per semester.
For more information on joining the figure skating club email [email protected] or visit their page on MountainLionConnect.