Robyn Roste, Systems & Funnels

My Brief Figure Skating History | High School Athlete

I’m writing about my skating history because it’s true. I used to be a competitive figure skater. But I was also a dumb kid. I started skating just to “try it out” when I was 12.

Figure Skating History

My mom was always getting us kids to try different sports. Usually the agreement was we would try it for one year. Well, my brother’s didn’t really like skating but I thought it was OK. So I kept going. Then before I knew it I was in private lessons and wearing spandex dresses…it was definitely something I never imagined doing.

My figure skating history

So even after figure skating became “my thing” I was only on-again-off-again serious about the sport, since I also had desires to be a dumb kid. It was funny. I was “good” at skating but I wasn’t really a “natural.” I say it this way because although I could do the tricks, I had to work really hard for them. You know how some people are just naturally graceful and can stick landings and stuff?

Yeah, I hate them too.

So, desiring to have things like friends and a social life and a part-time job at McDonald’s didn’t really work. But I kept trying. For all my years of skating I kind of had a double life. Early morning skating, school, after school skating, work, homework, sleep. Repeat.

By the time I was about 16 realized I had to train a lot harder if I wanted to actually be competitive in the sport. I believe this was due to attending (watching…not competing in) the World Figure Skating Championships in Edmonton, Alberta in 1996 and seeing a little pipsqueak named Tara Lipinski skate. She was ridiculous. She also trained full time and got up at, like 3 a.m. to do pre-dawn skating. I just did dawn skating. I was not so hardcore as the soon-to-be Olympic and World Champion.

But still I was inspired. So, for my last few years of high school I trained harder than I had before. And I achieved some nice things, won some pretty cool competitions, got my “Gold” tests in order (except for dance where I only went up to Senior Silver, which is one level below Gold because, well, that’s what I did) and…that was kind of it.

I finished high school and after my first year of university, decided I wanted to take the summer off to work at summer camp. It was dream.

And it was only a summer

But when I set foot on the ice that first day back in September my coach looked at me and said, “I can tell your heart isn’t in it. Skate around for half an hour, then go home and don’t come back until you want to be here.”

And I never went back. I did go back to camp though.

That, my friends, is my brief figure skating history.

Other figure skating posts

My brief skating history. I thought it was OK. So I kept going. Then before I knew it I was in private lessons and wearing spandex dresses...

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