Performers on ice
Members of the Inland Northwest Figure Skating Club clear the ice as music starts and one performer after another clips, jumps and twirls through their routines. Head coach Karin Kunzle-Watson watches with a keen eye, and comments on aspects of each skater’s performance that still need work.
She’s skated with the best, and became a world champion figure skater in 1976, the same year she competed in the Olympics. Kunzle-Watson started drawing local talent through a learn-to-skate program six years ago at the former Go Kart Family Fun Center on Seltice Way in Coeur d’Alene. The club has since gained membership and momentum and now has its sights on a regional competition starting Tuesday in Seattle.
“I can take them as far as they want to go,” Kunzle-Watson said. “Each one of them needs different methods of getting there. It all boils down to one thing: hard work.”
She said several students have potential to reach national competition this year, and many are aiming for the 2007 national competition, which will be held in Spokane.
Kunzle-Watson said when the club started, few skaters were able to build on their skills from year to year because of the seasonal rink in Coeur d’Alene. When the rink closed five years ago, the club started meeting at Planet Ice in Spokane Valley.
Membership is split between Idaho and Washington, and about half of the club’s 48 members cross the border to skate year-round.
The club skates every weekday. Around 1 p.m., stragglers begin to clomp around the rink for water bottles and facial tissue before hitting the ice. Other students, like Nora Powell of Post Falls, have already carved lines in the ice while working out a routine.
She participated in one of the first learn-to-skate classes five years ago and stuck with it. At 15, she helps teach others how to skate and is working toward the regional competition.
“It takes a lot of work and a lot of falling,” she said.
Her mother, Robin, has watched from the sidelines since Nora started skating. Robin got involved by volunteering two years ago as a parents’ committee representative for the Northwest region of the United States Figure Skating Association.
The committee discusses issues, such as nutrition and addresses parents’ concerns. Robin said it’s sometimes hard as a parent to watch them compete.
“You want them to be successful, and you know that they have to fail,” she said. “You hurt for them, but you can’t push them or drive them.”
She remembers being at the point where she couldn’t stand to watch her daughter keep getting up after each failed attempt at an axel. But she’s come to respect the tenacity and determination Nora has for the sport.
Nora’s 26½-minute routine has taken months of practice. She said each fall is worth the feeling of a perfect landing.
“It’s really amazing. It feels great,” she said. “You don’t usually expect it and when you land it you’re still standing and then you’re like, ‘yay!’ “
Kunzle-Watson said figure skaters on TV train to make the ice acrobatics look easy, and new students take to the sport with high hopes of instant success.
But after they fall a few times, many realize the ice is hard and often unforgiving, she said.
“It takes a certain temperament to do this because it’s not as easy as it looks,” she said.
She said after a while, students look seriously at where they want to go with the sport. Some start doing jumps and call it quits after a few falls. Others push on to competitions.
About a dozen of the students are focused on competitions and medals. Students compete for the top four spots at the regional, sectional and national levels. The national competition determines Olympic candidates.
While the dream of an Olympic performance may seem unattainable, it’s also in the back of each skater’s mind.
Heidi Nelson, 11, of Spokane, made her way to Junior Nationals last year and said it was her greatest accomplishment so far. She’s been skating for seven years, but a recent back injury has forced her to relearn all her jumps after months out of practice.
When the national competition is held in Spokane in 2007, she hopes to re-enter competition at the national level.
“Hopefully after that, I’ll be able to go to the Olympics in 2010,” she said.
Kunzle-Watson said she’s constantly checking students’ motivation to make sure they have the enthusiasm to match their talent.
She said with school pressures, relationships and body changes, too much can dampen Olympic dreams. So she works with skaters who have the spirit for cold practices and local competition first.
“If you’re only skating for 15 minutes of glory at the Olympics, you’re not doing the right thing,” she said.
She added the hard work gives students a positive spin for the rest of their lives through discipline, accomplishment and a sense of responsibility.
When the hard work pays off, she’s happy to share their successes.
“I feel like it’s happening to me as well,” she said. “I’m part of their success. I’m part of why they succeed. That makes me feel good.”