SCNY Skaters Shine at Eastern Sectionals

Olivia Serafini, Cape Cod Times

The ice at the Hyannis Youth and Community Center and the Yarmouth Ice Club played host this past weekend to a number of stellar performances from our very own SCNY skaters. 

Congratulations to all skaters who competed, and best of luck to those who are moving on to Nationals in Omaha in January!

Samantha Cesario took the gold in Senior Ladies, while Joelle Forte secured two spots in the field at Nationals for SCNY skaters with a 4th place finish. Samantha has bounced back this year after a season-ending injury that kept her from competing at Nationals last year, and this is Joelle's third trip to Nationals at the Senior level. 

Grant Hochstein snagged a berth in Senior men with 4th place in a tough field of skaters from the New England region. The 2009 Intermediate Dance Champions Danielle Gamelin and Alexander Gamelin are on their way to Omaha after also finishing 4th in their debut at the Senior level. Felicia Zhang also earned a spot in Senior Pairs with partner Nathan Bartholomay.

Jay Yostanto, Jimmy Ma and James Schetelich
receive their medals.

Olivia Serafini will be returning to Nationals again this year, this time as a Junior, after a 3rd place finish in Junior Ladies. Jay Yostanto, Jimmy Ma and James Schetelich will join her in Junior Men, having nabbed the gold, silver and bronze respectively in Hyannis. James won the silver medal in Novice Men at last year's Nationals, an event in which Jimmy Ma also qualified.

Emmy Ma will represent SCNY in Intermediate Ladies in January, taking home a silver medal from Hyannis. She competed in Juvenile Girls last year at Nationals. Darbie Burke and Griffin Schwab took home the gold in Intermediate Pairs. They also competed at the Juvenile level at last year's Nationals. Jessica Guo and Davis Tong will also head to Omaha, placing 4th in Juvenile Pairs.

A big thank you to the Yarmouth Ice Club and all of the volunteers and officials who ran a great competition. 

See the complete results from the 2013 Eastern Sectional Championships here.

More photos from Easterns:

Danielle & Alexander Gamelin

Emmy Ma

Jay Yostanto and Derrick Delmore

Elaine Zayak, Jimmy Ma, Olivia Serafini & Steven Rice

Skyliners Senior & Junior Teams to Appear on TODAY Show

SCNY's very own Skyliners are set to open the winter skating season at the iconic Rockefeller Center rink tomorrow morning (Tuesday, October 16th) live on the TODAY Show! The opening will be followed by a live performance of the Junior and Senior lines on Kathie Lee & Hoda. 

Be sure to tune in to your local NBC affiliate to catch the beginning of what is sure to be an exciting season of skating in New York!

For information on skating at Rockefeller Center, visit the rink website.

SCNY Throwing Regional/Sectional Send-Off Exhibition and Brunch

Fall may mean back-to-school and falling leaves to most, but for many skaters, it means the exciting start to the competitive season. It's a time of goal-setting and high hopes for the year ahead, and as any skater who has competed at regionals will tell you, support from friends, family and fellow skaters is essential to a successful competitive year.

So friends, family and fellow skaters, here is your chance to help out. The Skating Club of New York is throwing a Regional/Sectional send-off exhibition and brunch at Sky Rink on Sunday, September 30th from 10:30-12:20. Send off your skaters in style! It's a tradition at the SCNY and it will be great fun.

This is also a chance for SCNY skaters (Juvenile and above) competing at regionals to try out their competitive programs in front of an audience. There's no charge to skate, but space is limited. If you're interested in skating, email SCNY (mail@thescny.org) by Monday, September 24th with your name, skating level, program length, phone number and coach's name. First come, first served, so hurry! SCNY will let members who have applied know by week's end if they are on the schedule.

Good luck to all skaters competing this year!

Only Two Days Left to Register for Mids!

Hurry! The deadline for registration to compete in this year's Middle Atlantic Championships is fast approaching. Skaters will have until August 8th to enter. Click here to register now to compete in one of the country's most prestigious non-qualifying competitions!

SCNY is hosting the 87th Annual Middle Atlantic Figure Skating Championships at Sky Rink Chelsea Piers, September 6-9th. Mids has a long and glorious history of providing a competitive venue for some of the country's most accomplished figure skaters during their formative years. The competition has seen thousands of skaters throughout its tenure, including Sarah and Emily Hughes, Johnny Weir, Dick Button, Carol Heiss-Jenkins, Dorothy Hamill, Kyoko Ina & John Zimmerman and Tara Lipinski.

The competition is open to skaters of all levels (No-Test through Senior test levels, including Pre-Preliminary and Preliminary test track events), so long as they are members of US Figure Skating or of SCNY. This year Mids will also reprise its unique team competition for skaters at No-Test through Pre-Juvenile levels. Skaters must indicate their home rink on the entry form to participate. Event prices include a DVD of the full event for each event entered.

The competition will also feature its prestigious Pairs Critique, now several years running and sponsored by The Will Sears Fund. This year's critique will feature special guest Hely Abbondati, an ISU official and pairs specialist, among other international specialists, controllers and judges. The critique is included in the event price, so if you're a pairs skater, take advantage of this unique opportunity! 

Don't miss out on the fun at Mids this year. Sign up now!

Mids 2012 to Feature Exclusive Seminars with ISU Technical Experts

While the sport of figure skating is no doubt imbued with artistry and grace, it's the technical aspects of the sport that are more valued in competition. And it is important for all involved in competitive figure skating to gain a maximum understanding of this year's new ISU rules.

At this year's Middle Atlantic Championships, SCNY is offering a unique chance to get on top of it all before the season of qualifying competitions begins. 

The club is sponsoring a series of seminars for judges, officials, coaches, skaters and parents on Saturday, September 8th on Sunset Terrace at Sky Rink. Each seminar will feature actual ISU Committee members, ISU Referees, World and Olympic judges and Technical Controllers.  

The first seminar, "Understanding the New ISU Technical Rules Changes and Clarification of Rules," welcomes judges, coaches and skaters from 10:45 to 11:45 a.m., during which a panel of ISU Technical Committee members, World Technical Specialists and Controllers will explain the latest changes and proposals. The aim is to give all attendees a clearer understanding of the new ISU singles rules and their implications for competitors. 

The second seminar, from 1:15 to 2:15 p.m., will take a look "Inside the Headsets" of the Technical Panel. Officials, coaches, skaters and parents will get to watch from behind the panel as a mock competitive event is called live, and witness the real discussion and debate that goes on among actual ISU Technical Panel members during a live event. This is a rare peek behind the curtain and a great chance to get ahead of the competition! 

Seminar panelists include Australia's Susan Lynch, an ISU Committee member who served as the 2010 Olympic Pairs Technical Controller; and World Technical Specialist Troy Goldstein, among others.

Space is limited for both seminars, so reserve a spot now! To register online, sign in here and go to the "Merchandise" page. Entry is $25 for one seminar or $35 for both. You do not have to be a Mids competitor to attend. We hope to see you there!

Figure Skating Still Plays a Part in Summer Games

Icenetwork.com

The Olympics are here! Sure, there's no figure skating competition in the summer games, but some of the sport's biggest stars are still playing a role in London!

Notably, SCNY's very own Sarah and Emily Hughes are in London, reporting on all the Olympic fun for icenetwork.com. Follow their adventures across the pond via Sarah's chronicles on Ice Network and on her Twitter feed! 

Icenetwork.com also has a great slideshow of famous skaters who carried the Olympic torch for these London games. Torvill and Dean, Michelle Kwan and many more! 

When the Olympics are held, summer or winter, most of the figure skating community is glued to the television. Artistic gymnastics bears the most similarities in rules and athleticism to figure skating, and many figure skaters who watch it find it as compelling a competition to watch.

The scoring system for gymnastics has recently evolved similarly to that of figure skating, it seems, with open-ended scoring and emphasis on technical accuracy. The sport of gymnastics has had its share of Olympic judging scandals too, particularly at the 2008 Games in Beijing when Chinese gymnast He Kexin beat out American gymnast Nastia Liukin on the uneven bars event, despite technical bobbles and identical marks from the judges. So far in London though, the gymnastics competition has been riveting, and hopes for Team USA are high!

What's your favorite summer Olympic sport? Share with us in the comments section below.

New Rinks Open at Chelsea Piers Connecticut

Chelsea Piers in Stamford opens today! Two brand new rinks are now open seven days a week, along with dance/fitness studios and athletic training facilities.

There are no freestyle sessions set up as of yet, however if you'd like to test out the ice, there are open skating sessions every Saturday from noon to 4 p.m.

A few weeks ago, the Skyliners got a chance to try out the new ice as part of the facility's ribbon cutting ceremony. Check out some of their photos here!

Have you seen the new facilities yet? Let us know what you think of them! In the meantime, keep an eye on the Chelsea Piers Connecticut website for information on freestyle sessions and other skating opportunities.