Triple Toe

I'm a former figure skater now part time coach who loves the sport and loves watching the competitive skaters do their thing. I (try to) post lots of videos, some pictures, updates on what's going on in the junior and senior competitive world, and whatever else I like to ramble about.

[jordynslefteyebrow]

[marinhondas]

[tripletoe]

Concussions in figure skating: How to treat them

This is the second article in a series about the occurrence of concussions in figure skating. In this installment, we look at the aftermath of skating-related concussions.

[tripletoe]

[tripletoe]

Triple Toe Goes to Nationals - Days 9 and 10

For the last two days of competition I was nothing but a spectator! I had tickets for all the events on Saturday and Sunday, as well as the Smucker’s Skating Spectacular on Sunday night.

There was a great deal of fabulous skating that happened those final two days. The energy and excitement of the crowd during gold medal performances is something you can’t experience anywhere else. Memories I know will last a lifetime. And that I still can’t put into words.

The Pairs and Ice Dance Freeskates were first. There were a lot of rough pairs up until the final group when things all the sudden just because amazing. Tarah Kayne and Danny O’Shea. Omg. Just watch it.

Alex and Maia Shibutani’s Free Dance was also omg amazing. Another one you should just go watch.

During the final two pairs groups, we had this group of people in front of us who were just sitting wherever, and moving when a ticket holder showed up. They were doing what they were supposed to do, but it was starting to get really annoying, and in my head I was like, who the heck are these people? Then, Erika Smith and AJ Reiss came down to meet them after they skated. It was their families who were just trying to get close to watch them skate. So that was cool because the 6th best pairs in the nation were sitting 3 seats away from me watching the competition. What. 

There’s a million other things that I’ll be like OMG GO WATCH THIS so instead of putting a bunch of links in the post, I’ll just post them all through the next month. 

My favorite part of the weekend other than the fantastic skating, was watching the excited little kids. There were kids that would line the steps to watch their favorite skaters so they were ready to throw stuff on the ice for them afterwards.

There was a little girl who was at all the senior events, in the same seats with her parents who had to be about 7 years old. She had a bag of stuffed animals and would run down the steps to the boards, wait for the skater she liked to come close to her (where she stood she was close to the ice exit), and then throw it with all her might and watch to see if they picked it up before running back up the steps. A couple times she was successful! One of her little unicorns got on the big screen and her dad took a picture of it. She also got a couple high fives and hugs. It was adorable to watch how excited she was. The skater had to be pretty good to be worthy of a pink pony or unicorn from this girl. So freaking cute.

The Smucker’s Skating Spectacular was also fabulous, but I felt so bad for Nathan Chen! About 30 seconds into his program he was going into his program and worsened a pre-existing hip injury and couldn’t finish. Poor guy :(

There were other cool moments from the exhibition as well, which included Ashely Wagner skating to live music provided by the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus, as well as her getting to announce Adam Rippon onto the ice for his program. They also let Carly Gold announce her sister onto the ice and she was so excited she almost started crying.

So many fabulous memories, I’m so glad I have a DVR so I could record all the stuff that was televised and rewatch it so much I will surely drive my roommate instead.

Nationals was a fabulous success. Come back to St. Paul soon!!

[tripletoe]

Triple Toe Goes to Nationals - Day 8

My last day of volunteering! :’(

One final ice maintenance shift at the practice arena in the morning watching more Senior Pairs and Senior Ladies. Seriously, how did I miss all the men?

The general mood in the arena was very different from the last time I watched practice. On Wednesday there was a more lighthearted feeling to the rink. Excitement and anticipation for what was to come. Today’s practices were post-short program and the rink had a much quieter, more focused feeling. Short program is done, time to bring it for the Freeskate.

A couple fun moments from the morning despite the serious tone of the rink, had a coach tell us that the reason he couldn’t pull out his credential is because he had so many layers on due to our cold weather. Earlier this week overheard a couple girls tell the Xcel elevator attendant they want to go back to California when he asked where they were headed. Non-Minnesotans had a rough week...

Also, the woman who was running the practice rink was talking to Frank Carroll a few feet away from me asking about a camera crew that had come and wanted to interview Gracie Gold. Frank wasn’t really up for the idea, but whoever at U.S. Figure Skating was in charge of media things had approved it so he didn’t really have a choice. He also said that “you don’t mess with the TODAY show”

Frank Carroll knows what’s up. 

In the evening I was back at the Xcel to act as security guarding locker rooms for the Senior Men’s short program. Once again, another very quiet shift, so the three of us rotated between sitting and working and watching a group of skaters. Seeing a quad live is nothing compared to TV. Holy cow. 

I’m sad my volunteering has come to an end, but I am so grateful I was able to be a part of it. I would highly recommend that anyone who is a skating fan volunteer for a big event like this if it ever comes your way. I met a lot of interesting people who come from a variety of skating backgrounds, and one volunteer who knew nothing about skating but just liked to volunteer for things! 

I anxiously await the return of Nationals to do it all over again!

[tripletoe]

TripleToe Goes to Nationals - Day 7

Day 7 has arrived and my time volunteering is coming to an end. My morning was spent at the volunteer services table, meaning I checked in volunteers, showed them where to go if they were unsure, and answered misc. questions. 

All in all we had 3 people for a very quiet shift so I was able to watch Senior Dance on a warm up for a bit. I also saw a few big names including: 

 Tara Lipinski 

Johnny Weir - who was wear black lace pants 

ShibSibs 

Meryl Davis and Charlie White

Rohene Ward

Rachael Flatt

Ryan Bradley

Frank Carroll

Rudy Galindo

Jeremy Abbott

Also had to tell Maria Zoueva’s friend that she did not have the right kind of ticket to let her in to watch the practices. And that there wasn’t a way to get her one. That was a bit awkward.

So when that shift was done I had a couple hours before beginning my next one, so I wandered around the main level of the Xcel and found an empty place to watch the Senior Pairs short program. It was interesting to see everyone’s programs after having first watched them practice. I knew what was coming next in some programs, which was a interesting new perspective to have.

After the first group I checked in for my next volunteer shift doing ice maintenance. In which I basically just moved to a new spot to sit and had a front row seat for the rest of the Pairs short programs, Senior Ladies warm up groups, and opening ceremonies. 

After that was the Senior Ladies short program, which I watched as a spectator with my mom and a couple friends. An interesting thing that U.S. Figure Skating did (and maybe they have been doing this for awhile I just never knew because I hardly ever attend competitions like this) is to provide little radios called SkateRadio for spectators. It had 3 channels, one for technical commentary, one for IceNetwork commentary, and one for NBC commentary during the televised events. It was interesting to be able to listen to commentary while watching it live in person. 

I didn’t really use it much, I like being able to just watch and enjoy and be in the moment without someone critiquing every move. I did like the technical commentary because they didn’t talk throughout the entire program, but then when it was finished they talked about if the skater received any downgrades, bonuses, how many points an impressive move is worth, etc. That part was cool.

It was a long day but I’m ready for Day 8!

[tripletoe]

TripleToe Goes to Nationals - Day 6

Where is this week going?! Day 6 is the first of 3 days in a row of double shifts, one in the late morning, one at the end of the day. Both my shifts today are doing ice maintenance at the practice rink. So basically that means I watched everyone skate and filled holes in the ice when there was a resurface. Best. Job. Ever. In the morning I was able to watch Junior Pairs warm up for Free Skate, and Senior Ladies official practice. 

There’s not too much I can say about the morning shift other than being star struck the entire time. Let’s drop some names now shall we?

Frank Carroll

Gracie and Carly Gold

Rohene Ward

Mirai Nagasu

Courtney Hicks

Ryan Bradley

Polina Edmunds

Rudy Galindo

Rafael Arutyunyan

Basically every single Senior Lady competing. Ashley Wagner was stretching close enough to where I was sitting that I could hear her and Rafael have a conversation about NHL vs. Olympic sized ice rinks. What is life.

Local news was there for awhile to film and interview Gracie and Ashely. So much fantastic skating.

In the evening I ended the night watching the Senior Pairs and Senior Dance practices. Having seen a lot of pairs practices and events these past few days, it was great to finally see the best of the best! 

It was also the first time I was able to watch an ice dance practice since watching Juvenile Dance at Bloomington. During one of the groups I was fortunate enough to watch Alex and Maia Shibutani practice their Free Dance to Fix You by Coldplay. I had heard a lot of positive comments about that program and was anxious to see it, but it was almost more entertaining to watch their mom watching them from 10ft away. She was hanging on to every turn and twizzle and got closer and closer to the boards as the program went on!

Onto Day 7!

[thegenialginger]

The music…

[the-honey-blossom]

@konguloarkonan

[tripletoe]

TripleToe Goes to Nationals - Day 5

Day 5 brings my first day volunteering at the main event center, the Xcel Energy Center! I was here to do a security shift, guarding locker rooms to make sure only skaters enter them.

My shift was during the end of Novice Free Dance and awards, Junior Dance practice, and the start of Junior Ladies practice. Since most of it was practice, it once again was a very quiet shift and I was able to do a little bit of watching.

The Novice Dance and Junior Dance were incredible to see. Lots of talent. It was also interesting to get a look at the behind the scenes stuff, how skaters get prepared for practice and competition. One Junior Lady was always smiling every time I saw her, another was so excited about being there she almost left her credential behind in the locker room. 

 I also met a woman who has been volunteering at Nationals since 2001! Her and her husband volunteer every year, no matter where it is. New. Life. Goal.

[tripletoe]

TripleToe Goes to Nationals - Day 4

Day 4 brought about my first day at the practice arena! It ended up being a very quiet shift, and although I was schedule as security I actually ended up doing more ice maintenance work than security! Junior Pairs sure make lots of holes in the ice! 

 It was great being able to watch Junior Pairs after last watching Intermediate Pairs. The difference in skill level was incredible. Seeing how much work and effort all of these teams put into pairs skating gives me a newfound appreciation for the division. Although, even with as much pairs skating I've watched the past four days, I still shut my eyes for side-by-side camel spins. I don't think I'll ever be able to watch those without worrying that they're going to get too close! They scare me more than lifts! 

 I also met some new volunteers, and had a chance to chat with them since the arena was pretty quiet. I met a woman driving all the way from Rochester (about an hour and a half drive)  to volunteer and another girl who doesn't live in Minnesota, but goes to college in the cities and came back to school early to be able to volunteer. We had a blast talking about how amazed we were at the moved these Junior Pairs were pulling off. 

 Onto Day 5!

[tripletoe]

TripleToe Goes to Nationals - Day 3

For Day 3 I was back on security duty! I was placed in the same area as where I hung out for ice maintenance the day before, so I once again had a pretty good view! I was able to watch the Intermediate Men and Intermediate Pairs free skates and awards ceremonies. 

I was also able to watch the pair from my home club compete again, which was exciting. They skated well and we had a great turnout of support for them in the stands! 

 It's been wonderful having the opportunity to meet lots of other volunteers and getting to know their skating stories. I've met former skaters, current skaters and coaches, and a couple people who are not from Minnesota who just volunteer for the championships every year! I think the best part so far is running into someone I used to skate with that I haven't seen for 15 years! It was great having the chance to catch up with her and see what she's up to after all this time!

Today was our last day at BIG so onto new locations for Day 4!

[nolivingdudeami]

walk into the club like

wait a second this is not the library

[tripletoe]

@gloriousclio

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TripleToe Goes to Nationals - Day 2

Day 2 was once again at BIG, and was the start of the Juvenile and Intermediate competition. I was scheduled for Ice Maintenance in the afternoon, meaning when they did a resurface, I was the one walking around on the ice with a bucket of slush filling holes. When I wasn’t doing that, I was standing about as close the boards as I could get watching the competition!

I love being that up and close to the competition. It’s almost more fun to watch and listen to the coaches during their skater’s program than the actual skater sometimes! They’ve worked hard with them and want them to succeed and skate their best, and it’s fun to see them cheer on their students. Sometimes the coaches are almost even more nervous than the kids!

Once again, John Zimmerman was just all over the place. Crazy. 

During my shift I was able to watch a bit of the Intermediate Men short program and the Intermediate Pairs short program. Saw some spectacular skating, and was able to watch the pair from my club compete! They did a great job, and it was nice to be able to watch them from such a good view! 

After I was done I stayed to watch the Juvenile girls compete and WOW. There are some talented little girls out there we need to look out for in a few years! 

Ready now for Day 3!

[tripletoe]

TripleToe Goes to Nationals - Day 1

My job duty my first day was Security at Bloomington Ice Garden (BIG). All we had going on that first day was practice ice for Juvenile and Intermediate skaters. I had two shifts in a row, and ended up being placed in a very nice spot where I was not only warm, but could watch some of the practices. I was posted by the main door along with another volunteer, and checked to make sure everyone going in had either a credential or a ticket. 

Watching the practices was amazing. I’m not currently up to date on what’s going on in the world of Juvenile and Intermediate skating, but those kids blew me away. There was these little Juvenile girls throwing out these HUGE double axels and it was so cool to watch. The amount of professionalism they have at a young age is astounding. There were also some very good Juvenile Dance teams that were impressive as well. It’s inspiring to be surrounded by such talented skaters, no matter what level they are. 

While watching I had a lovely time chatting with some of the other volunteers. During my two shifts I worked with a woman who is an adult skater that does ice dance, and a girl about my age who was a former skater. We all were in awe at some of the stuff these kids were pulling off. 

While working I did see a couple big name people, including one John Zimmerman! I lost count how many times he walked by me. And my brain still went “wait what?!” everytime he walked by. 

All in all it went by pretty quickly until the end of the night when it cleared up quite a bit when everyone left to go home. I was also fortunate enough to watch the end of an Intermediate Pairs practice session that had the team from my club practicing on it. It was great to see them in action at Nationals!

Ready for Day 2!

[tripletoe]

TripleToe Goes to Nationals - An Introduction

The last time St. Paul was host to the U.S. Figure Skating National Championships was in 2008. At the time I was 18 years old and made the minimum age requirement to be a volunteer. Ever since then I’ve been anxiously awaiting for Nationals to come back to Minnesota, and I could not be more excited that they’re here once again! 

In 2008 I was a senior in high school and was only there a few days out of the week. This year I am fortunate enough to be able to take the whole week off of work and be able to volunteer nearly every day! The days I'm not volunteering I have tickets, which means I'll be at all 10 days of competition! #goodlifechoices  

The first time around my volunteer tasks were mainly making credentials for people (skaters, coaches, volunteers, etc) and holding doors open for athletes at the athlete entrance of the Xcel. I'm doing some different things this time around and I am excited to be able to share my experiences with you! Nationals here I come!

[tripletoe]

I’m back!

Hello everyone! I know this blog has been on sort of an unofficial hiatus, but I’m going to give it another shot and try to bring it back to life.

As you all know we are in the middle of Nationals, and I’ve been lucky enough to be volunteering all week. I’ve been writing up some blog posts about everything I’ve been doing there and can’t wait to share them all with you. 

Hope you all enjoy watching Nationals on IceNetwork if you’re subscribed, otherwise it will be televised on NBC on Saturday afternoon, Saturday night, Sunday afternoon, and next Saturday afternoon (the 30th). 

Happy Nationals everyone!