UDFSC University of Delaware Figure Skating Club
July 2000 Newsletter


* Membership Renewal * Regional Qualifying Application Signing * Upcoming Test Sessions * Ice Arena Facility News * Judges' School * UDFSC Board Elections * Club Ice * Scholastic Honors Team * Governing Council * Address & Phone Changes * Recent International Results * Newsletter Comments * 1999-2000 Annual Report *


Membership Renewal

It's that time of year again when the annual membership application is mailed to club members. Please be sure to return your membership application before the Sept. 1 deadline. If you do not receive your membership renewal packet in August, please call the club office at (302) 831-4686 and leave your name, address, and phone number.


Regional Qualifying Application Signing

Officers from the UDFSC will be available in the Rust Arena on the following dates to sign regional qualifying applications. You may also turn in your membership renewal at these times.

Sun., Aug. 27 from 5:00-6:30 p.m.
Tue., Aug. 29 from 2:30-4:30 p.m.
Thur., Aug. 31 from 4:30-5:30 p.m.
Fri., Sept. 1 from 7:30-8:30 a.m.


Upcoming Test Sessions

The following test sessions are scheduled. If you plan to test, be sure to get your application in by the deadlines listed below, as these sessions are likely to quickly fill. Applications are due by 5:00 p.m. on the dates below.

Test Date Application Due Date
Tue., Aug. 29, 2000 Application due 08/18/00
Sun., Dec. 3, 2000 Application due 11/10/00
Mon., Jan. 15, 2001 Application due 12/22/00
Mon., Feb. 19, 2001 Application due 02/02/01
Sun., Mar. 11, 2001 Application due 02/23/01
Fri., April 13, 2001 Application due 03/30/01
Sun., May 20, 2001 Application due 05/04/01
Fri., June 29, 2001 Application due 06/15/01
Fri., July 27, 2001 Application due 07/13/01
Fri., Aug. 24, 2001 Application due 08/10/01


Ice Arena Facility News

Renovations are near completion! As you have noticed the last several months, major renovations have taken place at both ice arenas. To highlight the improvements:

Other major renovations will take place in September, when the locker rooms and bathroom facilities in the Gold Ice Arena are improved.

Improvements include new bathroom fixtures, new doors, new shower facility, paint, drop ceiling and permanent benches in the locker rooms.

The ice arena staff would like to thank everyone for their patience during these renovations, and we hope you enjoy the enhancements to the ice arenas.


Judges' School

If you are interested in attending judges' school, the UDFSC may be able to offer some financial assistance. Write to us at ud-fsc@udel.edu or call (302) 831-4686. Information on judging is available at the USFSA web site at www.usfsa.org.


UDFSC Board Elections

Congratulations to the board members you re-elected this spring: Betty Garvin, Joy Lynam, Alice Rakowski, and Kathy Watts.


Club Ice

The club hosts two sessions on Sundays, except holiday weekends, in the Rust Ice Arena as follows:

5:00 - 5:45 p.m. dance preferred session
5:45 - 6:30 p.m. freestyle preferred session

Beginning September, the cost to UDFSC members is $10.00 per session or you may purchase a ticket for $80.00, which reduces the cost to $8.00 per session.

Club ice is also available at the Pond on Wednesdays from 5:45 p.m. - 6:45 p.m. at a cost of $9.00 until Sept. 15. Beginning Sept. 23, club ice will be available on Saturdays from 9:40-10:40 a.m.


Scholastic Honors Team

Congratulations to those UDFSC skaters recently honored for academic achievement in our area high schools.

Applications for the USFSA Scholastic Honors Team are due by 9/15/2000. Applicants must be eligible skaters and current USFSA members, entering their Junior or Senior year of High School in the fall of 2000 as a full-time student in a fully accredited secondary school, maintain at least a 3.4 GPA (based on a 4.0 scale) or 93% (based on a 100% scale) during the last two years and must have competed in a USFSA qualifying competition at the Novice, Junior or Senior level during the past two years. Scholastic Honors Team members receive a scholarship and are presented at the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships.

The UDFSC has had the largest representation of Scholastic Honors Team recipients for the past two years.

Applications are available via the USFSA web site at www.usfsa.org via the online forms option or by calling the UDFSC office at (302) 831-4686.


Governing Council

The annual USFSA Governing Council meeting was held May 12 and 13, 2000 in Atlanta, Georgia. Our club was well represented by seven members at this important annual meeting of the board of directors. Notes from this meeting are available on the USFSA home page at www.usfsa.org and the recent Skating magazine. Decisions and rule changes will be reflected in the 2001 Rulebook.


Address & Phone Changes

Please keep the club advised of your address and phone number changes. It is important that we be able to reach you regarding USFSA issues and general communications. If you have address or phone changes, please call (302) 831-4686 and leave a message or write to ud-fsc@udel.edu with the change.


Recent International Results

Triglav Trophy 2000
Jesenice, Slovenia, April 6-9, 2000

JUNIOR MEN
Shawn Rogers, 5th place
NOVICE BOYS
Traighe Rouse, 2nd place


Newsletter Comments

Feel free to send comments regarding this newsletter or ideas for future articles to ud-fsc@udel.edu or leave a message at (302) 831-4686.


1999-2000 Annual Report

From the President, Alice Rakowski

In September 1999, we welcomed members of the former First State Figure Skating Club as members of the UDFSC. As a result of the affiliation of the two clubs, we have been able to expand our Club Ice offering to include sessions at the Pond. We also hosted our first Club Test Session at the Pond. We are excited about the opportunities to serve all facets of our skating community through this merger.

Our Club continues to be well represented at National competition. We had skaters/teams competing at the US National Championships, the US Junior National Championships, the US Synchronized Team Skating Championships, the US Adult Championships and the US Collegiate Team Skating Championships. Tiffany Scott and Philip Dulebohn, the National Pairs Silver medalists, thrilled us all with their 9th place finish at Worlds. Our congratulations to all our competitors. Our skaters are also stars academically as well as on the ice. Four members of the UDFSC were named as members of the Scholastic Honors Team which constituted 25% of the total recipients. We are pleased that our training program continues to develop scholar-athletes.

We continue to look for ways to support our skating community. Again this year, we donated exercise equipment for the Fitness Training room.

Our Club website (www.udel.edu/udfsc) continues to be a popular way of getting information with an average of 800 hits/month and over 10,000 hits last year. Club information is continually updated, and test and membership forms are available online via the website.

As always, the Club could not operate without the dedication and hard work of its Board members. I continue to be impressed at the diligence with which these unpaid volunteers execute their responsibilities. My sincere thanks to all of them!

Membership

Membership is the biggest and one of the most important activities of the Figure Skating Club. All club-related activities hinge on membership and our liaison with the USFSA. The University of Delaware is one of the largest Figure Skating Clubs with over approximately 490 current members.

Testing

Coordinating testing is a big activity of the UD Figure Skating Club. We'd like to thank the parent and skater volunteers who helped make our test sessions run so smoothly. A total of seven test sessions were held this past year with 425 tests skated and 338 passes (80%). The tests included 4 pairs tests, 141 moves tests, 93 freeskating tests, and 187 dance tests. We processed 441 trial judge sheets.

Club Ice

Attendance at club ice continues to be well attended. A total of 1,441 skaters participated in club-sponsored ice with an average of 18 skaters per session.

Synchronized Skating

With the addition of The Pond location to the UDFSC, three Synchronized Skating Teams -- the Delaware Dazzle, Ducklings, and Silver Swans -- have been added to the existing five teams that practice at the UD location. The Precisionaires collegiate team, Skating Edge senior team, Diamondaires adult team, and Delaware Diamonds masters team were National competitors for the 99-00 skating season.

Binders containing guidelines and financial procedures have been given to each team president. This will help incoming team presidents’ and their executive board with team procedures.

In addition to UD's academic programs, students continue to choose the University of Delaware because of our synchronized skating programs.


UDFSC home
University of Delaware Figure Skating Club
Fred Rust Ice Arena, South College Ave., Newark, DE 19716
Phone: (302) 831-4686 * FAX: (302) 831-2812
ud-fsc@udel.edu