High Level Synchro Question

[Skittl1321]

I've been thinking about joining our adult synchro team this fall (precision skating was my dream when I was little- alas I only ever was allowed to do basic 1), and it got me thinking.

How do girls get to be high level synchro skaters. Yes- practice :) I know.

But what I'm really wondering is do you just have to be lucky and live in Massachussets where some of the big name teams are? Do most girls relocate by the time they get to the junior/senior level? Or even lower? How many Colonials or Haydenettes are from the towns those girls are in?

Also- are most of the senior synchro skaters in college? I know Miami University fields a senior (and lower level too) teams- so I'd assume the people they compete against are near this age.

[phoenix]

I can't answer most of your questions, but I do know the higher level synchro teams usually have Moves, often dance, and sometime freestyle test level requirements. They want strong skaters to begin with.

So if you're interested in synchro, I'd get to work on your moves & dance tests!

[SynchroSk8r114]

Well, take a look at the requirements from the USFSA's Web site (posted below). Are you planning on joining an adult or open-adult team, or which level will your team compete in? The requirements for that level are probably what you should aim for, but some teams may want higher levels/abilities than the minimum.

Team Definitions
Rules for each synchronized team level as per the U.S. Figure Skating Rulebook, Rules 4660–4790. All ages are as of July 1, 2006, for the 2006-07 season. All test requirements must be met by the close of entries. (For complete rules please see the 2006-07 U.S. Figure Skating rulebook.)

Open Adult: A team or 8-12 skaters. The majority of the team must be 19 years or older.

Adult: A team or 12-20 skaters. All skaters must be 21 years or older, with the majority of the team 25 years or older. All skaters must have passed at least one of the following tests: preliminary moves in the field, adult bronze moves in the field, preliminary figure or preliminary dance.

I skate synchro for my university's collegiate team, which is located in western Pennsylvania. (If you want to know more, PM me - I don't want to give too much away here...). Unfortunately, we do not have a Senior team in my area because 1.) the sport is only maybe 5 years old here and 2.) not enough girls. Otherwise, I'd join it and we'd definitely do well as my teammates and I have all passed through Senior MIF, Pre-Gold (at the lowest) dance, and skate Intermediate-Senior freestyle. We even have a girl on my team from Canada whose (Senior?) team went to Worlds several years ago! So, yes...colleges can have a Senior team, but it seems the majority of colleges have a collegiate/open-collegiate team.

As for the high-level teams, most of the girls have spent a great deal of their life involved in synchro and worked on taking the tests necessary to meet/surpass the requirements. Some do move to try and get with the Haydenettes, the Colonials, Team Elan, Miami U, etc. but I know a lot of girls who have faced disappointment after leaving behind their life for synchro only to find they didn't make a particular team. In that sense, it can be heartbreaking. So, in some sense - yes, a lot of it is luck, but that doesn't always apply to big-name teams. My university is having girls come here this fall from all over the east coast (Minnesota, all throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio), and these are only the girls we know of thus far - not including whoever else shows up at tryouts.

With Senior, the requirements are as follows (from USFSA Web site):
Senior: A team of 16 skaters. Skaters must be at least 14 years old and have passed the novice moves in the field test.

So, no - Senior-level synchro skaters do not always have to be in college. I don't know about you, but I don't know too many 14 year olds in college, hahaha! It's basically dependent on your levels and abilities, as well as age and the number of skaters a team can take. I think it just seems as though many of the teams at Senior level are in college because the teams that get the coverage are sometimes from colleges, as you mentioned Miami U.

Seriously, if you're considering getting involved in synchro, you should check out synchroboards.com. I hate to take any members away from this board, but synchroboards is for synchro skaters and fans only, so you'll likely get more of a response there. They have a great adult section and the feedback is amazing. I know that there's skaters from as low as Preliminary to Adult to World Champion teams that frequent the board, so if you'd like, I'll post your questions for the members to reply...:D Hopefully, I was somewhat helpful in answering your questions, but if you have any others, feel free to PM me!

[SynchroSk8r114]

Hope you don't care - I went ahead and posted your questions. I'll PM you some of the responses when I get some. :D

[Skittl1321]

OH- Just to clarify- these questions have no basis on MY synchro skating. Just that I was thinking about synchro skating.

I know the girls are all tested really high- but it seems like many of the best synchro teams are concentrated in the New Englandish area. So I was wondering is synchro made up of only New Englanders are most of the girls on these teams transplants?

Because it seems like low level synchro is pretty well all over the country. I'm not looking necessarily for specifics on required tests and stuff- I can see that on their tryout pages.

(The team I am planning on joining that has a process that goes like this: You want to skate synchro? Have you finished Basic Skills? Can you come to practice? Can you pay for outfits and attend competitions? Welcome to the team.)
Thanks for posting the things about the USFSA teams. I'm working on my PB MITF right now- but it's a moot point. Even when our rink/club went to USFSA our synchro team stayed with ISI because they didn't think they'd be competitive in USFSA even as an open team.

[SynchroSk8r114]

I know the girls are all tested really high- but it seems like many of the best synchro teams are concentrated in the New Englandish area. So I was wondering is synchro made up of only New Englanders are most of the girls on these teams transplants?

Yes, New England is a synchro hotspot, as is Detroit and some areas of the Midwest. This region puts out teams such as Team Elan, Miami U, Chicago Jazz, etc. in addition to great freestyle/dance/and pairs skaters.

As for if there are "transplants", I know that Miami U's team has girls from Minnesota, Utah, Ohio, Michigan, MA, New Jersey, California, Illinois, Connecticut, Florida, Arizona, Washington, and Maryland. These girls are dispersed between the collegiate, Junior, and Senior teams, of course. Not so sure about the other big name teams though.

[Skittl1321]

It makes sense to me that Miami team would be from all over- since it's a college and it's really quite normal to move for college.

But I wonder about the Colonials, Haydenettes, and Jazz- since those are club based teams.

Because like you said- some girls uproot and then don't make it!

I just wonder if it's normal- or if the girls who move for this are the odd ones out.

(Because it certainly seems that the best of the best in freestyle often move to continue their training)

[SynchroSk8r114]

Well, I got a reply about the Colonials and Haydenettes:

"I'm not really sure about people in other areas of the country being from MA where we are blessed with many amazing teams. I do know many of the girls on Hayden and Colonial live relatively close but a good number do drive very far distances to get to practice or move to the Boston area."

So I guess it all depends on the sacrifices you're willing to make to skate with that team.

[Clarice]

Even when our rink/club went to USFSA our synchro team stayed with ISI because they didn't think they'd be competitive in USFSA even as an open team.

Nonsense, Jessi! You guys haven't seen us! We're the nearest adult synchro team to you (assuming there are still going to be 8 of us in the fall), and we're definitely Open Adult! I'm Silver level, but the others are Pre-Bronze at best. Several are still taking group classes. Our skill set is extremely limited. Next year more than half of us will be over 50. You guys could so compete with us and not be outclassed!

Question: If Jessi's team is ISI, can they enter the USFSA competition at my rink? Isn't there some kind of reciprocal thing? We'd love to have them!

[SynchroSk8r114]

Question: If Jessi's team is ISI, can they enter the USFSA competition at my rink? Isn't there some kind of reciprocal thing? We'd love to have them!

Yes, USFS teams can compete in ISI competitions, just as singles skaters can. According to the USFS rulebook:
"U.S. Figure Skating, the Professional Skater's Association (PSA) and the Ice Skating Institute (ISI) recognize and support each other's role in the development of figure and recreational skating in the United States...U.S. Figure Skating further agrees that participation of U.S. Figure Skating members in ISI-endorsed recreational skating activities...provided that such activites are conducted by ISI Member rinks, clubs or skating schools in their normal course of business...The ISI agrees that the participation of skaters registered with the ISI in activities sponsored by U.S. Figure Skating shall not be deemed a violation of the rules of the ISI."

I believe something similar is stated in the ISI rulebook, although I don't have mine on hand at the moment to look it up.

My rink has its Preliminary team competiting at ISI Worlds next week and they're a USFS team, so yes - a team can compete according to the USFS by-laws and Joint Statement of Cooperation. Definitely look into the competition's rules though just to make sure, but I can't see why not! :D

[Skittl1321]

Nonsense, Jessi! You guys haven't seen us! We're the nearest adult synchro team to you (assuming there are still going to be 8 of us in the fall), and we're definitely Open Adult! I'm Silver level, but the others are Pre-Bronze at best. Several are still taking group classes. Our skill set is extremely limited. Next year more than half of us will be over 50. You guys could so compete with us and not be outclassed!

Question: If Jessi's team is ISI, can they enter the USFSA competition at my rink? Isn't there some kind of reciprocal thing? We'd love to have them!

You should PM quarkiki (or however she spells her name on this board- are there numbers?) she's been on the team for awhile and is helping coaching now that she's off the ice. She'll know more why they decided to stay with ISI. I don't know many of the synchro members but all the ones I do know are no-test, although one is preparing for the same PB MITF test session as I am (Cedar Rapids).

[Clarice]

You should PM quarkiki (or however she spells her name on this board- are there numbers?) she's been on the team for awhile and is helping coaching now that she's off the ice. She'll know more why they decided to stay with ISI. I don't know many of the synchro members but all the ones I do know are no-test, although one is preparing for the same PB MITF test session as I am (Cedar Rapids).

I'll definitely do that. I just think it would be fun to get these two teams together at some point. I'm planning to be at that Cedar Rapids test session, too, to do my last Preliminary dance, so maybe we'll get a chance to chat then.

[SynchroSk8r114]

Wow, I keep getting more and more replys from everyone! :D

Regarding relocation;
"At the junior/senior level....perhaps unfortunatly...yes. I relocated to skate at the senior level because that was my dream to be on an international senior team. My town didn't have one....the closest senior teams were 2 1/2 hours away so I moved there. It was worth it, love it here!

Regarding Senior-level college-aged skaters:
"Well of the 8 senior teams in the country....3 represent universities....Miami, University of Michigan, and Western Michigan University. The other 5 (Haydenettes/Crystallettes/Cali Gold/Evolution/Colonials) are club teams and the majority of girls on those teams are in high school but there are some older girls who skate on those teams as well....college students and college graduates."

Interesting...another perspective about relocation w/ Senior teams:
"I'd say that at the Junior/Senior level, most skater DO NOT relocate for their team. Take a look at Team Elan, Crystallettes, and Colonials for example. The majority of those girls are from the area that the team is based out of. Of course, there are a few exceptions. Maybe out of the team of 20, 1 skater has relocated for the opportunity to skate on that team. I don't believe it would be fair to say that most skaters relocate to skate for a particular team. A few might, but most gravitate towards a team already situated in their region."

[Skittl1321]

Thanks so much for your help in culling answers together for me.

So it seems as though the collegiate senior teams are made up of transplants (which makes sense) and that the other senior teams are available only to those lucky enough to be located near one.

I guess this in some way reflects a truth of senior freestyle skaters- you have a better chance if you are near a major training center, but at the same time, if you have a fantastic coach and even determination- you COULD be a success story even from a smaller club, that can't be true of a synchro skater- as they need a team.

I, quite honestly, am fortunate to have an adult group nearby- lots don't have that option either.

[Kelli]

Hayden and Colonial both have many lower level teams (well, Hayden didn't have juvie last year, I think there will be one next year), and a lot of the kids start on the lower level teams and work their way up. At a rink like Hayden -- more so than Colonial as Colonial has a good freestyle program -- it's ALL ABOUT synchro. Literally half of the club ice is moves only sessions. It's not uncommon to see kids working on junior/senior moves and barely landing Axels. When there was a juvenile team, it wasn't unheard of to have kids pass their senior moves while age eligible to skate juvenile. Hayden used to have a requirement that only Lexington residents could skate on the teams, but I think that's gone now for all levels (but I think there's also some weird political stuff going on there that I don't know about...). I think the Haydenettes are mostly kids who grew up at Hayden, but there are some girls who are students at local colleges or who commute from Rhode Island and CT.

I think everything is pretty similar for Colonial, and I know that lots of skaters go back and forth between the clubs (or used to...).

[JulieN]

Our synchro coach skated on the Haydenettes for 2 years. She relocated from Colorado to Boston to skate with them. But I think she said most of the other girls are from that area.

[FSWer]

I'm not really sure if Synchroboards would help,as it hasn't been working lately,and they throw people off without telling them. n/o. But what I was wondering was if there's anyone out there who is from a High-Level Synchro. Team that can please tell a little bit about what it's like to be on one. Also does anyone know if when you move from Team to Team,if there is an actual pad. of Teams you follow? For ex. if your on the Haydenettes,would your next step be to move-up to let's say....The Crystallettes? Basicly like you would when you get promoted on the job? Anyone have an answer? Thanks.