California Gold Alumni Skate!

  We are looking for all California Gold Alumnae (formerly United Skates) to attend our Senior Practice on December 30, 2010 starting at 5:00am for breakfast. This includes Open Juvenile, Intermediate, Novice, Junior and Senior skaters from the 1999 season through the current 2011 season. 
       When: Thursday, December 30 - 5:00 am - 7:30 am
       Location: East West Ice Palace
  At 6:30am we will invite the skaters that were apart of the Junior and Senior teams to take the ice with our current senior team for an alumnae skate. It will be great to celebrate the team of skaters that helped build this organization from the ground up. Please send this invite out to the former skaters as well, we want to reach out to everyone. Please RSVP to the Facebook invite HERE! Hope to see you all there! 
  Also, if you have not already "like" our California Gold page to stay connected throughout the season on Facebook!

Long Program

  Sunday afternoon, we skated our long program with confidence and power. Although it was not our best run-through, it was certainly one we were proud to present.  Ending up in 5th overall, our team is committed to work with this intensity for the rest of the season.  Thank you California Gold fans for cheering us on, whether you were in the stands at the rink, or at home, cheering in front of the computer screen!

  As Porter ends, we begin to focus on our next competition, the Cup of Berlin! We are so honored to be representing the USA and to be traveling with Chicago Jazz Junior!  Our hard work in the next month will be fueled by the excitement of our upcoming competition.

  As we said when getting into the Robin Hood character before stepping onto the ice for long program, "We will rise and rise again until lambs become lions!"

Congratulations to both California Gold teams! Great Job at Porter!

Short Program and Novice Program

Yesterday, our Novice team performed their "Wizard of Oz" program and rocked it!  It was their best performance of the season thus far.  They improved their score by 8 points in only 1 month!

Last night, California Gold Senior skated an AMAZING short program.  The team described it as "effortless" and "smooth."  Being our first competition, we wanted to start off with a bang, and we feel we accomplished that.  Right now, we are sitting in 5th place, tying with Miami for top technical base score.

This morning, we skated our long program twice for official practice.  The first run-through was a little rough, but we were able to pull it together and skate the second one with more confidence.  Tonight, we skate very last (they saved the best for last :]) and are ready to skate a strong long program!

Hello, Michigan!

We're here! After a safe trip into Detroit and a short bus ride, we checked in at the hotel and went straight to Novice's official practice, which was awesome!  They said they felt great about their performance and were rewarded with a trip to Noodles & Company.  Tonight, we look forward to having a great practice for both teams.  Novice skates their program and Senior skates short tomorrow.  (The skate orders are up on the Dr. Porter Website if you want to know)

Dr. Porter!

This coming weekend is the Dr. Richard Porter Synchronized Skating Classic (or "Porter"), the first competition of the year for our Senior team. We are all very excited to put our programs out in front of the judges and to be competing with the top teams in the US and Finland.  If you are not going to be traveling with us, we'll keep you updated with this blog and you can check out the results and event blog at the Dr. Porter Website.  Thank you so much for the love and support! GO CALIFORNIA GOLD!

East West Ice Palace Exhibition

On Saturday night, Senior showed off their short program AND, for the first time this season, our long program!  We performed for the little skaters in the learn-to-skate classes and our family and friends.

Santa Monica Ice Show

California Gold was invited to showcase the opening of the outdoor rink in Santa Monica on November 10th.  We skated a mini-program just to expose synchro to people who have never seen/heard of it before. It was exciting to see Tanith Belbin and Tara Lipinski there too!

South Bay FSC Halloween Show

We kicked off the beginning of our season with a bang at the South Bay FSC Halloween Show in Torrance.  The debut of our 2011 Short Program was a success and we had tons of fun performing! Thank you to SBFSC for inviting us to show off our new program!

FAAN Walk

Cal Gold supported Kendall Hollinger, a fellow ice skater, by participating in a Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network walk to raise awareness about food allergies.  Kendall is allergic to 95% of all foods and is hoping to find a cure.

California Gold loves Kendall! 

International Assignment

California Gold has been selected to go to the Cup of Berlin!

U.S. Figure Skating posted the International Assignments on September 17th.

Click Here for USFS Article

Official Cup of Berlin Site

Let's Start the Season!

This weekend marks the beginning of our new season and we couldn't be more excited! Over the summer we have been preparing by strengthening our bodies, getting on the ice regularly, and bonding with our teammates. We've been counting down the days until the start of our new season, and I am glad to say that it's almost here!

Also, California Gold Novice still has some open spots, so if you want to join, it's not too late!

Team USA!

We are thrilled to announce California Gold is once again a proud member of Team USA!! This is our fourth season on Team USA and we will work hard to represent the United States in international competition.

The official start of our season will be Saturday, August 7th. We will have summer sessions, we encourage all skaters to enjoy their summer vacation, but when you're in town, please attend our summer sessions and be ready for some hard work.

We still have a couple positions open on the Senior and Novice teams for qualified candidates. If you know of any skaters who might be interested, please let us know.

We are looking forward to another great season!

Juvenile Tryouts are May 22!

Invite your friends to come tryout for our JUVENILE TEAM!

Juvenile tryout is scheduled at East West Ice Palace

· Date – May 22 (Saturday)

· Time – 8:00 am to 8:45 am

· 12 years of age or younger on July 1

· No USFS moves in the field test required at this time

· Cost is $22.50 for the tryout

Tryouts!

Tryouts for the new season are on May 15 and 16, 2010!

• Intermediate / Novice - 5:30 am to 6:15 am (Cost $45.00)
• Senior - 6:15 am to 7:15 am (Cost $65.00)

*Please arrive 15 minutes early to each tryout!*

**You need to attend both days of the tryout**

Tryouts for our Juvenile Team are on Saturday May 22, 2010!

• Time – 8:00 am to 8:45 am
• 12 years of age or younger on July 1
• No USFS moves in the field test required at this time
• Cost is $22.50 for the tryout.

*Please arrive 15 minutes early to the tryout!*

Check out the Cal Gold Website at:

http://californiagoldteams.com/

and join the Cal Gold Facebook at:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=info&gid=2247869286

Synchronized Skating Off-Season Training!

The current season reached its climax the first week of March, when both the Novice and Senior teams traveled to Minneapolis, Minnesota for the 2010 U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships. Both the Novice and Senior team is an outstanding job in competing their programs. Congrats to both teams!
Then the skaters get a break from regular team practice until the new season begins in August, but:
All is not idle until then. There will be a 6-week off-season training program on Saturdays from April 3 to May 8, 2010. Tryouts for the new season will follow immediately on May 15 and 16, 2010.
The off-season training program has three main goals:
1. To maintain and enhance the skating skills of current team members.
2. To provide an opportunity for prospective members to become aquainted with the team and to learn the fundamental skills of synchronized team skating.
3. To help everyone prepare for participation in the tryouts.
In addition, California Gold hopes to begin a new team at the Juvenile level this coming season. So there will be special sessions on Thursdays and Saturdays — introductory classes in synchronized team skating hosted by the East West Ice Palace Skating School and taught by the California Gold coaches.

Off-Season Training Program
Novice / Intermediate
Saturdays, 5:00 am - 6:30 am — April 3, 2010 to May 8, 2010
Must be 12 years of age and not older than 18 years of age
Must have passed Pre-Juvenile moves in the field, or get coaches’ approval
Cost per session: $30.00 — paid to USSTA
Senior
Saturdays, 6:45 am - 8:45 am — April 3, 2010 to May 8, 2010
Must be 14 years of age or older
Must have passed Novice moves in the field
Cost per session: $40.00 — paid to USSTA
Juvenile
Two sessions per week: (choose one, the other, or both)
Saturdays, 8:45 am - 9:30 am — April 3, 2010 to May 8, 2010
Thursdays, 4:15 pm - 5:00 pm — ongoing
Must be 12 years of age or younger
No USFS moves in the field test required
Cost: $100.00 for 8 sessions — paid to East West Ice Palace

Congratulations California Gold!

Both of our teams did spectacular at the U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships. Our Senior Team placed 8th after the short and 6th after the long.

Our Novice team placed 8th overall and had a great skate!

Thanks for the support of our family and friends who came to watch us and even those who cheered from home! We love you!

If you didn't catch our programs, you can watch them on www.icenetwork.com.

Nationals Pre-Competition

So, here we are in Minneapolis, Minnesota! We arrived in the afternoon on Wednesday and had a little down time before going to eat dinner in the hotel. The senior team left to go to their first practice (at 10 pm) in the competition arena. We thought the ice felt super sticky and slow, but we later found that it was easier to skate when the ice was cut.

The next day, Novice woke up early to skate an unofficial practice and then their official practice right after that. Senior also had an unofficial practice on Thursday. When getting on the ice, we had a little stumble. Brittany C. and Ali stepped onto the ice with their blade guards on! We also ended up going to the Mall of America! We split up and wandered around the mall (and amusement park) and I'm pretty sure both teams ended up in Forever 21 at some point during their visit! After that, we got all fancy in our black sweaters and dress pants and went to a delicious dinner at Olive Garden. Falling into a small food coma, we went to watch the last few Junior teams do their short. We went back to the hotel and fell asleep.

In the morning, Senior got ready for short program official which went extremely well! Novice and Senior both had unofficial practices at the practice arena. We then returned to the hotel for a Panera lunch and some downtime. Novice got ready for their competition and went downstairs to be greeted by senior team. We wished them good luck in their competition and we're now getting ready for short program. The Senior team couldn't be there for the Novice competition, but we'll be there in spirit (and watching them on icenetwork!)

The Land of 1,000 Lakes...

Tomorrow morning both the Senior and Novice teams will hop on a plane and make our way over to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where we will be competing in the 2010 U.S. Synchronized Team Skating Championships! Good luck to both teams! We promise to keep everyone posted as the excitement unfolds!

Love,

California Gold

Long Program

After resting for a couple of hours, we started to get ready for our long program. Thankfully, there were no pudding spills this time and we were able to get by okay. We had a short off-ice before we left the hotel, warming our muscles up, and then left for the rink. After doing our regular warm up, we went through our program, put our lifts up, and did another program with just our faces.

Soon after, we left for the locker room to put on our dresses and skates. When we were all ready, we did our team cheer and the USA cheer. After the ice cut, we went to the side of the ice rink, took some deep breaths, turned our performance on, went out there and skated a nice program. We were happy with our performance and ended up in 10th after all 16 teams had skated

If you missed our performance, click on this link to take you to see it! http://normandie.france3.fr/french-cup/index.php?page=article&numsite=6245&id_rubrique=6410&id_article=14060

After skating, we watched the rest of the teams (and cheered on Starlights who got 9th!) and loved watching Nexxice, Paradise, and Team Unique. We went and saw our parents and watched the awards ceremonies then went back to the hotel for some yummy pastries, bread, cheese, and (for the parents) wine. Most of us were dead tired, but we stayed up until 4 in the morning (later for some of us...) talking, packing, showering, and just having a good time. The next day we would be leaving, so we were spending our last moments in France with our friends and looking back at all of the fun times we had.

We'd like to thank the people who have been so supportive of us. We really appreciate it! And we were so happy to hear that some of the families got together last saturday to watch us and support us at the Creme de la Crepe in Long Beach!

Short Program

So after walking back to the hotel, we got dressed for short program. Our purple dresses and make-up made us feel all the more sexy in our program. However, while we were getting ready, Megan had tossed her pudding cup on the bed which wasn't the best place to put it because soon after, Donatella comes along and accidentally sits on the pudding cup. It explodes in the sheets and they try to clean it up, but Megan is more worried about the fact that she wouldn't be able to eat her pudding any more.

Once our hair and make-up were done, we took our dresses and walked to the rink. We found a place outside to warm up and walk through our programs. When we walked into our locker room, we put our dresses on and chilled for awhile. We got pumped up by singing our Big Spender song at the top of our lungs to beat out the people shouting in the locker room next to us (it's a good thing we don't sing while we're on the ice...). We put on our skates, walked out to the rink, and prepared ourselves by taking deep breaths and massaging the skater in front of us.

We stepped onto the ice, confident and feeling sexy, and skated a great short program. We beat our score from Porter and were happy to have skated the way we did. We are sitting in 10th place right now (aside Starlights who are in 9th) and we will be skating 6th for the long tonight. After taking off our skates and dresses, we went up to the stands to watch the rest of the teams skate. A lot of us haven't been able to attend an international competition, so it was cool to see teams from different countries. The event ended around 11, so we walked back to our hotel after the draw and went straight to bed.

This morning, we were able to sleep in until 9 am. We went down for breakfast and had time to get ourselves ready for long program official practice. In a conference room down stairs, we had off-ice to warm us up and go over small details. Walking to the rink has now become a breeze (since we have walked it many times over the last week), and we had another off ice before going into the locker room and putting our skates on. Our practice went very well and we did (almost) 2 full programs. Were happy with our practice and pulled our skates off and walked back to our hotel. We ate at the same Italian restaurant that we ate at on Wednesday and had a very satisfying lunch. Now we're back at the hotel taking naps, doing homework, and (of course) updating the blog :]

If you missed us live..

Click on this link to watch a recap of the competition!

http://normandie.france3.fr/french-cup/index.php?page=article&numsite=6245&id_rubrique=6404&id_article=1405

Woke up in the morning feeling like...

skating official practice! Everyone was really pumped to perform our programs for the technical panel. After strolling on over to the ice rink we headed into the locker room. We laced our skates and tried to (unsuccessfully) translate our fellow Finish competitiors cheers. We took the ice and skated two strong run-throughs and still had time left to stroke around and really get our feet beneath us.


After lunch and a NAP :) we walked back over to the rink and cheered on our fellow Americans, Chicago Jazz. It was difficult to really watch the teams skate since we were being mobbed by French elementary students. The language barrier did not stop them from getting our autographs, shaking our hands and giving high-fives.


Now feelings of excitment and anticipation are in the air as we slick back our hair and beautify ourselves for short program tonight! We skate around 9:00PM (about 1:00PM, for you)! So, send good luck wishes and watch us LIVE on the official French Cup website:


http://normandie.france3.fr/french-cup/index.php?page=article&numsite=6245&id_rubrique=6266&id_article=13787

Cal Gold in the News!

Follow this link to read about California Gold

in the Vacaville Reporter!

http://www.thereporter.com/ci_14340031?IADID=Search-www.thereporter.com-www.thereporter.com

Rouen

So, since we didn't blog yesterday, we'll cover both days :]

Wednesday, the team slept in until 8 am, then got up to eat breakfast and do homework. We went to walk around Rouen and eat lunch. Amy and Britney Mathis talked about the history of Rouen including the Notre Dame in Rouen and Joan of Arc. We ate a delicious lunch complete with teeny-tiny mousse desserts. We then walked back to our hotel to prepare for unofficial practice. After a minor scare in which Brittany Cisneros got locked in the ice rink's bathroom (successfully saved by Gail Harriett) , we were ready to skate. In the middle of practice, Taylor, who had already injured her finger, dislocated her thumb. Thanks to our well-qualified team doctor, she was ready to skate in no time. After a good practice, we went to a small pizzeria where we had dinner. When we arrived at the hotel, we had a quick stretch/meditation session with Coach Meyer. It really helped us calm down and get to bed after a long day.

Thursday, we woke up at 5 am to walk to the ice rink for another unofficial practice. We had three half hour increments on the ice that were all successful and productive. Other teams were starting to show up at the rink which made the competition seem all the more eminent. Lynn Benson, our USA team leader, gave us the basics on how the competition will run. Shortly after, we had a couple hours to relax and do homework. When the team was refreshed, we went into town again to eat and shop. We were impressed by the large selection of French pastries we came across (they were so cute!). The team came back to the hotel and relaxed some more before going to the draw. Brittany Cisneros and Megan got to pick between a variety of toy bunnies and bears to determine our skate order for short. We drew fifth! (Starlights, our fellow Team USA members, will be skating third) After meeting up at the rink, we ate dinner and went back to our hotel for another quick stretching/meditation session. And now, we are going to bed! Goodnight!

P.S. Since it takes us 20 minutes to walk to the rink, we found a more efficient way to carry our bags (see below).

Into Paris We Go!

This morning, we all woke up early, ready to skate a great practice. After a short 20-minute walk through the streets of Rouen, we arrived at the rink, wandering aimlessly, looking for a rink assistant, let alone a light. Then we got on the ice (loving the fact that it was blue) and prepared to get our feet back underneath ourselves. We worked really hard during our 2 hours on the ice and accomplished our goal of getting used to it. While we were taking our skates off, we passed a group of Europeans, who stared at the logos on our Team USA jackets (the first of many today).

The hotel hosted a wonderful breakfast for us and another team…a men’s futbol team (that’s soccer, by the way). Once Cheryl told us that we had a whopping 45 minutes to get ready to venture into Paris, we booked it to our rooms for showers and primping, since we knew the vast amount of pictures that would be taken.

The bus picked us up from the hotel and drove by the famous Moulin Rouge. The rather small windmill was hard to capture through the rainy windows. Then we had to depart from the bus and walked to Montmarte Hill to see the Sacre Cour. After climbing up the steps to see the cathedral, we saw an amazing view of Paris. Stephanie and Chelsea introduced us to the history and significance of Sacre Cour. It was an astounding cathedral, with beautiful architecture. We came out of the cathedral to walk into the little souvenir shops, where street artists lined up to display their art, even in the rain. Somebody discovered a crepe shop at the side of the road and suddenly there was a mob of hungry girls surrounding the shop.

Walking with our crepes, we approached the entrance of the metro station. We bought our tickets and raced onto the train, a first for many skaters. While waiting for our stop, we guarded our bags, eyeing every person who hopped onto the train. Pushing ourselves through the crowded metro car, we hurried off, worried that somebody would be left behind (luckily that didn’t happen).

Continuing our self-tour of Paris, we visited Notre Dame next. Elizabeth and Alaina talked about the background of the cathedral, especially the construction and architecture of the building. Escaping the wind and rain, we entered the gothic cathedral to see the awe inspiring stain glass windows and towering ceilings. Sadly, we didn’t go up the bell towers, mainly because we wanted to save our legs to skate. Deciding that we wanted to eat something, we wandered through the Latin Quarter, and found the Café de Flores.

Once we finished eating, we walked to the D’Orsay Museum. Caitlin and Annaleigh explained how the museum was once a train station and how it came to house the largest collection of impressionist art in the world. A quick hour later, we had covered most of the museum, claiming that the Birth of Venus was one of our favorites.

In our last stop of our self-tour, we walked for several blocks (or miles…we couldn’t tell the difference) to see the Eiffel Tower. Coach Amanda and Megan presented history and fun facts about this well-known landmark. Although it was late at night, some of the team took an elevator to the second floor. The view was SPECTACULAR! We snapped many photos, and returned to the elevator. But as the doors closed, poor Caitlin was left standing outside, sadly waving goodbye (the elevator was stuffed). Eventually everyone made it to the ground and back onto the bus for the 2-hour ride back to Rouen.

It was a fabulous start to our adventure in France :D

Bonjour! 

We've made it! California Gold is now safely tucked away into our beds getting our beauty sleep before an early practice tomorrow morning. We arrived in Paris around 5:00am U.S. time, 2:00pm here! After clearing customs we made our way to meet up with our luggage and Sammy our bus driver! We then drove about 20 minutes into the heart of Paris and right around the Arc de Triumph.On our way to the Louvre, Brittany C. and Melissa gave us a little run down of the museum's history, noting such facts as its previous purpose as a dungeon! Thanks to our flashy Team USA jackets we were allowed to experience the Louvre free of charge. We saw everything from Mona Lisa's smile to Michelangelo's spectacular Sculpture of the Dying Slave. Sammy then took us to the Seine River where we would be taking a night-time river boat cruise through the city. Hungry skaters ate some "french-style" hotdogs (a hotdog stuffed into a tradtional french baguette, with all of the fixings) while waiting for out boat to wisk us away! Soon enough we were traveling down the Seine taking in the "city of lights,"as Parisians call it. And lights there were, we all watched bright-eyed as the Eiffel Tower light up with dancing lights on the hour, each hour.Pictures of our adventures to come, but now we must hit the pillow and prepare for what brought us here...skating! Goodnight USA!

Tout notre amor (all of our love),

CALIFORNIA GOLD in France!

Au Revoir!

As we leave on our trip to France, we wanted to thank everyone for their support. We are extremely excited to take hold of this amazing opportunity. This morning's practice went smoothly and we are now putting our skates in our bags and heading to France.

To those of you who will not be coming with us, we wish you were coming, but apparently any bag over 50 lbs. will cost $100 (and 100 euros coming home!), sorry! On a serious note, if you want to check up on the competition, you can check out this the official competition site: http://www.frenchcup.fr/index_uk.php?menu_language=UK. Also, there is a live webcast (similar to icenetwork, but in French) that you can watch: http://video-direct.france3.fr/player.php?id=675%20. Again, thanks so much for the support.

A shout out to Coach Cipresso: We love you! And we promise to go to bed on time!

OC Register

The OC Register wrote an article on Cal Gold and published it to their website: http://www.ocregister.com/news/-231698--.html

Go check it out!

California Gold Goes to Sectionals!

Congratulations Cal Gold Novice on your first place medal!
"The best in the West"

Also, watch their interview online at:

http://www.kcrg.com/sports/82970267.html

2,4,6,8, show them how to synchro skate!

Cal Gold Senior would like to say

GOOD LUCK

to our Novice girls at Sectional's!

We love you!

Skate great!

Welcome to California Gold's Blog!

Hello Friends and Family!

If you are reading this post, you have reached the location of the Cal Gold Blog. Congratulations :] This blog was made for you to follow and support us as we make our way through the season. Also, we happen to have some talented photographers that will be posting pictures for you to look at. We'll start blogging at the beginning of our next competition.

Families, we wanted you to know how appreciative we are for your love and support throughout this year and our lives as a whole. Without you, we would have never made it this far.

Also, we want to make a shout out to our Novice team as they go to sectionals. Good luck you guys! We know you'll do great!

AND we wanted to say hi to Coach Cipresso and her new baby, Luca. We're so sad you're not coming with us, but we'll make sure you are up to date on everything as it unfolds :]

To all of our friends and families, we want to say thanks again for the support. We hope you enjoy following us on our blog!