Thats right everyone, synchro competition season has finally arrived. California Gold made our debut this past week at Anaheim Ice, with our Senior, Intermediate and Nuggets (beginner) teams skating. My life experiences with synchro competitions have overwhelmingly involved slushy buses and cramped indoor spaces. Competing in southern California in November is anything but that. Teams sat outside as they prepared for competition, complete with lawn chairs and inflatable mattresses.

It was an incredibly long day for the senior team. We arrived at our home rink in Artesia at 5:45 am and didn't leave the rink in Anaheim until 7:00 pm. We had our own practice and two official monitoring sessions, along with competition and preparation. We got to watch our intermediate team pull out a great performance to, The Princess and The Frog, and take home a silver medal and chant for the adorable Nuggets skating to, The Cat in the Hat. There were also long periods of doing hair etc, where I felt the team was able to bond for the first time.

As I said in my previous blog, this team comes from all over, literally and figuratively, and many of us still don't know each other well. But this past weekend gave us the chance to be silly and chat as we showed off our skills. It made me think about how competitions, in many ways, define a team. A team is who they are at a competition, when a lot is at stake and excitement is high. Those are the memorable moments.

This team has yet to travel together, but based on the tone set this weekend, I look forward to it greatly. We have only been together a short time, but already we have come so far. In Anaheim, we weren't competing against anyone for the short program we put out, but we took it seriously none the less. The skate wasn't perfect, however, we can now see more clearly what we need to do. A memorable moment from the competition for me was getting my hair piece stuck to a teammates tights as I ducked under her leg in our spiral. A synchro snapshot for my memoirs, good for retelling, not ideal for scores

 

Written by:

Emmeline Weinert - Senior Blog Writer
Senior Team Member 2010-Present
Co- Captain 2011-2013
USFS DREAM Skater 2011-2013 

2013 Here We Come!

My name is Emmeline Weinert, but most of my teammates call me Emmy. You will be reading my blogs all season so I thought I should introduce myself. I grew up watching my older sisters skate back home in Michigan which led me to ten years skating synchro with the Hockettes Synchronized Skating Teams. I came out west for College where I joined California Gold to continue my love of the sport. I am a junior at Loyola Marymount University where I am majoring in Political Science and Dance. This is my third season skating with California Gold senior and my second year as team captain. I am also a member of the DREAM Team, representing Team USA in synchronized skating and SoCal on the national skating scene.

Blog Writer Emmy strutting her stuff in Rouen France

California Gold senior has been together for almost seven weeks this season and yet everything still seems rather new. This is my third season with the team and things feel a little different. Teams typically talk about the amount of turn over each season, or returning skaters, but in this case, 'turn over' is a particularly apt phrase. It is not only that we have a very different team from last season, we have also brought back skaters from several years ago, 'turning over' the proverbial pile. as these individuals find themselves being the faces of Cal Gold once again, and not just our base.

2013 Senior Team USA (Alexa not pictured)

This makes for some interesting demographics. Less than half of our team has returned from last season (eight skaters), though an additional five skaters have skated on California Gold senior before. Four skaters moved up from last year's novice team and we are very excited to welcome two young women into the sport of synchronized figure skating for the first time. This totals nineteen individuals and one fantastic team.

Coaches Jill Cipresso and Amanda Falkowski talking with skaters during practice

However, Cal Gold isn't just working with skaters from many different synchro backgrounds, we are all at very different places in our lives. Six of our teammates are in high school, eight of us are college age and five out of school. Our ages range over a decade, from fourteen to twenty-five. Team Captain Brittany got married to Kevin Hurst this past June, while some of our high school athletes had school dances this past weekend. Our skaters come from Orange County in the south, to Santa Monica in the north in order to meet in Artesia early in the morning for practice.

Tiana - Pictured right, ready for her last high school Coronation Dance. Tiana is a 2nd year member of Team USA

Team Captain Brittany with her husband Kevin

Coach Falkowski and Brittany getting ready for the ceremony - Fun Fact: Both Coach Falkowski and Brittany have been skating together since they were elementary kids and met their husbands in the same Ice Rink Pro Shop.

Past and current Cal Gold Skaters at Brittany's wedding - Katie, Britney, Coach Cipresso, Brittany, Coach Falkowski, and Megan.

All of these things can make it difficult to build a team. Our skaters go to school full time, working grown up jobs and one is even an Air Force Cadet. However, with this difficulty comes an appreciation for commitment. The team is still working to get to know one another with after practice Panera Bread bonding sessions and facebook jokes. Practice is full of laughter as we push ourselves to coalesce as a team and prepare for the coming competitive season.

 Fun fact: I'm the coolcat in the stunna-shades

We are also thrilled to announce the news that Coach Cipresso is expecting her second child, due to arrive April 2013! It is sure to be another exciting season in the California Gold Family, and we look forward to sharing it with you.

Jill, Mario and Luca on their summer camping trip.

Written by:
Emmeline Weinert - Senior Blog Writer
Senior Team Member 2010-Present
Co- Captain 2011-2013
USFS DREAM Skater 2011-2013

California Gold celebrates another successful season in 2012

California Gold Synchronized Skating teams conclude their 2012 season with both the Senior and Novice teams showing incredible growth.  December, they traveled to the Dr Richard Porter Classic in Ann Arbor, MI competing against teams from the US and Canada.  January, the Novice team traveled to the Pacific Coast Sectionals in Dearborn, MI and won the Silver Medal.  Days later, California Gold –Senior. Team USA, was off to Rouen, France for the French Cup.  The 2012 French Cup was a challenging competition with the top junior and senior teams around the world competing for the top monetary prize.  California Gold placed a respectable 7^th behind six world teams.  Both teams finished their season at the 2012 U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships in Worcester, MA.  We are so proud of all the accomplishments the California Gold skaters have earned this season. 

California Gold is looking forward to a competitive and enthusiastic 2012 / 2013 season.  They are seeking skaters for Senior, Novice, Collegiate and Adult Teams.  Synchronized Team skating utilizes and advances your freestyle and dance skills at all levels.  Additionally, California Gold has a Beginner team at the East West Ice Palace skating school.   If you are looking for a challenge - try synchronized skating! You can get information about California Gold workshops on our website, www.californiagoldteams.com or on Facebook: California Gold.

2012 US National Championships

This past weekend California Gold traveled across the continental United States to attend the Synchronized Skating National Championships in Worcester, Massachusetts. After a long flight, our Novice and Senior teams did a small amount of sightseeing at Quincy Market in Boston, but then it was all skating, all the time.

As a member of the senior team, my teammates and I were eager to improve on our scores from our international assignment in Rouen, France. Since France, our team had really amped up our presentation skills and hoped that we would see that reflected in our Program Component scores. All season we had worked hard to ensure that every member of our team understood our technical requirements, so that we would be skating smart, thinking about what needed to be done in each element. We knew going into our final skates of the season that a competition can be won or lost on those technical calls.

After several days of practice and preparation in Massachusetts, it was time for competition. In those two days of competition, we had several team talks and focus sessions, discussing reminders with one another and pumping ourselves up for the culmination of the season. We had practices both competition days between our official ice time in the morning, when the panel watched, and when we competed, to ensure that everything had been solidified.

Both our short and long programs were strong, clean skates that we are very proud of. I know that I feel incredible about how far this team came over the course of the season and how much each member grew. With a sixth place finish overall, we are pleased with out accomplishments and the wonderful season we had representing the Los Angeles area, the Pacific Coast and the United States of America. We will be cheering for the Crystallettes and Haydenettes as they represent the US once more at the 2012 Synchronized Skating World Championships! GO TEAM USA!

Its odd to have the season over, it feels so soon to me. Personally, I will enjoy sleeping in (far) past 3:30 a.m. for about a week and then be happy to trade in that lifestyle for more synchro practices!

Written by:
Emmeline Weinert - Senior Blog Writer
Senior Team Member 2010-Present
Co- Captain 2011-2012
USFS DREAM Skater 2011-2013

Cal Gold Wraps Things Up in France

At the beginning of this month California Gold senior had the amazing experience of traveling to Rouen, France to compete in the French Cup international competition. After the long flight we got half a day in Paris to see Notre Dame cathedral, the Musee d'Orsay and the Eiffel Tower. Then it was to Rouen for the next several days to practice and compete.

Participating in the event's opening parade and hanging out with our other Team USA members were so much fun. Our team grew in leaps and bounds while overseas and the experiences while there were priceless. We are so excited to have finished in the top half of the competition and seen the amazing international talent present on the ice.

While neither of our two competitive skates was flawless, we had some of the best official practices we've had all season and our presentation improved immensely. The team is motivated and ready to go into nationals with a renewed vigor from the experience of representing the US.

One highlight for me was watching the top senior teams compete in the free skate after we had competed. Many of my teammates had never had the opportunity to see teams like Team Unique of Finland skate before. I love seeing the choices that teams make in their choreography and style and it reminded me not only how much I love to participate in this sport, but also how beautiful it is to watch.

Written by:
Emmeline Weinert - Senior Blog Writer
Senior Team Member 2010-Present
Co- Captain 2011-2012
USFS DREAM Skater 2011-2013

Novice Team competes at Sectional Championship

The novice team competed at the Pacific Coast Synchronized Skating Sectional Championships in Plymouth, Michigan the week before last. After a rough early morning official practice, the team came together for many hours of off-ice practice. We made a list of all the sections of the program where we were unsure of the counts. The coaches clarified the counts and together the team ran through the sections again and again. We ended the day with an awesome unofficial practice. The team was definitely ready to compete. After some more off-ice practice in the morning, we headed to the rink confident with “a fire in our bellies,” as Coach Falkowski would say. Our great skate earned us a 12-point improvement from our last competition and the silver medal! The team was really proud of the accomplishment, especially since most of the points were earned through our off-ice the previous day. Our only disappointment was that President Obama didn’t come to watch us skate, even though he was staying in the hotel next door.

Written By: Emma Hamilton - Novice Blog Writter
Novice Team: 2011-Present
Senior Team: 2011 - Present

Anaheim Competition

Last weekend California Gold took the ice for our first competition of the season in Anaheim, CA. The senior team arrived early to cheer on our novice team as they skated (beautifully) to Stardust. The program earned the team a second place finish and beat their goal by 6 points.

After some time spent preparing for our own competition, doing our hair and make up, we returned to the rink to lend our support to our beginner team, the California Gold Nuggets. The Nuggets skated to music from the animated film Rio and were adorable in their feathered blue dresses. Coach Falkowski smiled up to the stands as the Novice team, Senior team, Gold Alumni and parents chanted “Nuggets! Nuggets!”.

 The senior team then left once more to make our final preparations and warm up for our competition. We did not compete against anyone this time around, as the Ice Kateers Senior team competed their short program and we our long. However, attending the competition was extremely beneficial as it gave us an opportunity to perform and get feedback on our program. Getting a chance to see how our program will be scored helps us to figure out which elements need to be altered or worked on the most. While the program certainly isn’t perfect yet and we know we have a long way to go, we were proud to put out a strong performance so early in the year. It’s going to be a great season!

Written by:
Emmeline Weinert - Senior Blog Writer
Senior Team Member 2010-Present
Co- Captain 2011-2012
USFS DREAM Skater 2011-2013