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