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The WFSC and SMU hosted Monday through Thursday the “Turning Point” figure skating camp — the first figure skating camp held at SMU.
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Melissa Jackels, 13, left, gets posture tips from nationally renowned coach Scott Brown on Wednesday during a figure skating camp at Saint Mary's University. (photo by Katie Derus/Winona Daily News) |
Even though it was the first camp, the two hosts didn’t shy away from bringing in some highly respectable instructors and local coaches from the WFSC to teach the 42 participants.
“We were able to get the coaches to come here through our connections with other coaches,” WSFC president John Meier said. “To have 42 skaters have signed up this year, I’m pretty satisfied with that being the first year.”
For the first two days of the camp, Janet Champion and Shelia Thelen were the two primary coaches. For the final three days, Evelyn Kramer and Scott Brown taught the camp.
Champion has conducted seminars in six countries, while Thelen holds a Professional Skaters Association Master Rating.
Kramer is an Olympic and world international coach. She has worked with professional skaters such as Michelle Kwan and Peggy Fleming. Brown is a national world and Olympic choreographer who has worked with athletes from more than 18 countries.
“It was really key to get the coaches for a successful camp,” Meier said. “To bring in a national or Olympic level coach, it exposes the skaters and the local coaches we have working here to these great coaches.”
Not only was on-ice training provided, there also was a fair amount of off-ice training.
On the ice, instruction on moves in the field, jumps, spins, stroking, edges and choreography were provided by the coaches. All skaters had a minimum of three hours on the ice each day.
Off the ice, there were conditioning and classroom activities. The conditioning included dancing, aerobics, weight training and pilates. In the classroom, the skaters learned about nutrition, injury prevention and how to prepare for competition.
“When I’m on ice, my style is technical. I’m working on different elements of skating and jumping,” Kramer said. “When I’m off ice, I talk about training and I talk about the psycological aspects of training.”
Added Brown: “I use the office as a shortcut. I typically warm up the body and do all the movement that I’m going to do with the choreography on the ice.”
