News

Skating Clubs, Skating Parents, and Skaters:

I am very proud to announce a new and wonderful competition being endorsed by the National Congress of State Games. State Games of Mid America will be a wonderful competition held Bi-annually in opposite years of State Games of America. State Games of Mid America will be inviting skaters from the states of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin.

The competition is being co-hosted by both the Show Me State Games and the Washington Park Ice Arena located in Jefferson City, MO. The competition will be held August 1 - 3, 2008.

The State Games of Mid-America is a qualifying competition for the State Games of America Championship. State Games of America is an Olympic style, multi-sport event held bi-annually. The entire State Games of America will incorporate several different sports, with over 10,000 athletes in attendance. In 2007, the Figure Skating portion set an attendance record of over 1,100 figure skater competing. The 2009 State Games of America will be held in late Summer 2009 in Colorado Springs, CO.

The State Games of Mid-America will be a hybrid competition sanctioned and endorsed by both USFS and ISI. The USFS Ordinal Scoring Method, the 6.0 system, will be used. However, the judging panels will consist of 2/3 USFS Judges and 1/3 ISI Judges.

Events being offered include:

Unrestricted Freeskate (Tots thru Senior)
Restricted Freeskate (Tots thru Senior)
Short Program
Compulsories
Couples/Solo Dance
Footwork
Spins
Showcase
Couples Showcase
Team Entertainment
Synchronized Skating

Practice Ice and a Test session will also be available. Times and dates of these events will be posted at a later date.

Entry packet and Registration forms have been attached. Entry deadline is June 21, 2008. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. You may also visit www.jcfsc.com or www.smsg.org for more information.

Thank you in advance and hope to see you all soon.

Sincerely,

Ann Bruce

State Games of Mid-America Figure Skating Commissioner

   Contact: Lisa Zimmerman
    417-866-7444 ext. 225 phone
    417-866-4888                     Fax
lzimmerman@icepark.org     email

For Immediate Release – August 24, 2007

Jordan Valley Figure Skating Club and the Jordan Valley Ice Park are hosting their annual Jordan Valley Invitational figure skating competition Saturday at the Ice Park. “Four of our local figure skaters won awards in two National competitions in Colorado this month, and we are excited to showcase their performances at the Ice Park during our competition”, said Marianne Banks, President of the figure skating club.

State Games of America - Natalie Wegenka and Emily Moon brought home three medals each from State Games of America, including a bronze medal for their artistic duet. Natalie also earned a gold medal in her compulsory event, and took silver in freeskate. Emily placed second in her compulsory event and third in freeskate. Both Natalie and Emily will be performing their award-winning routines this Saturday at the Ice Park.

National Showcase - As reported last week, Jodie Putman and Jamie Blaine repeated this month as National Showcase Champions. The Blaine-Putman duet will also be performing their winning number, as well as individual artistic events.

The Jordan Valley Invitational begins tomorrow (Saturday, August 24, 2007) at 9:00 a.m. at Jordan Valley Ice Park. Admission is free.

The Jordan Valley Invitational is sanctioned by US Figure Skating. For more information on US Figure Skating events, visit their website at www.usfigureskating.org .

Jordan Valley Figure Skater Carly Gold is the new Pre-Juvenile Ladies Champion for the Upper Great Lakes Region. Carly landed a First Place Finish at the Upper Great Lakes Regional Championship in St. Paul, Minnesota this weekend, making her the second skater from Jordan Valley Figure Skating Club to hold this title. Carly also competed in Juvenile Dance, with her partner Mile Shalicky, of Springfield, Illinois. They placed fifth at the Upper Great Lakes Regional Championship, which qualified them to advance to the 2007 US Junior Championships in Cleveland, Ohio November 28,2006 through December 2, 2006.

Also advancing to the US Junior Championships is Gracie Gold, who won a Silver Medal at the Upper Great Lakes Regional Championship, along with her partner Sean Hickey of Springfield, Illinois. Gracie also competed in Juvenile Ladies event, placing sixth in qualifying. Bethany Shinn competed in the Intermediate Ladies event, placing eighth in her qualifying event.

Jordan Valley Ice Park is the home rink for all three skaters, as well as home to the Jordan Valley Figure Skating Club.

Blaine-Putman Duet Brings Home Springfield’s First Figure Skating Gold Medal at the National Level.

Figure skaters, Jamie Blaine and Jodie Putman, members of the Jordan Valley Figure Skating Club, competed for the first time at the United States Figure Skating National Showcase, August 2-5, in Chicago, Illinois. The girls, both students at Pleasant View Middle School, skated their duet entitled, “A Tale of Two Pirates”, and won the 1^st place medal at the Preliminary level. Their program was choreographed by Jordan Valley Ice Park Coach Amy Vorhaben. The annual National Showcase competition showcases artistic and theatrical figure skating and is hosted by a different city each year selected by the United States Figure Skating Association. This year’s event also included skaters from Canada.

The Blaine-Putman duet plans to compete locally in the Jordan Valley Invitational, Springfield’s first figure skating competition, at Jordan Valley Ice Park on August 26, 2006. The competition is open to the public.

Twin Sisters, Carly And Gracie Gold Bring Home Jordan Valley's First Figure Skating Gold Medal At The Regional Level.

Twin sisters, Carly and Gracie Gold, members of the Jordan Valley Figure Skating Club, competed for the first time at the Upper Great Lakes Regional competition October 19-22, 2005 in Duluth, Minnesota. After only three years on the ice, Gracie Gold brings home Springfield's first regional gold medal and Carly placed ninth at the competition.

The sisters began skating in the Learn to Skate program at Jordan Valley Ice Park in 2002. After one and one-half years in group instruction they moved into private instruction and tested to a level, which qualified them to skate at the Pre-Juvenile level. The Upper Great Lakes Regional competition is a qualifying event for Nationals; however, this is the highest competitive level that a Pre-Juvenile skater can compete in. Both of the girls intend on advancing to the Juvenile level during the 2006 season.

For almost a year now local Ice Park figure skaters and their supporters have been going through the process of completing requirements to establish themselves with US Figure Skating (USFS) as a sanctioned club. USFS is the governing organization for competitive figure skating in the United States. All figure skaters who are chosen to represent the United States in National and International competitions must have tested and be members of USFS. In the past Jordan Valley figure skaters have had to become members of clubs in other communities to compete and test under the USFS guidelines.

Jordan Valley Figure Skating Club is now sanctioned as a provisional member club. Club officials expect to be granted full member status at USFS Governing Council next May. While the Club collaborates with Jordan Valley Ice Park their board operates independently of Ice Park. Jordan Valley Figure Skating Club has various membership levels from friends of figure skating to those truly competitive skaters.

Jordan Valley Figure Skating Club will have their first club representation in the USFS Regional competition this October from skaters Bethany Shinn and Anna Berry. Amy Vorhaben, Director of Figure Skating for Jordan Valley Ice Park, coaches both skaters. The following week, Brianna Banks will compete in Intermediate Dance at Southwestern Regionals in Wichita, Kansas with her dance partner, Chris Hickerson from Wichita. Last December, Brianna and Chris had the opportunity to advance to US Junior Nationals, and are hoping to compete there again this year. Brianna began skating in Austin, Texas and moved to Springfield two years ago. Thomas Shaw coaches her locally.

In an ongoing effort to meet the needs of our skaters abilities Jordan Valley Ice Park proudly welcomes their newest instructor and most advanced skater, Thomas Shaw. With over 20 years of experience, Thomas has competed and tested at the highest level for both the International Skating Institute (ISI) and USFS. Thomas is an accomplished ice dancer and figure skater, which has provided the opportunity for the Ice Park to begin offering ice dance classes. Thomas’s extensive background in music, dance, and skating provide local skaters with a new level of training and conditioning both on and off the ice.

The addition of Thomas Shaw and the news of Jordan Valley Figure Skating Club’s status could not come at a more perfect time since skaters are launching into the peak competition season. Several opportunities are available this fall to watch our figure skaters in action beginning November 20 with the Festival of Lights kick-off followed by the winter ice show December 18. With the addition of club status, progressive instruction, and continued support from the figure skating community the skill level of local competitive skaters will continue to excel.

Published November 4, 2004

Jordan Valley skaters earn medals

A number of skaters from the Jordan Valley Figure Skating Club recently earned medals for their efforts at the Arkansas Ozark Invitational, including in the front row (from left) Carly Gold (gold, freestyle 5; bronze, Interp 5/6) and Gracie Gold (gold, Interp 5/6; bronze Lt. Ent 5/6). In the middle row are Jodie Putman (silver, freestyle 4), Jamie Blaine (gold, freestyle 4) and Kylie Thielen (silver, freestyle 4). In the back row are coach Val Williams, Julie Putman (gold, freestyle 3), Kayla Crouch (bronze, freestyle 3), Rachel Franka (silver, freestyle 6) and coach Amy Vorhaben.

For Immediate Release

Jordan Valley Figure Skating Club continues to raise the bar as two-member skaters medal during their regional competition. Bethany Shinn represented Jordan Valley Figure Skating Club as soloist skaters at the United States Figure Skating Upper Great Lakes Regional Competition. Brianna Banks a member of the figure skating club and her partner Chris Hickerson competed in pairs Ice Dance in the South West Regional.

Bethany currently skates at the Pre-Juvenile level and competed against thirteen other skaters. Bethany tied for third place and was awarded the fourth place medal. This is the first time a soloist medal at the regional level has been awarded to a Jordan Valley Figure Skating Club member. Bethany is currently working to move up two levels to the Intermediate level, which is a qualifying level for advancement to Sectionals and Junior Nationals.

Brianna and Chris skate with the experience of having competed at the US Junior Nationals last December. At the South West Regional they also earned a fourth place medal for pairs Ice Dance. Skating at the intermediate level, Brianna and Chris can now work to secure a place at sectionals and hope to have the opportunity to advance to Nationals again.