Established in 1942, the Great Falls Figure Skating Club is one of the oldest in the country.
The club contains a handful of figure skaters that practice multiple times every week and compete.
The Great Falls Figure Skating Club President Jenn Rowell said, “It’s awesome, these kids work pretty hard. It’s fun to watch them practicing, when they finally master a new skill.”
The team starts practicing as soon as ice becomes available at the Great Falls Ice Plex, usually sometime in September.
Last year in December, it was the first time the Great Falls Figure Skating Club hosted a competition in approximately 15 years, the Winter Warm-Up.
President Jenn Rowell said they are excited to get back into the swing of hosting competitions again.
This year’s Winter Warm-Up will also be hosted on home ice for the club on December 8. The Bozeman and Helena figure skating clubs will also be competing.
The club has been spending the past few months preparing for the competition.
Jennifer Hendershot, a fourteen year old figure skater has been skating for about 6 years. She said, “The first time I stepped on the ice I just loved it.”
Jennifer started skating after her aunt saw a post on Facebook about the Learn-to-Skate program.
She trains approximately an hour a day, six days a week.
Liliana, a 7 year old figure skater, is now in her second season with the club. She said she feels happy that she has gotten better since when she first started.
Liliana said, “I went to Learn-to-Skate and the next year I got better so I wanted to be a figure skater.”
11 year old Leann Murphy also got interested in figure skating by attending a Learn-to-Skate program five years ago and has been skating ever since.
She said she feels really happy when she finally accomplishes a goal she’s been working on, “Because I know I’ve been working really hard on it and I’ve been skating multiple hours a week to do it. I’m working on the axel right now and I’m really excited to finish that one.”
Leann added that it takes about a month for her to prepare for a competition because of all of the choreography and practicing the moves in line with the music.
Leann encourages everyone to try figure skating.
If you want to get involved with the Great Falls Figure Skating Club or volunteer for the competition, you can get in touch with them through their Facebook page by clicking here.
