Gliding across the ice while perfecting routines with twists and jumps can be hard enough for someone alone on ice. But what happens when you put 20 young women together and synchronize their movements and aerials?
You get something unique, smooth and beautiful called Team Elan.
Oxford High School junior Katie Graney, 17, has been a member of Team Elan, at the Detroit Skating Club, for the past nine years.
“Skating’s fun,” she said. “You get to go a lot of places and you get a good workout.”
Team Elan was formed in 1991 and is known throughout the world as one of the top synchronized skating organizations. The group has six levels of teams – preliminary, juvenile, novice/intermediate, junior, senior and adult – and participants ranging in age from seven to 45.
Members are selected from an audition process that focuses upon strong skaters whose techniques fit well together.
“I remember last year there being around 65 girls auditioning and they only picked about 20 to 25,” said Graney.
“It’s not as easy as it looks. You have to know how to skate in your own space. On your own, you have the whole ice.”
The organization is also not cheap. Graney said that each year she spends thousands of dollars and works hard to earn money with fund-raisers.
Team Elan learns two routines each season, one long and one short. After each competition, they improve upon their technique based upon judge’s comments and recommendations.
For the Oxford student, being a member of Team Elan has been a long-term goal.
According to her mom Judy, Katie would watch the girls practice at the rink while her brother played hockey next door.
“She started taking basic skating lessons and worked her way up,” said her mom.
Graney, who is now a member of the senior team, has been skating for about ten years now. She practices at least four days a week for three to four hours, works out in a strength and aerobics session on the fifth day and runs almost every day.
“This takes up a lot of her time,” said Judy.
“The hardest part though is getting to know the knew people each year and learning to work with them,” said Graney.
In Team Elan, the senior team girls, coached by Jeannine Cullen, compete in local, statewide, national and international competitions.
So far this year the team has competed in four events:
n They came in second for short and first for long routine at the Richard Porter’s Classic in Ann Arbor;
n Took second again in short and first in long at the Cape Cod Classic in Massachusetts;
n Took a fourth in both at the North American International Competition in Frasier, Mich.;
n And received a second in both at the Mid-American in Frasier, Mich.
The team is now gearing up to compete in the Spring Cup 2003 in Milan, Italy. They will also be traveling for nationals in Huntsville, Indiana.
“My short term goal is to go to the World Competition this year,” said Graney.
“In the long run, I just want to have fun, meet knew people and see the many places we compete in.”
And organizers for Team Elan have their own long-term plans working for the group.
Graney stated that synchronized skating is currently building momentum with several universities offering the sport at the varsity level and many countries holding national competitions.
Plans and forms have already been submitted and reviews are being made to make the difficult, but beautiful ice sport an event at the 2006 Winter Olympics.