The SHS Figure Skating Club is not widely known among SHS despite its popularity in other places. The club currently consists of five high school members and three middle school members who compete at The Ohio High State School Competition each year hosted by Shaker Figure Skating Club.
Senior and captain of the club Ren Yoshioka said she recognizes the lack of recognition the club receives.
“There’s only one competition skaters participate in,” Yoshioka said. “There’s not a lot of other opportunities for us to really spread word of us. There also are not that many skaters in Solon.”
Anna Li, senior and member of the Figure Skating Club, agrees that the lack of recognition can be accredited to the lack of competitions the club attends and the shortage of skaters in Solon.
“We combined with Twinsburg’s [team] because we need seven skaters to actually be a team,” Li said.
Yoshioka says that to qualify for The Ohio High School Competition, they must first qualify for different skating competition levels that are passed through testing.
Figure Skating club is unique because each member does individual lessons and practice.
Senior and member of the figure skating club Camille Hemphille says the club puts a lot of preparation into the competition.
“We always practice the night before in our dresses,” Hemphille said. “Then, the day of competition, we stretch, warm up off [the] ice and we put our skates [on]. Our group goes out for a five minute warm up, then they call us off the ice then we go out one by one or perform. They judge you based off your elements and score.”
Yoskioka has been skating and performing for 14 years. She began Figure Skating when she lived in Kentucky because she lived close to their local ice rink.
“I have some performance anxiety, so I tend to get pretty nervous before going into competitions,” Yoshioka said. “But once I start performing I get more comfortable with my space.”
Despite the effort put in by club members, the Figure Skating Club continues to remain mostly unknown throughout the SHS student body.
“I get asked all the time, ‘Solon has a Figure Skating [Club]?’,” Hemphille said. “I feel like since it’s a club and there aren’t many members that the school doesn’t give it any recognition. Nobody gets the chance to hear about it like every other sport in school.”
Next year, the club may have even more issues with recognition. Three of the eight members of the club will graduate this year and leave only five returning skaters in the club. Nonetheless, the current members are making efforts to shine more light on the club.
“I think it would be cool if the school could announce our high school competition and location like they do with other sports and their games,” Hemphille said. “I think that would be a good request to the school. Otherwise, I will keep inviting my friends to all my competitions.”
Despite being widely unknown, the members of the Figure Skating Club enjoy the sport and believe it is an important way to express themselves.
“It’s an interesting sport that integrates dancing and technical skills,” Yoshioka said. “I love being able to express myself through artistry while learning new jumps and spins. There are always more things you can try out in skating.”
