Getting started

 

The Fire On Ice Development team encourages skaters at the base level with an interest in skating to try synchronized skating. The skaters are taught in small groups and the aim is for the skaters to have fun and develop their skills in a team situation. When they are ready they will be invited to train with the Novice or Open team.

 

 

Development Pathway

 

For each Fire On Ice skater, we provide a developmental pathway, encouraging skaters of all ages and abilities to progress up through our pyramid structure. Beginning in our development team, skaters move up to the Novice or Open team, then through to Junior and finally progressing to skate at a Senior or Adult level. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fire On Ice highly encourages skaters to double-team

 

Fire On Ice is one of the few synchronized skating programs in Australia that offers skaters an incremental pathway from Development to Senior level. And because of this, we not only need a large number of skaters to field all of the teams, but it also allows all of our skaters an opportunity to advance their skating skills and develop individually as a person.

 

This growth is why we highly encourage all skaters to double-team if eligible to do so.

 

Many skaters are eligible to skate both Fire On Ice Novice and Junior or Fire On Ice Junior and Senior, and it is important they do so because they are able to focus on different skills within each context which then allows them to become a more all-around skater and person.

 

Skating on two synchronized skating teams allows a skater to grow in multiple ways – including skating skill and personal character. Naturally, skating on a higher level team is often more difficult because the programs include more complex elements, transitions, turns, and all of this is done at greater speed. Therefore, many skaters are too busy concentrating on the difficulty of the program, which takes away from their presentation and technique.

Thus, skating on a lower level team allows them to do just this – spend their time mastering posture, presentation, and basic skating technique that is often pushed aside at the higher level. Once a skater becomes more comfortable at the higher level, these secondary features that are practiced within the lower level team are then transferred to the higher level.

 

From a team point of view, skaters in these lower level teams improve at a greater rate by skating next to double-teamers because of the knowledge these double-teamers bring and also the skills that need to be matched by their teammates. This improves our younger teams at a greater rate than if our double-teamers chose not to skate on both teams.

 

Synchronized skating isn’t just about skating though, as it is one of the few team environments within figure skating, double-teaming also allows skaters to grow as individuals within the team context. Double-teaming allows skaters to develop their leadership skills, even if they aren’t a captain of the younger team. Many skaters on the younger teams who don’t double team appreciate the leadership the more experienced skaters bring.

 

Double-teaming also teaches skaters patience, teaching skills, and discipline (among many other things!). Double teaming is more than about filling numbers. It is about development of the skater as a whole.