Most people like to play the usual sports like netball, basketball or soccer. However, Year 11 student Nicola Bebelman participates in a sport that isn’t so popular – Figure skating. Yes it is a sport and in fact is part of the Winter Olympics.
Nicola is an exceptionally talented skater and is currently a part of the Auckland Ice Figure Skating Club (AIFSC).
She joined skate school at the age of 10 and when she was 11 years old joined synchronized ice skating which is when there are 8-20 skaters, depending on the level, skating together in a team. They usually move together as one whilst doing different types of footwork. Her teams name is ‘Black Ice’ and most of them have been skating together for 4 years.
Nicola works very hard in order to be at her best and trains not only on Wednesday mornings and Friday nights, but also when everyone else is still sleeping she trains from 6am-8:45am every Saturday.
When training off the ice her team works on lifts, strength and flexibility. It sounds like a gruelling job to get up early to train on the weekend but Nicola has the passion and drive and is definitely reaping the rewards. Just last year she competed in her first overseas competition with her synchro team in Sydney. She has also skated for the opening of the famous ‘Disney on Ice’ three times.
The main skills in skating include spins, jumps and turns and for solo skating Nicola is currently working on her routine for when competitions begin and on the skills for her next test.
In synchro she is practicing the choreography for this year’s programme and is training towards qualifying for the Nationals in Dunedin.
Shontelle Matano
