Steven Helmer Publications

This may or may not end up being our oldest daughter's last one. She's going to try to become a junior coach next year and would likely focus on that if she does. But, I also wouldn't rule a return to the ice, at least for the home competition again. This weekend was the annual competition at our local rink, with her skating in showcase (artistic) and interpretive (a fun one where the skater improvises a program to a random song) events. And, she did a great job. Unfortunately, the turnout for this competition wasn't that great this year and, as a result, she wound up not having anyone to compete against at her level. So, in that regard, we really don't know how she would have matched up against another skater. However, she's been doing this for a few years now and I think this is the best I've ever seen her perform. In fact, one of the coaches/judges told me later that it was one of the best showcase programs she had ever seen performed and she thorou...

There are no formal skating classes this week, but my daughter still was at the rink last night so she could prepare for her upcoming competition at the Petit Center in Milwaukee next month. Here's a video of her running through part of her compulsory program while avoiding one of our synchronized skating teams (also prepping for a competition). Incidentally, our local rink (non-profit/volunteer run) is currently entered in a competition for upgraded lighting. If you're interested in voting, here is the link: http://www.lightlikethepros.com/vote/entries/169133068

My oldest daughter has a little bit of a break between figure skating competitions and decided (along with her coach) to revamp her music and program. After going through a bunch of songs, it sounds like she will be skating to "Once Upon a December," a song that was made famous by the movie Anastasia. She hasn't actually seen the movie (come to think of it, neither have I) but she is a Tara Lipinski fan and added it to her list of potential songs because Lipinski used it during one of her Olympic performances. In addition to that, she decided to make another change, at least for the next couple of competitions. Up until this point, she was competing at the Beginner Freeskate level. She was doing relatively well and improving with each competition, to the point she probably could make the jump to high beginner next year. But, after some discussion and getting the thumbs up from her coach, she's going to make a switch and finish out the year competing in the sho...