We are late posting… but the Pan American Championship of Figure Clubs at Skate Reflections in Kissimmee, Florida from January 19th through the 22nd was a cool way to learn a lot and enjoy the company of new friends from South America. This World Championship-like training and competitive event included figure, dance and freestyle skaters of all ages from the United States, Columbia, Ecuador, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Guatamala, the Dominican Republic, Peurto Rico, Cuba and Paraguay.

TeamSk8’s Juvenile Boy, Jayanthesh Kalmat, and Freshman Girl, Kaylee Brogan, both worked hard to extend their freestyle program lengths and did extra lessons to add short programs for their singles events. And since all figure events (except the domestic adult events) had a real loop (not circle loop) and higher level figures included in the figure mix, they had to add extra practice for those events, too.

Kaylee and Gene enjoyed a social skate before training and events began and both were surprised at how well they could communicate with someone who speaks a different language. Both skaters and their parents came home with new friends from other countries in the Americas, and so did their coach.

The first Pan American Championships of Clubs of figure skating was organized by the Confederacion Panamericana de Roller Sports (CPRS), USA Roller Sports (USARS) and sanctioned by the Federation Internationale de Roller Sports (FIRS), CPRS and USARS.