Mentor Ice Arena hosts 19th Diamond Classic Synchronized Skating Competition - The News-Herald
Published by: The News-Herald
By: William Tilton
Original article found here
The 19th Diamond Classic Synchronized Skating Competition at the Mentor Ice Arena brought big crowds and 37 teams from across the country for an event that Chairperson Sue Clemente said she hopes will only keep growing.
“We would love to have more teams, but some come from a long way and travel can be difficult,” Clemente said. “It is a lot to put together, but this our 19th time doing it. The thing is, once you have a problem, it is all about communication to make it right. Everybody thought it went pretty well this year.”
“I have to thank the Mentor High National Honor Society, as far as volunteers go, they were so important,” she added. “They filled 50 slots for me and helped so much.”
Clemente estimated that at least a couple thousand people came to watch teams from as far away as Georgia, Wisconsin, Chicago, Michigan, Pittsburgh and two local squads from Mentor over the weekend.
Competitors as young as 3 up to one skater who was 70 took the ice.
Mentor Ice Arena Manager Michelle Walters, who coaches the Inspire teams for Mentor, said a competition like the Diamond Classic is critical to attract more skaters to come out for the activity.
“Having the competition really helps keep the sport alive in Mentor,” Walters said. “It gives the new teams in Mentor the opportunity to compete against teams from other states and learn about how a competition works.”
“The two Mentor teams today had their best performances and results in the three years of Inspire,” Walters added. “Parents and coaches were proud and thrilled with what we put out there today. They have come so far in the three seasons of Inspire. In the world of sports, Inspire competing against these other teams is like a rec team competing against travel teams. The Inspire teams are an intro program meant to feed into travel teams, but they held their own and skated the whole day smiling.”
Inspire 2 and Inspire 3 teams each finished second in their respective competitions for Mentor.
Clemente said the competition started 18 years ago in February and was moved to November to hopefully avoid travel in severe winter weather.
The Mentor Ice Arena was always a natural option to hold the competition.
“The building and the rink lend to the competition,” Clemente said. “There is plenty of room upstairs for off-ice practice and all the teams are accommodated. I do wish it had more seating. Across the country, many of the arenas have that bowl seating all the way around the rink, but the feedback has been good.”
Clemente lives in Mentor and is a member of Mentor Figure Skating Club.
She said synchronized skating is a newer discipline that hopefully United States Figure Skating is getting ready for future Olympics.
“There will be opportunities through synchronized skating to get to the Olympics,” Clemente said. “It is like an ice dance team and there are certain disciplines and features of elements on how points are awarded.”
As far as how long it takes to put together such an event, Clemente said she has already started booking area hotels for next year.