From Regionals to Champion: A Competitive Figure Skater’s Journey
This past Tuesday marked the end of the 2013 figure skating season’s regional competitions, which have been ongoing for the last month—and in a few weeks sectionals will take place. It can be confusing to remember how figure skating’s competitive structure works so keep reading for an overview of regionals and what we have to look forward to next on the road to Junior and Senior Nationals.
The U.S. is separated into three different competitive sections (Eastern, Midwestern and Pacific Coast) and each section is then sub-divided into three regions, making nine total regions:
- New England Regional Championships
- North Atlantic Regional Championships
- South Atlantic Regional Championships
______________________________________ - Eastern Great Lakes Regional Championships
- Upper Great Lakes Regional Championships
- Southwestern Regional Championships
______________________________________ - Northwest Pacific Regional Championships
- Central Pacific Regional Championships
- Southwest Pacific Regional Championships
These nine regional competitions are followed by three sectional competitions—which will be held Nov. 9-13, so mark your calendars! Skaters who place in the top four in regional events advance to sectional competitions. Regionals and sectionals begin the pipeline of U.S. Figure Skating’s qualifying competitions, which lead top figure skaters to U.S. Nationals, then onto World’s and even the Olympics. The graph below helps illustrate a competitor’s journey:
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Check out U.S. Figure Skating’s 2013 qualifying bracket for the specific dates and locations of this season’s sectionals. To stay up to date on competition schedules, TV programming and results, be sure to check back at iSkateRiedell often. We’ll be counting down to Nationals, beginning January 19 in Omaha, Nebraska!
Do you train each year with the goal of participating at a qualifying competition? Share your aspirations with us by commenting below. And for more on everything figure skating-related, take a look at our Riedell TV videos on our YouTube channel!