club matters
The Washington FSC credits the growth of synchronized skating in helping it achieve its membership goals.
WFSC enjoys a rich tradition of competitive excellence. Its all-star roster includes U.S. ladies champion Ashley Wagner, three-time U.S. champion Michael Weiss, 1998 World Junior champion Derrick Delmore, 2001 U.S. junior champion Parker Pennington, coaching great Don Laws, and Phyllis Howard, past president of U.S. Figure Skating.
JOIN THE CLUB WASHINGTON FSC USING ALL RESOURCES TO SUCCEED S
trong leadership, a diverse offering of pro- grams, an expansive pool of volunteers and officials and a will to serve its constitu-
ency make the Washington Figure Skating Club (WFSC) a model for success. Located in the Washington, D.C., area,
WFSC boasts 960 members, the most of any U.S. Figure Skating club. Te club, sanctioned in 1938, continues to lead the way in its efforts to attract skaters. “A substantial portion of WFSC’s member-
ship growth in the last several years is due to the expansion of synchronized skating,” club vice president Dina Gold said. “Four different syn- chronized skating teams, Capitol Steps, national champions DC Edge, National Blades and Team Ashburn, compete on behalf of WFSC. “Tese teams largely train out of different
rinks, so there is minimal overlap among the teams. Tere is actually ample opportunity for skaters in the D.C.‒metropolitan area interested in synchronized skating to find the team that is right for their level, style and geographic loca- tion. Tese teams start their program at the Basic Skills level, which is another means of attracting new figure skaters to the sport.”
WFSC anticipates having close to 1,000 members this season. At the 2012 Governing Council in Myrtle Beach, S.C., WFSC was rec- ognized for the second year in a row for the num- ber of introductory members it had, as well as for the number of introductory members it had retained from the prior year. Te membership of WFSC is comprised of
34 AUG./SEPT. 2012
both youth and adult ice dancers, including those who train with the Wheaton Ice Skating Acad- emy (WISA), four synchronized skating teams, standard track, test track, adult and Basic Skills singles skaters, artistic skaters, recreational skat- ers and, of course, parents and fans. WFSC members are primarily drawn from
Washington, D.C., and the Virginia and Mary- land suburbs of Washington.
“Te socio-economic characteristics of the
area create a population that is interested in and able to support figure skaters, although this pop- ulation has a fair amount of turnover as well, a consequence of the political structure of our na- tion’s capital,” club president Peter Tsai said. Instead of operating out of a single rink, WFSC is affiliated with nine rinks in Washing- ton, D.C., Virginia and Maryland, and contracts with most of them for tests, competitions, send- offs, exhibitions seminars and other events. “Because WFSC does not run its programs out of a single rink, most of the Basic Skills skat- ers in the area obtain their membership through rink-run programs instead of the club,” Tsai said. “WFSC maintains a Basic Skills membership category so skaters with private coaches can com- pete in Basic Skills competitions.”
WFSC is able to keep its membership fees
relatively low. One reason is that it does not pro- gram ice through a single rink so membership does not include ice subscriptions or similar rink‒spe- cific benefits. Tis is not necessary, because most WFSC‒affiliated rinks offer freestyle ice, even dur- ing the September‒to‒March high season when
figure skaters are competing with hockey. However, WFSC supplements rink-offered sessions with specialty sessions. Year-round, WFSC offers a dance session at which the pat- tern dances are played and participants can take lessons, pair off to practice or practice solo dance. “Members appreciate the ability to practice dance patterns without running into freestyle skaters,” Gold said. “Tis session is becoming in- creasingly popular as more singles and synchro- nized skaters take up dance.” During the high season, WFSC also offers a skills session, a family session and a competitive- level freestyle session. On the skills session, small group classes are
offered in spins, jumps, edges and other skills. Te family session is an opportunity for parents and their children (and sometimes grandparents and grandchildren) to share their love of the sport. Te freestyle session has proven invaluable to WFSC’s high-level skaters, who find ice more scarce when hockey season is under way, and even harder to complete a full program or upper- level moves patterns on rink-sponsored, crowded freestyle sessions. WFSC subsidizes the cost of these sessions so long as they remain popular and to the extent that subscriptions and pick-ups do not cover the cost of the ice. WFSC also supports its members by offer-
ing a variety of local competitions, including its New Year’s Adult Invitational and the Edward G. Picken Pro Am Dance Classic in June, which is popular with both local dancers and dancers from around the country. Te Potomac Open, a
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