Editor’s note: New DREAM skater Ashley Tomich offers her experience and wisdom in answering the question below: What advice would you give to a young skater on a pre-juvenile team who wants to someday be on Team USA, based on your experiences in the sport?
Anything is possible through hard work and commitment to your team by ASHLEY TOMICH
Believe anything’s possible!” Troughout my 12 years on the Synchro-
ettes, this is one piece of advice that has always stuck with me and has helped me overcome the bumps in the road I have faced both personally and those my team has pushed through. Tis past year at nationals, “Believe Any-
thing’s Possible” was the mantra for our junior and juvenile teams. Te season had included sev- eral ups and downs, but going into the last com- petition and the one that could earn us a spot on Team USA, this piece of advice was something our coaches ingrained into our brains. My teammates and I committed 100 per- cent to this, and it truly did help us to achieve our goal of making it onto the U.S. Synchronized Skating Team, which we received with honor af- ter placing fifth in the junior division at nation- als.
Tis saying may sound a bit clichéd, but I
can say from experience that it is something that really can make a difference. Te advice of “Be- lieve anything’s possible” is the first thing I would tell a pre-juvenile skater, and I would tell her that she has to believe not only in herself but also in her teammates, because this is a team sport. She
won’t be able to make her dreams come true un- less she buys into the idea of trusting and believ- ing in her entire team, because teamwork makes the dream work. “Teamwork makes the dream work” is a
popular saying in the Synchroettes organization and is one that all our teams live by. I can vouch for this piece of advice as I witness the success of it making my team stronger with every practice. With everyone on the team giving 100 percent and working together as one, we get better each day.
To the young skater, I would say that mak-
ing it on to Team USA isn’t something she can achieve on her own. It is something that she and her team will have to strive for and work to become. It might not always be easy, but with everyone working together on and off the ice it makes the team 10 times stronger. My last piece of advice is to never give up.
Te road to being on Team USA is not easy. Te amount of time and effort that I put into my team and personal skating over the past 11 years is astronomical. But I can also say that it was all worth it.
I would remind this skater that when it
seems like her dream of being an international athlete seems so far away, to not lose sight of that dream but to work harder to achieve it. Giving her all at practices, both team and individually, will make a difference. Giving up should never be an option. Troughout my career as a synchronized
skater, the team that I was on in our organization was the one that paved the way. I was on the first Synchroettes team to medal at Easterns, win an Eastern Sectional title, make it to nationals, med- al at nationals and be on Team USA. Tose were just the high points, and it took a lot for us to get there. But no matter what, I never gave up. I always stayed positive and took it one day at a time, with the ultimate goal in mind. Tere were several moments and even whole seasons of defeat, but those made me stronger. Tus, my advice to the pre-juvenile skat-
er who has dreams of being a member of Team USA would be to believe anything’s possible, to remember that teamwork makes the dream work and to never give up. I can proudly say that as a current member of Team USA, these pieces of advice truly work to make dreams come true.