ESSAY CONTEST WINNERS SHARE SKATING CONNECTION


Madison Stonemetz, Jada Coward, Nana-


mi Endo and Nathan Rensing are the winners of the second RISE Youth Essay Contest. T e Memorial Fund Committee read


more than 100 essays that were submitted, and selected the winners in four discipline catego- ries: pre-preliminary, preliminary, pre-juvenile and juvenile. Category winners each received an award of $1,000. Here are the winning essays.


keep skating. A few days later, my parents enrolled me


in the U.S. Figure Skating learn-to-skate pro- gram at T omas Creek Ice Arena. I moved from the Snowplow Sam classes through the Basic Skills program, meeting many friends that I still skate with today. Nothing made me happier than earning a badge or a pin. As I progressed I found a private coach and be- gan to test and compete. In 2008 I went to my fi rst competition at my home club of T om- as Creek. I competed in no-test compulsory moves. I loved it when people watched me skate. I earned second place out of four skaters. Years passed and I kept competing and testing with the help of my coach Cheryl. In March 2013 Cheryl moved to Michigan and a new coach came to my club. Her name was Terri Ryan Sullivan. Back in 2011 when my skating team went to RISE, I had no idea that someone whose dad was in the 1961 plane crash would one day be my coach. When I went to my fi rst test session with


Inspired every day


Madison Stonemetz (PRE-PRELIMINARY WINNER)


In 1961 the United States Figure Skating team left the world in a plane crash. In 2005 I stepped on the ice for the fi rst time and fell in love with fi gure skating. I never thought that I would have such an amazing connection to the 1961 plane crash, and be so inspired by the skaters and their families’ strength to keep go- ing.


When I was 4 years old, I was sitting on the couch watching television when my dad changed the channel. He stopped on a chil- dren’s channel, and on the screen were girls twisting, twirling and jumping. T ey were on a sheet of ice wearing strange boots with blades on the bottom. For the whole 30 minutes, I was mesmerized by all the tricks they were do- ing and all the facts I learned about the sport called fi gure skating.


I told my dad I wanted to try it, and he


said yes. T e fi rst sheet of ice I stepped on was at the Greater Canandaigua Civic Center (N.Y.). I laced up a pair of rental skates and off I went. I was doing pretty well until my dad pried me away from the wall. T at was the fi rst time I fell on the ice and certainly not the last. I didn’t get off the ice until I was too tired to


28 JUNE/JULY 2014


Terri as my coach, she gave me a book called Still Skating Forward. T at night I read the chapter about Terri. I soon realized that her dad was Danny Ryan, a dance coach involved the 1961 plane crash. Terri showed me a tiny golden skate blade pin with a diamond on it that she wore close to her heart for good luck. It belonged to her father, and she explained that he won it in 1952 for ice dance (Worlds). when he skated in Paris, France, where he won bronze. It was so amazing to have a piece of fi g-


ure skating history at my test session. I felt so confi dent and the test was my best ever. My family and friends who traveled to the test to support me said I looked so strong and graceful during each of the moves. One of the judges even told the test chair how much she enjoyed watching me on the ice. Terri was so proud of the marks I received. She also invited my family to her daughter’s graduation party, where I saw a large picture in her living room of her parents Danny and RoseAnne Ryan skating together. It was amazing how her family was able to keep going after this tragedy. Her mom kept coach- ing skaters in Lake Placid, N.Y., to earn money to support her family, while Terri hung out at the rink and made friends with some of the legends of the sport such as Dorothy Hamill. Both Terri and her sister are skating coaches, and they inspire a lot of young skaters like me to continue with the sport. My defi ning moment in skating so far is when I passed my juvenile moves-in-the-fi eld test and I realized how much hard work it takes


to achieve a goal that you have set for yourself. I understand the amount of dedication to the sport it takes to realize your personal goals. I was at the rink three to four days a week prac- ticing my juvenile moves in the fi eld. I worked hard, and passed my test, which was a major goal that I had set for myself. T e reason I skate is I truly love to skate.


T e answer is that simple. T at is what in- spires me to skate every week. I look forward to feeling the cold wind on my cheeks, doing spins until I have to stand to the side until the dizziness wears off , those few seconds where I defy gravity when I jump. I love to skate be- cause I love competing, testing, jumping, spin- ning, waiting for results, footwork, traveling, synchronized skating, new programs, skating friends, coaches, early morning hot chocolate, being the fi rst one at the rink for practice and the last one to leave, and everything else that comes with the sport I know and love. My coach Terri Ryan Sullivan, as well as the family members and skaters who lost a loved one or mentor in the 1961 plane crash, is a true inspiration to me and skaters like me who love the sport. It is people like her that show that even when tragic events happen, you can come back stronger than ever. She inspires me to try my best every time I lace up my skates and be proud of my eff orts. Even though tragic events happen “the end of one dream can give rise to another.”


I was inspired by a commercial


Jada A. Coward (PRELIMINARY WINNER)


One day we had just come in from being


out in the snow and we were sitting in the liv- ing room on my nanny’s couch watching Mon- sters, Inc., when a commercial came on for a movie titled Ice Princess. I told my nanny that


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