For the love of the game Skaters persevere in face of major injuries BY LEXI ROHNER


Editor’s note: As in any sport, injuries are part of the game. This trio of ladies have demonstrated a resilience and dedication to the sport they love despite signifi cant injury setbacks.


DR. DALE JARKA, 58 KANSAS CITY, KANSAS CITY FSC, GOLD DANCE (SKATE CANADA)


For the last decade, Dr. Dale Jarka has dealt with hip is-


sues that have made her lifelong love of skating even more challenging. But despite these setbacks, she continues to skate twice a week, take dance tests and meet a demand- ing surgical schedule of her own. A pediatric orthopedic surgeon in Kansas City, Jarka


had surgery to halt the progression of degenerative hip arthritis on both hips. “I recovered quickly from the tidying-up surgeries,”


Jarka said. “However, I eventually needed total hip replace- ments.” The fi rst hip replacement occurred in 2010, and it took


her eight months to recover. The second replacement, in 2012, took even longer for her to mend. During both recov- ery periods, however, Jarka returned to the ice weeks after surgery and pushed herself to get stronger and more agile. “Skating is more challenging with a lack of nerve end-


ings that feel pain and provide kinesthetic sense,” Jarka said. “Artifi cial hips don’t provide that input to my brain. Balance and fi nesse moves on one leg are more challeng- ing now.” Jarka has been a bronze dance judge for 17 years and


plans to pursue judging after retirement. Her goal is to complete the U.S. Figure Skating adult gold dance test. She completed her Skate Canada gold test at age 37 while liv- ing in Kansas City. She began skating at 12 with her best friend. “I remember living in anticipation of Friday afternoon


when I could skate at our fl edgling club in Lasalle, Quebec,” said Jarka, who relocated to Kansas City in 1992. “It’s my physical and emotional outlet, and completely diff erent from my profession.” Jarka completed her senior silver (pre-gold) dance test


during her fellowship in Toronto, Canada. “Try as I did,” Jarka said, “I was unable to fi nish my four


gold dances prior to moving.” Jarka understood the reciprocity between the two na-


tional organizations, requiring that a gold level or higher skater only be required to repeat the last completed level. Not wanting to start over at the Dutch Waltz, Jarka prac- ticed in Kansas City and fl ew to Toronto and Montreal to test monthly during the subsequent two years.


NINA PETERSON, 62 KIRKLAND, WASHINGTON, KINGSGATE SKATING CLUB


ADULT MASTERS NOVICE, GOLD DANCE Nina Peterson underwent surgery in 2008 to repair a


torn labrum, followed by a total hip replacement in June 2013. And while Peterson’s love for skating remains, she admits her strength and mobility are not yet at pre-2013 injury levels. “Skating provides the motivation to stay consistent


with my off -ice training,” Peterson said. “I follow the exper- tise of my physical therapist and trainer.” Particular challenges with her groin, hamstring and ad-


ductor have hindered Peterson’s progress, but not enough to keep her from enjoying skating.


32 OCTOBER 2015 “I am learning to dance again, competing in gold solo,


testing the rhumba and maybe international dances,” said Peterson, who is also a skating judge. “Skating means I am me again. I didn’t realize what a hole the absence of skat- ing left until I came back.” Prior to her 2013 injury, Peterson had planned to con-


tinue competing in masters junior free skate. Peterson, a retired speech-language pathologist who


skates fi ve days a week for one to two hours at a time, said, “I love the choreographic freedom a long program allows. Now I don’t have a decent spiral, my spin repertoire is lim- ited, and I have arthritis in my landing knee, but I still enjoy being out on the ice.” Peterson skated and competed in the late 1960s, never


intending to stop. But work and family became priorities and skating took a backseat. In 2002, Peterson told her ter- minally ill father that she had gone to a public session. “He wanted to see me skate again, so his caregiver bundled him up and brought him to the rink,” Peterson said.


This became a weekly routine for her father and grad-


ually more for Peterson. The most notable thing for Peter- son since returning to skating is her connection to her de- ceased parents. “The skating people are the only people I know that


knew my parents, who had been active volunteers,” Peter- son said.


TRACY RINEBERG, 31 PHOENIX, COYOTES SKATING CLUB OF ARIZONA


ADULT SILVER FREE SKATE, PRE-SILVER DANCE Tracy Rineberg returned to skating in college as a way


to exercise and have fun with friends. A few years later, however, she suff ered a right knee injury while skating, which required surgery to remove the back half of her kneecap to repair bone tendon and cartilage damage. “Physical therapy felt like it was never going to end


and lasted for months,” said Rineberg, who is serving a three-year club board term. “I had to relearn how to use my leg muscles correctly, as injury had prevented them from working properly for so long.” Once-easy maneuvers, simple edges and turns proved


diffi cult as she sought to regain confi dence on the ice. Four years later, with a law degree in hand, Rineberg


returned to her old form. “Skating is my creative outlet, stress relief and a chal-


lenge to do and learn new things,” Rineberg, an estate planning, probate and trust attorney, said. Unfortunately, Rineberg suff ered yet another inju-


ry shortly before the 2015 Pacifi c Coast Adult Sectionals, when the bone below her left knee cracked and bruised after a fall in the jump harness. Though she still competed, Rineberg realizes her


body’s limitations and is focused now on cross-training and managing pain. “My orthopedic doctor understands the athlete men-


tality,” Rineberg said. “He off ers guidance on what I can do, which I try to follow. I’d like to prevent reinjury.” Rineberg has been left feeling that her goals are mov-


ing further out of reach, but remains positive. “I’ve been able to return and get stronger,” Rineberg,


who has cochaired club competitions and will chair the 2017 Southwest Pacifi c Regionals, said “It means more now since I had to go without skating for so long.”


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