News Team Boulder

Issue date: 3/10/09 Section: Sports

Boots and blades are costly for CU Skaters

While most students are still asleep in the comfort of their beds, you will find the CU Synchronized Skating club hard at work on the ice before the sun has a chance to rise. In synchronized skating, 8-20 people are on the ice at one time, skating in unison. As a non-traditional sport, the team struggles to get ice time in the heavy schedule of hockey and broom ball. But the dedicated ladies return twice a week in the mornings to practice their many different routines together.

This unique club on campus has found it difficult to recruit new members and retain old ones in recent years. Due to a lack of funding, each member is essentially on their own, paying as much as $2,000 for expenses.

"It's super expensive. Just my blades were like $650 I think? I have custom boots, so, you know, my total bill for my skates were like right at $1,200, I think. It was ridiculous," said club skater Priscila Seal.

Additionally, the club is only given ice time from 6-8am. This makes it difficult to recruit.

"We're building up from the ground. We have a small group of skaters. There are a lot of skaters in Colorado, but it's hard to find them, and it's a lot of work," said senior Libby Boscoe. "Once you get to college, people don't really want to commit that kind of time."

Relatively new to Colorado, CU's Synchronized Skating Club was reinstated 3 years ago. But with the financial costs and few resources available, the team is searching for new ways to bring together fellow figure skaters. Utilizing social networking site like Facebook, the club is hoping to reach larger numbers of potential members, adding a new twist to club recruitment.

The team's next performance is Friday night during the Rage Hockey Game halftime show. Events will kick off at 7pm at the Broomfield Events Center.

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