Bracknell Ice Skating Club Newsletter - November 2004

Synchro's Signs of Improvement

BISC's two synchronised teams made a very positive start to the 2004-5 competition season when they competed at Nottingham on October 10 in the first qualifier for the British Championships.

Both teams skated clean programmes and their coaches, David Phillips and Lucine Chakmakjian, were very pleased with their performances which were much improved on their skates at the club gala just 10 days earlier.

Fusion beat Nottingham to win gold in the junior event while Ice Precise won bronze when it finished third behind Nottingham and Basingstoke in the novice event.

The teams are now working on improving the quality and speed of their skating in preparation for the next qualifier at iceSheffield on November 21 and the British Championships on January 23.

Fusion is also preparing for an ISU international in Milan, Italy, on February 10 when it will need to finish in the top two or three places to qualify for the junior world championships.

Skating for Fusion were: Amy Barnes, Kasia Bielska, Gemma Cross (vice captain), Stephanie Francis, Rebecca Fraser, Sian Grimsey, Laura Hartley, Lucy Heap, Rachel Heap, Becky Highcock, Laura Highcock, Sara Holroyd, (captain), Charlotte King, Katherine Loades-Bannon, Susie Race, Alison Ryder, Jo Simms (vice-captain), Alex Smith, Kirsten Smith and Lyndsey Steere.

Skating for Ice Precise were: Amy Barnes, Charlotte Briddon, Charlotte Brooke, Stephanie Francis, Rebecca Fraser, Laura Hartley (vice-captain), Rachel Heap, (vice captain), Becky Highcock, Laura Highcock, Charlotte King (captain), Katherine Loades-Bannon, Rebecca Loades-Bannon, Susie Race, Alison Ryder, Hayley Salmon, Alex Smith and Olivia Wessendorf.

Parents Must Help Club Keep Its Reputation, AGM Told

Everyone associated with the club must work together to ensure BISC maintains its excellent reputation for staging major events, club chairman Roy Welham told the club's annual meeting on October 13.

Reporting another successful year, Roy said: “As chairman I am very proud to be associated with a club that is so successful in all the various disciplines of figure skating and in all age groups.”

The club's two Open competitions had both attracted record entries. But the particularly large numbers taking part had meant a lot of extra work for the club's committee members: “It requires other members of the club to help out to make it all run smoothly.”

BISC was renowned for its good organisation and facilities and must ensure these high standards continued.

The club's skaters had also continued to achieve success in Open competitions and the top skaters had represented the club in championships and internationals. Kira Geil and Andrew Smykowski, Tamsyn Pack and Richard Boaden, Rebecca Forsyth and Christopher Hockaday, Sarah Johnson, Simon Waller and John Horne must be congratulated.

Commenting on the change in day and time of the club's main session for the coming season, Roy said: “We had very little say in it until it was put to us at a very late date. All the various users of the ice want more time and of course it always comes down to profitability which we cannot always meet. But as a club that has been at the rink since the beginning, we have a good standing.”

The club continued to press for a second pad which would help in getting the amount of ice the club required: “So far the financial argument wins, but we can only hope.”

The club hoped to host the 2005 National Team Challenge although Lee Valley and Basingstoke also wanted it: “Our offer is pretty good so we will continue to fight our corner on this one,” Roy said. But he warned that, if the club did stage the event, a lot of help would be needed from older club members and the parents of younger ones to put on an event which everyone could be proud of.

Treasurer, Gill Groves, reported that the club was in a strong financial position, having made a profit of £4813. It had been a good year for fundraising with skate sales contributing £867 while the success of the two Opens had created a profit of £2730 and subscriptions had added £2710 to the coffers. Taking part in team competitions had cost £1364 while club competitions had cost £225 and the gala £242.

All four officers were re-elected - Roy Welham as chair, Laura Hetebrij as vice-chair, Rosemary Rogers as secretary and Gill Groves as treasurer.

Sue Truby was re-elected as competitions organiser, Scott Waller as publicity coordinator, Sacha Hartley and Sally King as synchro representatives, Gail Tudor as membership secretary, Christine Piggott as trophies secretary, Pat Watson as secondhand sales organiser, Leah Rogers and Richard Boaden as junior representatives and Ian Turner with responsibility for the website. Elaine Callaghan was also re-elected. Toni Barrett, Allison Brown, Karen Dredge, Janice Morris and Sue Simmonds were newly elected.

More members will take on further responsibilities at the committee's meeting on November 18. The full list will appear in the club handbook.


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