Essex Skating Club

The Essex Skating Club (also known as ESC and Essex SC of NJ) is a figure skating club based at Richard J. Codey Arena in West Orange, New Jersey. The club has teams and over 300 skaters who compete in many national competitions.

Essex Skating Club
Formation1954 (1954)
HeadquartersRichard J. Codey Arena
Location
President
Sally Saul

History

The Essex Skating Club was formed in 1954 at the Shady Brook outdoor rink in Livingston, New Jersey and it was sanctioned by U.S. Figure Skating in January 1955. The club moved from Livingston to Essex County's rink at the South Mountain Arena in West Orange. With the renovation in 2005 to modernize the arena, the club's home base was reopened with modern facility and the new name, Richard J. Codey Arena. Currently there are more than 300 members including 10 Synchro teams and 1 Theatre on Ice team.[1]

Skaters

Currently there are more than 300 skaters at the Essex Skating Club. Skaters who competed at national or international competitions include:

  • Lynn Biot-Gordon, 2005 US Adult Nationals competitor and 2006 National Adult Figure Skating Championships Silver Medalist[2][3]
  • Stephanie Casagrande, 2012 US Preliminary Solo Ice Dance Champion[4]
  • Anya Davidovich & Ivan Gyliaev, 2009 National Showcase champion.[5][6] Davidovich later became an Olympian representing Israel in the 2014 Winter Olympics.[7]
  • Dana Grant, 2010 National Showcase competitor[8]
  • Tori Mueller, Sabrina Oudine, and Stacey Su skated with the Skyliners at the 2012 Synchronized Skating Junior World Challenge Cup in Gothenburg, Sweden[9]
  • Olivia Yao, 2009 National Showcase medalist[5]
  • Katharine Zeigler, 2009-2011 US Figure Skating Championships competitors[10]

Coaches at the club are among national and world competitors. Notable coaches include:[11]

  • Kay Barsdell, 1974-1978 member of British, European and World Team. 1976 Olympian.[12]
  • Oleg Bliakhman, 1982 Junior Worlds Silver Champion[13]
  • Ken Foster, 1974-1978 member British, European and World Team[14]
  • JoJo Starbuck, 1968-1972 Worlds competitors and two-time medalist. 1968 and 1972 Olympian.

Teams

The Synchroettes
Main article: Synchroettes (synchronized skating teams)

The Synchroettes is a group of synchronized skating teams of ESC. Currently the group consists of 10 teams from Beginner to Junior with 180 skaters.[15] The Synchroettes teams won in many regional competitions and competed in national competitions for many years. They also performed in many public appearances and participated in community service skating events such as Toys for Tots and a show to benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure.[16] In 2010, its Juvenile team won the gold medal of the 2010 U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[17] The success of the Essex Skating Club's synchronized skating teams was recognized by the U.S. Figure Skating in its publication, Guide to Basic Skills and Beginner Synchronized Skating, as one of the two featured clubs to inspire skating clubs around the U.S. to start a basic skills/beginner synchronized skating program.[18]

In 2012, the Junior-level team of Synchroettes was selected by the U.S. Figure Skating to be part of the Team USA for 2012-13 season to compete in Leon Lurje Trophy international competition in Sweden.[19] The team won a bronze medal in the competition.[20]

The founder and the head coach of the Synchroettes - Geri Lynch Tomich.

The Essex Blades

The Essex Blades is the adult synchronized skating team of the club. The team has been competing nationally in the Masters division at the U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships. The team placed 6th at the 2011 Championships.[21]

Bravo!

Bravo! is a group of the Theatre on Ice (TOI) teams of ESC and the first TOI group in NJ. As of January 2016, it is the only NJ team among almost 50 teams in the US.[22] In 2011, the team became pewter medalist for the Novice division at the US National Theatre on Ice Competition.[23] In 2012, the team became national silver medalist for the novice division at the US National Theatre on Ice competition in Strongsville, Ohio.[24] In 2012, the team was selected by US Figure Skating to be one of the two novice teams to represent the United States at the 2013 Nations Cup in Spain, and placed 9th out of 11 teams worldwide.[25]

In 2013, there were two teams in preliminary and novice levels. The preliminary team was a national pewter medalist and the novice team was a national silver medalist for the 2013 US National Theatre on Ice competition in Troy, Ohio.[26][27]

Other activities

The Essex Skating Club has sponsored many skating events and clinics featuring famous skaters such as Olympic medalists[28] and Disney on Ice skaters.[29] It also hosts annual competition Winter ESCapade sanctioned by U.S. Figure Skating in January with competitors from clubs along the Northern parts of the East coast.[1][30]

References
  1. About ESC Archived 2012-01-13 at the Wayback Machine,Essex Skating Club - accessed January 8, 2012
  2. 2005 U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships Archived 2016-02-01 at the Wayback Machine, US Figure Skating - accessed January 8, 2012
  3. Villager Lynn Biot-Gordon skates to silver in adult nationals Archived 2011-12-01 at the Wayback Machine, The South Orange Gaslight, June 2006 - accessed January 8, 2012
  4. "2012 National Solo Dance Championship Preliminary Solo Pattern Dance Championship Final Standings" (PDF). US Figure Skating. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  5. 2009 National Showcase, Skating Magazine, October 2009, p.60 - accessed January 8, 2012
  6. Stand Up for Life Cast, skatingfantasy.com - accessed January 8, 2012
  7. "Andrea DAVIDOVICH". ISU. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  8. National Showcase 2010 Archived 2010-10-12 at the Wayback Machine, New England InterClub Council - accessed January 8, 2012
  9. Richard J. Codey Arena Newsletter - Mid-January 2012 Issue - accessed January 12, 2012
  10. 2011 U.S. Figure Skating Championships - Championship Dance, US Figure Skating, January 29, 2011 - accessed January 8, 2012
  11. Coaches at ESC, Essex Skating Club - accessed January 8, 2012
  12. Kay Barsdell, Sports-Reference.com - accessed January 8, 2012
  13. Figure Skating - World Junior Figure Skating Championships 1982-1983, The-sports.org - accessed January 8, 2012
  14. Kenneth Foster, Sports-Reference.com - accessed January 8, 2012
  15. About Us Archived 2011-09-25 at the Wayback Machine, Synchroettes - accessed January 16, 2012
  16. Synchroettes impress at number of skating events, UNION COUNTY LOCALSOURCE, February 11, 2010 - accessed January 16, 2012
  17. Synchroettes, Team Del Sol win at U.S. Synchros, Ice Network, March 4, 2010 - accessed January 16, 2012
  18. U.S. Figure Skating’s Guide to Basic Skills and Beginner Synchronized Skating, US Figure Skating - accessed January 16, 2012
  19. "2012-13 INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION SEASON ASSIGNMENTS/RESULTS". U.S. Figure Skating. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  20. "Results". Leon Lurje Trophy. Archived from the original on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  21. 2011 US Synchronized Championships Archived 2012-02-02 at the Wayback Machine, Cleveland Edges Skating Club - accessed January 16, 2012
  22. U.S. FIGURE SKATING 2009-2010 THEATRE ON ICE, US Figure Skating, May 10, 2010 - accessed January 8, 2012
  23. 2001 US National Theatre on Ice Competition - Results, Yarmouth Ice Club - accessed January 15, 2012
  24. "5th Annual National Theatre on Ice Competition Novice Final Standings" (PDF). The Greater Cleveland Council of Figure Skating Clubs. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 July 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  25. "The N'Ice Ballet, bronze medal at the Nations Cup Ice Ballet Logroño 2013". Barcelona. 30 April 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  26. "2013 National TOI Competition Preliminary Final Standings" (PDF). Troy Skating Club. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  27. "2013 National TOI Competition Novice Final Standings" (PDF). Troy Skating Club. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  28. Announcing a Clinic with Olympic Gold medalist Oksana Bauil Archived 2012-07-08 at Archive.today, ESC, June 22, 2011 - accessed January 16, 2012
  29. VIDEO: Disney on Ice Skaters Come to Essex County, Bloomfield Patch, January 12, 2012 - accessed January 16, 2012
  30. THE WINTER ESCAPADE 2012 Archived 2013-04-16 at Archive.today,US Figure Skating - accessed January 8, 2012

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