It’s Competition Season!
Don’t Exclude Any Skaters! By Courtney Fecske
Cheer on the competitors
Tuesday, May 24, 2022 COMPETITOR REGISTRATION DEADLINE
April 10, 2022
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s the competition season is in high gear, it is a great time to remind competitions, coaches, parents, and skaters that our competitions are for all skaters! Do not forget that we have many exciting and challenging competition events for skaters with disabilities.
Adaptive Skating as an athletic as well as an artistic event. It provides quality, wholesome entertainment for the entire family. While other professional competitions include skaters by invitation only, the U.S. Open gives all professional skaters a chance to perform and compete. The 2022 U.S. Open will feature one event, consisting of men’s, ladies, pairs, dance, specialty act and group, and will be judged based on “total performance” with an eye to costuming, presentation, music selectin, choreography, style and technique. Programs will focus on entertainment rather than technical skill. The four winners will be revealed live at the conclusion of the U.S. Open Championships on May 24. The Grand Champion will be presented with a beautiful award plus a cash prize of $2,500.00 USD. Three other special awards will be determined by our judging panel along with a cash prize of $1,000.00 USD each. The Grand Champion will also be given the opportunity to perform with Ice Theatre of New York (ITNY) at a date and time TBD. Thank you for your continued support of the PS Foundation.
Skaters who have any kind of disability may choose to compete through adaptive competition events which include both assisted and unassisted events. Adaptive skating is the umbrella term and includes all skaters with disabilities. Assisted events mean that a skater can use a walker, wheelchair, or another skater to assist with their program. Unassisted means that the skater is competing without additional assistance but still within the adaptive skating guidelines. The adaptive skating program guidelines can be found within the Compete USA Manual. There are Adaptive levels 2-12 which include a list of elements that can be used to create a free skate program for a maximum of one minute and ten seconds with music or for a compulsory event without music.
Special Olympics
Special Olympics competition events are for skaters with intellectual disabilities and may be offered at U.S. Figure Skating sanctioned events or Special Olympics skating events. Well-balanced program information can be found in the Compete USA Manual and include Badges levels 1-12 for elements to be completed within a one minute and ten second maximum program with music. Special Olympics skaters can also compete in free skate, pairs, and ice dance with the specific guidelines also found within the Compete USA Manual. Special Olympics has their own manual that can be referenced on the Special Olympics Figure Skating website.
Skate United
Skate United is for skaters with physical disabilities. This is the newest set of opportunities for skaters with physical disabilities so some competition hosts, coaches, parents, and skaters may still need to learn about this option. Skate United skaters can choose to compete within any standard well-balanced event with the same guideline requirements but within a separate group for only Skate United skaters. These events should be streamlined into the competition, but skaters will have their own group. All Skate United events currently are under the 6.0 judging system. The Adaptive Skating Subcommittee is hard at work to support the implementation of a classification system that will work in conjunction with IJS in the next few seasons.
Skating Accommodation Memorandum
Regardless of the adaptive skating events that best support your skater it is also important to share about the Skating Accommodation Memorandum (S.A.M.). The S.A.M. supports reasonable accommodations for skaters for both competition and testing. How this process works is that the skater or skater’s parent, depending on the skater’s age, will complete the S.A.M. Request form and sent it to the clinical review team composed of allied medical professionals with skating experience and knowledge. The S.A.M. clinical team reviews the request and determines appropriate accommodations for both testing and competition. These accommodations are sent for review to both the competition and testing committees for feedback. Once approved, the S.A.M. is drafted and the clinical team meets with the skater, skater’s parents, and coach as appropriate to discuss continued on page 37
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