Team Tryouts! Come skate with Gotham City Synchro!

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Gotham City Synchro is inviting skaters to come practice and join the team at City Ice Pavilion, April 18, 2009. Its a wonderful opportunity for adult skaters to learn new skating skills and develop new friendships. For more details please contact coach Raegan Johnston at raeganjohnston@gmail.com

Gotham City Synchro will be performing at Wollman Rink in Central Park this Sunday April 5th at 6:00pm. 

2009-2010 Calendar

Competitions:

December 2009 - Terry Conners Classic, Stamford CT

January 2010 - Colonial Classic, Lowell MA

January 2010 - Eastern Synchronized Skating Sectional Championships, Lowell MA

Exhibitions:

March 2010 - Exhibition: Wollman Rink Central Park, NYC

2008-2009 Calendar

Competitions:

December 2008 - Terry Conners Classic, Stamford CT

January 2009 - Colonial Classic, Lowell MA

January 2009 - Eastern Synchronized Skating Sectional Championships, Morristown NJ

Exhibitions:

April 2009 - Exhibition,  Wollman Rink Central Park NYC

Other Events:

Spring 2009 - Synchro Skating Team Tryouts 

More About the Team

Synchronized Skating

Synchronized Skating - or "Synchro" is a team sport where 8-20 skaters perform a routine set to music.  Synchro routines include elements from freestyle, ice dance, and moves in the field. 
Gotham City Synchro competes in the Open Adult Division which is for teams with 8 to 12 skaters, the majority of whom are 19 years or older.  The program duration in this division is approximately 2 and 1/2 minutes.  According to the USFSA a well-balanced open adult program contains one block element, one circle element, one intersection element, one line element, and one wheel element.  Competitors in the Open Adult category are not expected to have passed any USFSA tests.  The average age of the Open Adult skater across the United States is 45 years of age.

Team History

Gotham City Synchro is a skater run organization that grew out of Women N Synch, an Open Adult Team founded and coached by Nina Newby. The team started skating together as Gotham City Synchro during the 2008-2009 season. The team skates for the Skating Club of New York. 

Practices 

The team practices 1-2 hours per week during the competitive season.  Practices consist of both on-ice and off ice work.  During our regular season, all skaters attend weekly, and before major competitions, bi-weekly, practice sessions. During the regular outdoor skating season our weekly practices are held at Wollman Rink in Central Park from 6AM-7AM on Wednesdays.  Additional practices are held at rinks throughout the region including Aviator, Skyrink, Ice Hutch, Mennen Arena, and Ice House Hackensack before our competitions.  Our scheduling philosophy is to always choose time and dates that require the least interference with our skater's work and family commitments. Fall indoor practices will start in mid September.  We anticipate having four to six weekend practice between September and October of 2009. 

Competitions 

The team selects 3-4 competitions to attend each year, in the 2009-2010 season we plan to compete at: Terry Connors Synchronized Skating OpenStamford, CT - December 6, 2009 The Colonial Classic Lowell, MA - January 2010 Eastern Sectionals Lowell, MA - January 2010 Lake Placid, NY - January 2011   

About the Skaters

Members of Gotham City Synchro are busy New York professionals working in law, the arts, education, finance, and fashion/design.  We range in age from 29 to 50+. Members skate for fun and the camaraderie of being on a team in what has traditionally been an individual sport. We have members who have passed Gold tests and are members of the PSA, and team members who took up skating as adults.

Coach 

Gotham City Synchro is coached by team member Raegan Johnston - lawyer by day, synchro coach at dawn.  Raegan grew up skating synchro in the great white north.

Join Us For The 2009-2010 Competitive Season.

Requirements: 

You must be a member of USFSA and The Skating Club of New York (special synchro memberships are available). Members must be able to be constructive and contributing members of our team. Our primary goals are to work hard, learn new skills, and have a great time. We welcome any new members who share these goals and can pursue them while working well with others. 

Skating level - Even though USFSA has no testing requirements for our division, all of our members can comfortably perform all the "well-balanced" program elements listed above.   Additionally, we continually work to expand our repertoire of synchro and general skating skills. 

Fitness - our program is 2:30 min, we skate hard, we skate repeats which is a great cardiovascular workout.  Additionally, we regularly hold off-ice practice.    

The Commitment: 

During our regular season, all skaters attend weekly, and before major competitions, bi-weekly, practice sessions. During the regular outdoor skating season our weekly practices are held at Wollman Rink in Central Park from 6AM-7AM on Wednesdays. Additional practices are held at rinks throughout the region including Aviator, Skyrink, Ice Hutch, Mennen Arena, and Ice House Hackensack before our competitions. Our scheduling philosophy is to always choose times and dates that require the least interference with our skater's work and family commitments. Fall indoor practices will start in mid September. We anticipate having four to six weekend practices between September and October of 2009.

Competitions - Our team traditionally competes at 3 events each season, one local - Terry Connors in Stamford, CT, and two away, the Colonial Classic in Lowell, MA, and Sectionals (which will be in Lowell, MA in 2010 and Lake Placid, NY in 2011). Team members are committing to being available and willing to travel to those three events. The team is considering adding a fourth event for the 2009-2010 season.

Pre-Season Training Outdoor Practices - February/March: After the 2008-2009 competitive season concludes on January 31, we will continue to skate outdoors until the close of the Wollman rink season - this typically happens in late March Practices will be drill heavy and focus on synchro technique and elements to be incorporated into next year's program 
Pre-Season Training Indoor Workshops - April/May: We will be holding 4 indoor synchro workshops (dates/location TBD) for current team members and prospective team members Workshops will focus on power skating, general skating skills, and synchro skating skills. 

Team Meeting - each year in the Spring we hold a team meeting/potluck dinner where we choose our music for the upcoming season, brainstorm costume ideas, and work through logistics for the upcoming season. This years meeting was April 16th. 
Summer - enjoy the summer, skate on your own (or not), but stay in shape. Team members sometimes skate together informally, but team practices will not be held June - August.

Financial: 

Dues - (excluding costumes, team wear, and competition travel) were $100 pp per skating month for the 2008-2009 season. Dues are determined based on the number of skaters committing to the season and the cost of competition entry and ice time.

Travel budget - if you're willing to share a room, our away competitions generally run $100-$120 pp (one night in a hotel, gas, and food), and if you happen to have friends in Lowell, MA - much less. 

Costumes - philosophy...we are lucky enough to have an experienced costume maker on our team. For the past two seasons we have had our dresses custom designed to fit our program (2008-2009 program is set to music from the HBO John Adams mini-series and our costumes are based on our interpretation of revolutionary war uniforms). All of our dresses are designed to be flattering and age-appropriate, and can be altered and used for testing or freestyle competitions. General team philosophy is to do what things we can, ourselves.  

To that end,in the past, team members who have the skills have taken on the responsibility for tasks like music splicing, costume design, web design etc.. Not only does this save us money, but it lets everyone have a hand in our success! 

Join! Send an e-mail to raeganjohnston@gmail.com to arrange to attend one of our pre-season outdoor practices or indoor workshops. Your first skate with us is free!