It is coming to 8 years since Lil Shauna picked up ice skating, from the little girl who wore Disney print leggings to the young lady today. While there are many more talented skaters, she progresses at her own pace and earned her own achievements. I couldn't be more proud of her and enjoy tremendously watching her on ice.
Lil Shauna passed her Elementary test in January 21. To compete in Elementary level and above competitions, the skaters have to 1st pass the test. Each level requires a specific element to be mastered and the element gets more and more difficult. It was the camel spin in Elementary. I still remembered how she struggled with it and had to re-do the spin to get her pass. It had been a year. She even had the chance to compete once in the Elementary competition.
I see these tests as a double-edged sword. While passing the test is like an advancement, once a skater passed the test, they are not allowed to compete in the easier level competition. I always think that there are skaters who purposely don't take the test, even if they are ready, so that they can partake in the lower level competition and be really good at it. My wild guesses lah.
Anyway, Basic Novice is the next level for Lil Shauna. She needed to perform an axle in this level. While she has gotten her axle a long time back, it has to be part of a 2 min 30 sec (+/- 10 sec) program and program takes time to learn and perfect. We didn't rush into it and finally registered for the yday's test.
Lil Shauna hurt her ankle last week during netball and it didn't seem to fully recover. Ya, I know how injured ankles are extra fragile during the recovery stage. To prep for the test, she has also put in extra self practices and that didn't help the recovery. #lifeofsportspersons
Fortunately, she was able to press on for the test, which took place at 8.30pm last evening.
The skaters were encouraged to don their costume but Lil Shauna didn't want to and claimed that most wouldn't wear theirs. She was heading to the rink straight from school and her mummy would lug her skates and stuff from home. Mummy knows best and I brought her costumes nevertheless, for just in case.
The moment she reaches the rink, it was a floor of skaters in their fanciful costumes. Zzzzzz. I tell you, all skaters are looking forward to the rare chances where they can wear their costumes and dance on the whole ice lor.
Peer pressure and Lil Shauna changed into her costume too, all the while complaining about how uncomfortable they are. She has always hated how the costume clings to her. I had thought that growing into the teenager phase and transiting into mini crop top would help. Apparently not.
We were all a bunch of nerves and this was the only photo I had of her.
I don't know the rule but the skaters started entering the ice to warm up at about 8pm. So we followed the crowd, though the test instructions said that the tests would start at 8.30pm with 5 mins of warm up. The ice was so crowded - skaters taking classes and skaters coming for the test.
The tests started on time. The ice was not cleared; classes continued, skaters with their warm up too. However, all were aware to stay clear of the "star skater" taking the test to ensure minimal disruption.
Lil Shauna was 6th in the queue and had plenty of time to warm up. I was actually worried that she would be too tired to execute her program but she did just fine. All the while, I was just as nervous as she was, hoping that she would execute the elements well. She was ahead of her music for the 1st part of her program. She said that she was too nervous and forgot to pace herself and had to try to pace out in the 2nd part of her program.
The test result was released immediately. Right after the program, the skaters would go to the marker to hear the verdict. I saw Lil Shauma panting through her mask and nodding her head. She passed! Hohoho.
She limped back after exiting the ice and whined in pain about how she landed awkwardly on her last lutz jump, experienced a shot of excruciating pain and had to grind her teeth to complete the last bit of her program. Ouch! I asked her what did the marker said, something about the lutz jump not executed well and the exit for one of the spins not done properly but she couldn't care more bcos she passed!
So what is next? There is a competition coming up in March/ April, depending on covid situation. She could use the same program for the competition, adding on more difficult elements to increase the technical scores. I bet Coach already had that in mind. Lil Shauna said that she is not keen, that she would be too stress trying to cope with CCA and CA1. I had asked her to think about it before deciding.
Mummy Lim