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Experience and heart combine on the York County Special Olympics figure skating team.
Sally Bowman, York County Special Olympics figure skating coach, is a seasoned former competitive skater who has coached competitively for more than three decades.
That experience has been a great advantage for two-year Special Olympics freelance skater Russell Green.
“I feel comfortable and relaxed on the ice,” said Green, 32, a member of the York County team.
Green had no skating experience two years ago, but now he glides on the ice, bending his knees and holding his arms in the proper position.
“He is a committed skater,” Bowman said. “He has progressed tremendously, and it’s in his heart that he wants to be there.”
Green has entered the freestyle competition as a level 1 skater.
“I’m looking forward to what I can do at level 1, and move to level 2 and maybe even 3 sometime down the road,” Green said.
Preliminary freestyle and dance figure skating rounds took place Monday at the War Memorial Arena.
Today, dozens of athletes from Pennsylvania counties – Bethlehem, Chester, Montgomery, Allegheny, Bucks and York – as well as skaters from Virginia are to enter the rink for the 2011 Special Olympic figure skating finals.
York Special Olympic skaters and coaches have spent every Monday evening for the past five months training at the York City Skating Rink.
“Coaching the Special Olympics is the most rewarding thing I have done,” Bowman said.
Bowman said she is lucky to have a strong group of volunteer coaches – all young competitive skaters – to assist her.
All 10 York Special Olympic skaters have an individual coach who has prepared them to execute moves including “crossovers,” “one-foot glides” and “snowplow stops.”
York volunteer coach Adriella Benner, 14, helped Green incorporate those moves into his
68-second routine that he will perform today at the War Memorial Arena during freelance skating finals.
“We had two or three weeks to practice with music,” Benner said. “It was a lot of work.”
Local News
Related Photos
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David Mulgrave of the Allegheny Region competes in figure skating Monday at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena in downtown Johnstown. Todd Berkey
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Brandon Eckert of Chester County crosses the finish line during a slalom event at Hidden Valley. John Rucosky
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