Skaters shine on the ice

The Central Gauteng Figure Skating Association hosted their annual provincial championships for the year and it was held at the Northgate Ice Rink in Johannesburg and featured skaters from the Gauteng Province on 10 and 11 April.

Lizelle Kolaja, public relations, marketing and fundraising for Central Gauteng Provincial Championships, explained that there were two streams of skating – national and non-national and that the national skaters were going to the South African National Championships in May to be held in Cape Town.

She explained that the competition had different rules for the different skating categories in which the skaters participated.

“In the juvenile sections the skater must not have reached the age of ten before 1 July preceding the competition and the skater must have passed the skating skills Level 1 test, which comprises of several jumps and spins as outlined in the technical guidelines,” Kolaja explained. She added that the skaters had one free skate program in a time frame of 00:2:25, performed to music of their choice. She added that the winners of the following categories would be going to the SA National Championships in Cape Town in May: juvenile girls, pre-novice girls, novice girls and the junior women.

Juvenile Section winners:

First – India Maclare

Second – Tholakele Langa

Third – Kirsty Goodall.

Kolaja added that the pre-novice section contained two programmes that were independently judged and separately scored, namely the artistic programme and the free skate programme. The free skate programme determined the winner of this section. “The skater must have reached the age of ten but not the age of thirteen (13) before the 1 July preceding the competition and in this section the skater must have passed the skating skills Level two test, which comprises of several jumps and spins as outlined in the technical guidelines. One must be a forward take-off Axel type jump,”she further explained..

Pre-Novice Section winners:

First – Samantha Croker

Second –Tusani Nhleko

Third – Caylee Benson.

In the novice women’s section Kolaja said that the skater must have reached the age of ten but not the age of 15 before the 1 July preceding the competition and that the skater must have passed the skating skills level three test.

Novice Women winners:

First – Tannith Brand

Second – Tallulah Memani

Third – Mariëlle Kolaja.

Kolaja added that the junior women’s section is where the skater must have passed the skating skills level four test. These skaters have to do double and triple jumps, which requires rotating in the air three times before landing on one foot.

Junior Women winners:

First – Justine Croker

Second – Natasha Schmidt.

Related Article:

Central Gauteng Provincial Championships 2015 

Details: Lizelle Kolaja, 082 682 6476

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