By Joey Diehl ’15 | Director of Photography

Waking up to dark skies at 5 am to get to the ice arena by 6, this is what a morning is like for a figure skater.

“Any student from GPN or GPS that is enrolled in a figure skating club or basic skills program can join our program,” said head coach Shelly Rosinski.

There are not any specific requirements beyond being part of a figure skating club or basic skills program, Rosinski said. The skaters are divided into 3 different teams based on their test level and skill.

“It is a varsity sport for both North and South students, and the schools both are supportive of the team,” said Rosinski.  “The team can also be coed, although we don’t have any boys currently.”

 Rosinski is strongly encouraging anyone who has an interest in joining the team, saying it’s a great experience to be involved in a team sport for Grosse Pointe.

“The team is very dedicated and supportive of each other,” said Rosinski. “There is some skating background and enrollment necessary but it doesn’t matter your level, it’s fun to skate for the GP unified team.”

Figure skating competitions aren’t scored like a regular sport.

“There are 3 groups of elements — Jumps, Spins, and Moves.  Within each group there are 4 elements.  Each team chooses one skater for to perform each element.  The judges rate the elements and give an overall team placement for the entire group of elements,” said Rosinski.  “At the end of the competition, the team is given an overall placement.  If by the end of the 3 competitions they accumulate an overall placement of 1,2, or 3, the team advances to the State Championship.”

All the girls are great and really laid back,  Kit Ellsi ‘15 said. Ellsi started  figure skating through the learn to skate in group classes which she now teaches. Once someone finishes all those, they can join the club.

Ellsi gave her reasoning to joining the figure skating team due to what she saw as a lack of performance in other sports, often more athletic based and not skill based.

“I also make figure skating dresses in my free time,” said Ellsi. “I buy plain dresses then I’ll dye them and once that sets I embellish them and sell them online.”

Celeste Joyce ‘16 said her favorite part about figure skating is the happiness and joy that comes with all the hard work and time spent in the cold ice rink.

“At competitions you only get one shot, and when you own it and know you have done it the best you could have, that’s the moment that makes this sport so special, the moments where you realize the hard work has paid off,” said Joyce.

“We all warm up doing our individual elements  (what we’ll be performing in competition) and then the coach examines how we’re doing,” said Ellsi.

Joyce says the figure skating team is great for any girls looking to get a varsity letter, although very time consuming as well.

“We all get along well and have tons of fun at practices and competition,” said Joyce, “the emphasis is fun.”