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"Scatena LaFuria!" Unleash the Fury!

Contributed by: Linda Bolander on 2/21/2008

Over 80 skaters from the Promenade Ice Centre in Westminster met teams from the Pacific Coast and Midwest regions for the 2008 Sectional Synchronized Skating Championships in Nashville, Tennessee. On February 1st and 2nd, six LaFuria teams dug into the ice and gave their best performances to date, bringing home medals, passes to the national competition in Rhode Island, and many happy memories.

So far, this was the largest group from the Ice Centre to compete at this level. Debbie Minter, director and founder of the teams, says that out of all six performances, there was only one fall. "And it was a grueling schedule. We've never taken this many skaters and only had five coaches. But each team skated better than ever, and now we have two teams going to Nationals at the end of February. Our growing pains are over."

Not only did the teams skate well, but there were two that no one thought would exist. The Open Adult and Pre-Juvenile teams started out with so few members in the summer that no one imagined they would form. Jamy Wetzle Little, one of the coaches for both teams, says, "Not only did they surprise us by attracting enough members to compete, both teams did very well. Pre-Juvenile took 6th and the Open Adult won the silver medal. This is the first year for them both, and that's saying a lot."

The Open Juvenile team, under head coach Little, put their competitors on notice with a 4th place finish. Even though four of the ten members have never skated synchro before, they beat three other teams for the medal.

The two teams that will go on to Nationals February 20-23 are Masters and Novice. The Masters team, coached by Stefano Stangalini and Debbie Minter, won the silver medal with its "The Night" themed dance music number, and the Novice team skated to tunes from "Guys and Dolls." The Novices, coached by Minter and Little, scored a solid six points above their personal best. Minter says, "Most teams beat their best by one or two points, so this is a huge improvement."

Stangalini says his team is working extra hard over the next few weeks to polish their program even more. "I can tell you this," he says. "We are going to show what we are made of. This team is pumped up, and we're going to rock Providence."

After Nationals, the teams will perform in the Ice Centre show in the spring, and will also be scouting the metro area for new members. Next year will bring many changes to the teams, and may even see a Junior level team added if there is enough interest. "And it doesn't need to stop at the metro area," says Minter. "Right now we have members from as far away as Monument and Breckenridge. So no matter where you're from, there is probably a car pool going to the Ice Centre on practice nights."

La Furia will begin holding open house sessions during regular practices for potential members starting in April. Then in late April and early May they will begin auditions for all levels of skaters. If you want to join now, though, you can always check with Coach Minter--the teams are always open to accepting new skaters mid-season.

If you are interested in joining one of the La Furia teams, check out their website at www.lafuriasynchro.com, or email the team at skatelafuria@gmail.com. For more information on skating programs at the Ice Centre, call (303) 469-2100.
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Linda Bolander is a member of the La Furia Open Adult team.


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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Linda Bolander

Northglenn , CO

Linda Bolander has posted 69 stories and 0 comments since joining on 1/17/2008. Linda Bolander 's average story rating is 5.
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