December 05, 2023
Paige Haehlke
Hailey Holtzman ’26 leads effort to launch figure skating team
The moment Hailey Holtzman ’26 spotted the College’s skating rink during her first campus visit, she knew she wanted to start a figure skating team. One year later as a first-year student, she advocated for and led the effort to create the team, which competed for the first time this November.
Holtzman, a sophomore and education and history double-major, has been skating since the age of eight. Having a love for the artistry and athleticism of the sport, she aimed to continue skating in her college career. During the spring of her first year at the College, she approached one of her instructors, Christine Walker ’89, and asked for her guidance on advocating for the team.
“She knows a lot about how to make the change you want to see,” Holtzman said. “I approached her for help in her capacity as a political advocate.”
She was directed to Mike Raymond, Assistant Athletic Director and Director of Facility Operations, and met with him throughout the spring of 2023. Raymond asked Holtzman to create a budget plan for the team, and together they discussed travel and practice details and finalized logistics. Over the summer break, Holtzman received confirmation that the team was going to happen, although it would be on a trial basis. The team will be reevaluated at the end of this academic year.
“The athletic department has been pleased with how it’s been going,” Raymond said. “If we feel like the team was in and out of the rink when they were supposed to be, if they’re respectful, if they’re practicing, then we would have to give strong consideration to continuing it.”
The level of dedication and leadership that Holtzman has shown makes a strong case for keeping the team as a permanent fixture of the College.
“Hailey's done a tremendous amount of work to get this up and running,” Raymond said. “It’s not every year you have that type of commitment. The work that she's done to get it off the ground and the way everybody came together to make it happen has been impressive.”
Making the team a permanent club sport will also help attract future students who are figure skaters to the College, organizers predict.
“If you've made it to high school, being a figure skater for that long means you've dedicated countless hours, and no one wants to give that up,” Holtzman said. “You want to continue doing what you love, and the fact that skating is so accessible now makes it 100 times better.”
Tobi Ellis, a first-year studying music and data science and a member of the team, also began skating at age eight but took a break at 14 when he moved to South Korea. To be back on the ice has helped him fall back in love with skating.
"After the first practice, I was hooked,” Ellis said. “I was like, ‘Okay, I’m totally coming back to this.’ I fell in love with it when I was a kid and I still have that love for it. It’s a true honor to get to be a part of the team.”
When Ellis was in high school and not skating, he progressively lost a majority of his vision and is now legally blind. After learning about the team, though, he wasn’t going to let that stop him from skating.
“I was quite determined to get back on the ice and be able to skate despite losing my vision,” Ellis said. “I think it goes to show that having a disability shouldn't limit what you want to do.”
For Ellis, one benefit of being blind as a figure skater is that he is less nervous during competitions and can focus on his performance more closely.
“I'm kind of in my own little bubble since I can't see everything around me,” Ellis said. “It allows me to have better artistry, because I can visually tune out all of the noise around me and just be in the moment when I skate.”
The team has participated in one competition so far and has another scheduled in February, which they are already looking forward to.
“The competition was amazing,” Holtzman said. “I had so much fun watching them all skate, and it’s just a really positive environment. We all have such a deep passion for the same sport that it connects us together.”
In an individual sport like figure skating, it can be hard to manage the pressure and stress on your own. Being part of a team allows skaters to gain support from each other and lean on their teammates when they need to.
“I think having a family-like bond on the team allows us to not only do our best and be our best, but also emotionally be in a good place to be able to do this sport that we love—and not burn out,” Ellis said.
Holtzman’s decision to start this team is one she is grateful for making, both because she is able to skate at the College and because she gave her teammates the chance to do so as well.
“It's really nice that I get to give people the opportunity to reconnect with something they love,” Holtzman said. “The gratitude I receive from these skaters thanking me so much absolutely warms my heart and reminds me of why I wanted this.”
Likewise, Ellis is thankful that Holtzman put the team together, as it allowed for great friendships to be formed and for him to share something he loves with fellow skaters at the College.
“Being able to compete and represent not only the sport that we love but also our school is an honor,” Ellis said. “I think a lot of us carry that very close to our hearts. Despite being a small little group, we're very tight knit, and big things come in small packages.”