EVANSVILLE, IN – The Swonder Learn to Skate Program will host a special event as part of U.S. Figure Skating’s National Skating Month (NSM) in January at Swonder Ice Arena in Evansville. Free skating lessons will be offered from 12:30pm- 2:30pm on Saturday, January 19, 2013, for the residents of Evansville and surrounding communities. These lessons are geared towards first time skaters who have never taken lessons. Free skating lesson participants may stay and skate the 1:00pm- 3:30pm public session at no charge. The first 50 youth participants will receive a goody bag courtesy of US Figure Skating. All participants will be given a raffle ticket and have a chance to win a session of group skating lessons, a private skating lesson, public session passes, U.S. Figure Skating merchandise, an Evansville Icemen prize pack and more. The River City Ice Theatre team will do a short demonstration at 2:30pm. This is Swonder’s 6th year participating in National Skating Month and is sure to be fun for the whole family!
National Skating Month, now in its 12th year, allows U.S. Figure Skating member clubs and Basic Skills programs to reach out to new members in their communities by offering the fundamentals of ice skating from professionally trained instructors. The goal of National Skating Month is to increase awareness and participation in the U.S. Figure Skating Basic Skills Program.
In March 2002, U.S. Figure Skating unveiled National Skating Week with great success. Following the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, thousands of people took to the ice for National Skating Week. As part of the weeklong activities, more than 110 member clubs nationwide hosted “It’s Great to Skate†clinics, with clubs realizing membership increases ranging from 10-50 percent. U.S. Figure Skating expanded the fifth year of the program to National Skating Month. In 2012, more than 400 clubs hosted events to celebrate NSM.
Over the last 17 years, U.S. Figure Skating has enjoyed consistent growth through programs that provide opportunities for all ages. During the 2001-02 season, U.S. Figure Skating’s Basic Skills Program reached a milestone by registering more than 100,000 members for the first time in the program’s history. Since its inception in 1985, the program has taught more than 2 million people to skate.
U.S. Figure Skating is the national governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the International Skating Union. U.S. Figure Skating is comprised of more than 700 member clubs, collegiate clubs and school-affiliated clubs, and more than 1,000 registered Basic Skills skating schools representing approximately 173,000 members. U.S. Figure Skating is charged with the development of the sport on all levels within the United States including athletes, officials, sanctioning of events and exhibitions, and establishing the rules and guidelines by which the sport is governed.
For more information, please contact Skating Director Christin Thompson at (812)436-5707 or Renee Felton, U.S. Figure Skating media relations, at 719.635.5200.
