The 2005 Masters Cup
ALYSSA MONTGOMERY, June 2005

Well, once again the Kings Domain Ice Skating Club welcomed competitors from around the country to take part in this grand event. There were 38 entrants, with 10 of these being from NSW, ACT and SA.

As always, all competitors were met with a very encouraging crowd, including other competitors. The beauty of this competition is that people in your own division are just as nervous and excited for you as they are for themselves. As one skater leaves the ice, they wish the other about to step on the ice the very best of luck.

There were some stand out performances for me – some bought a tear to my eye while others opened my eyes to what skating is all about. Hats off to everyone that took part in this great day – we all deserve a medal for just getting out there and doing what we all did! Some of us were even crazy enough to get out there more than once!

I myself was very happy with how I skated. The first program I did was an old faithful one. I hadn’t skated it for about 6 months, that considered, was quite happy with how it went. My interpretive program is still a relatively new one, and had only been performed 3 times before this weekend. I skated the best I had ever skated any program before – even the ol’ faithful one! I was lucky enough to be awarded the “Solo Interpretive Peoples Choice Award”, which goes on votes from the audience. I felt very honoured to win this award, as it was taken from the opinions of the people the program was for. The audience – including fellow skaters. When performing a program, I much prefer to entertain the audience, rather than impress the judges – although, I do realise how important the judges are and thank them very much for awarding me 3rd place for this program.

The 3 people that made up “Team NSW” (Amy Hodman, Tara Haydon and myself) did quite well, bringing home one 1st, two 2nd, two 3rd and the “Solo Interpretive Peoples Choice Award”.

The three of us also competed on the Saturday beforehand, bringing home two golds and two silvers.

Well done to all that competed – especially those who competed in their very first competition ever. It takes a lot of guts to get yourself out there, but once you do, you gotta admit - it’s a total blast!

I hope you all continue to compete, as you all did so well – a couple of you even taking out 1st place in your division! Unfortunately I missed out on the dinner afterwards, but from all reports it was as fun as it always is, with a lot of talk about the skating from the day!

I hope to see you all there at next years Masters Cup – remember to tell all your adult skating friends and really encourage them to go in it. Just tell them how much fun you had and keep telling them until they give in!