Go Figure!

Northeastern’s figure skating team is aiming not only for the gold, but also for closer bonds. 

Written by Valeria Vazquez. Photo by Sarah Arnold.

After years of competitive figure skating, Elizabeth Klemm knew she wanted to keep skating when she went off to college, but she wanted more out of her experience than competitions. When she joined Northeastern University’s figure skating club she found what she was missing—a team.

“I loved competing growing up, but I don’t think I realized I was kind of burned out,” said the fifth year bioengineering and biomedical engineering major. “So having a team and having everyone work for a common goal was so refreshing.”

Today, Klemm serves as the president of the figure skating club, which is currently trying to make a more concentrated effort to have not only a more competitive team, but also a closer one. 

“Those two go hand in hand because people aren’t going to be interested if it’s not fun,” Klemm said.

In 2012 the club was founded by a few recreational skaters who wanted some time on the ice and to make friends, but they had no intentions of ever competing. 

In 2016 the team finally made the jump to competing, but only six members competed. 

Their competitive team now consists of 35 skaters, and last year the team placed fifth at the MIT Collegiate Competition and finished sixth in the U.S. Figure Skating’s Intercollegiate Northeast Division.

This year, they have their eyes on going to the National Intercollegiate Finals, hosted at The University of California, Los Angeles. To get there, the team has to place in the top four in the Northeast Division, where they compete against 19 other universities. On November 5 and 6, the team placed sixth at the Violet Ice Classic hosted by New York University and currently stands sixth in the Northeast Division. The club has one last chance to come in fourth at the final Northeast competition at MIT in the beginning of February.

The club’s success has gained them notoriety on campus, including winning Northeastern’s Intramural 2020-20221 Club Sport of the Year and 2021-2022 E-Board of the Year.

This year, the club had to hold auditions for the first time due to the high volume of applicants. To address this growth and still have an inclusive team, they created three tracks: Gold, Silver and Bronze, providing a range of commitment options depending on each skater’s needs. Many of the 65 members of the figure skating club have skating experience, varying from life-long skaters to casual skaters.

Club members pay around $200 a semester which covers their ice time, team events and travel expenses. This semester, the team invested in choreographer Kate McSwain to help the head coaches choreograph the many routines for each skater and to add finishing touches to their programs, focusing on arms and expressions. 

While their physical technique and choreography is important, the team thought it was just as important to have a stronger mindset entering competitions, as they felt not everyone was skating to their full potential, so they also worked with Kelsey Griffith, a sports psychologist from the Micheli Center. With Griffith’s help, the skaters learned the importance of mental preparation for competition and practices, how to balance their stressful college schedules, how to cope with a bad skate and most importantly, how best to lift up their teammates. 

Although the skaters compete individually, their points are combined together to create an overall team score, meaning they are focused on not only their own triumphs, but also their team’s success.

“In my experience with competing individually, it’s so easy to put pressure on yourself, especially when you train in an environment where everyone is looking out for just themselves,” said Cheri Donnelly, second-year Biochemistry major and the club’s assistant vice president of social media and communications. “Here when you’re on a skating team, everyone is here for basically the same reasons, no one is against you and everyone is here to support you. If you ever feel like you’ve had a bad skate or a bad program, etc. everyone on the team is here to cheer you up, which I really appreciate.”

This is a very different, but welcomed dynamic compared to the intense environment most of the skaters grew up with.  

“When you’re skating growing up, you’re really just doing your own thing, versus the collegiate team aspect where you’re gaining points for your team, as well as skating for yourself,” said Julie Pondelli, the team’s head coach. 

Pondelli has been with the team since 2016 and has been teaching figure skating for 18 years, but the figure skating club has a special place in her heart and schedule.

“This is my favorite gig because everybody that’s here wants to be here, so they’re showing up at 6:30 in the morning because they want to,” Pondelli said. “Everybody really puts in their best effort especially when we have a common goal and compete as a team.”

With practices usually in the early morning or late night, the skaters have flexibility to fit ice time with their busy class and co-op schedules.

“I skate less here than I did in high school; I used to devote my entire weekends,” said Masha Drapkin, a second year computer engineering and computer science major. “I came here and all of a sudden I actually have time on the weekends because our practices are designed for people who have jobs.”

A typical practice entails warming up along the benches of an empty Matthews Arena while listening to One Direction and Rihanna. Then the skaters spread out on the ice to practice their solo routines individually. Pondelli spends an average of 15 minutes working with each skater, providing feedback and catching up. 

Each skater takes their turn practicing their solos in the center of the ice with music. Other skaters are watching, taking pictures, ranting about their days or practicing off to the side, but when the music ends they all stop what they’re doing to cheer on whoever just performed. 

Practices may be where the skaters develop their skills and programs, but they also serve as an important forum and outlet for the skaters to bond. 

“Sometimes what you need at a practice is to stand by the boards and talk to people for 45 minutes, and it makes skating not this intimidating thing,” said Ashley Brown, a third year biochemistry major and the club’s vice president of competition and shows. 

Although competition and reputation are important aspects of the club’s vision for this year, they’ve also put a heavy emphasis on team bonding.

“This team is probably the biggest part of my college life here, that’s to say both on and off the ice,” Donelly said. “Everyone’s gotten so close.”

On a competition weekend the team has a long schedule, skating from sunup to sun down, but as Donelly pointed out, this only means the team has that much more time to spend together and get closer. 

“I always come back and I have no voice because I’ve just been screaming the whole weekend,” Klemm said. 

Outside of competition and practices, the Team makes a point to plan plenty of activities to do together. Team bonding activities range from Adam Rippon book signings (Klemm’s personal favorite memory), to poster making for competitions, to their book club—this semester they’re reading Pride and Prejudice. 

For Klemm, who is graduating in May, these team bonding moments and the competitions have been a defining role in her college experience. She’s watched the team grow and developed personally as a leader and skater.

“It’s shown me ways of how I can hopefully still be involved with the sport when I do graduate,” Klemm said.

A reminder her teammates didn’t want to hear, because they can’t imagine the team without her.