This weekend I live-tweeted the latter portion of the Wild Rose Invitational [#WildRose] figure skating competition in Leduc, Alberta over two days. It was fun, inspiring, challenging – and an adrenaline rush.
When I was watching the live stream of the event on my laptop. And I told my husband I felt like live-tweeting the event. I barely had the words out of my mouth before he grabbed his laptop, a note pad and said – “get tweeting.” I quickly printed up the skater’s names, the schedule, and plugged in my ear buds. I sent out my first tweet on Saturday evening.
My breaks were between ice resurfacing and warm ups, and my meals were inhaled. I tweeted with hashtags. Retweeted. I was retweeted and followed, and I watched some amazing skating.
The next day, it was back to tweeting. Three flights of the Novice Women’s free and one flight of Junior Men Free.
What did I gain from the experience? Perseverance. I have perseverance, I just needed a challenge.
What do I hope the skaters and coaches gain? Recognition. Exposure.
Kurt Browning wasn’t always Kurt Browning. Joannie Rochette wasn’t always Joannie Rochette. Success doesn’t happen overnight, it takes time, the road is long, and it can be bumpy. Everyone needs support. We pay more attention to the figure skaters already at the top rather than skaters trying to climb the ladder.
They also need support, cheers, and applause.
Some of the skaters from this weekend will attend the 2013 Canadian Figure Skating Championships. And some will advance to the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics.
Instead of finding out who they are then – find out who they are now.
Skating Scene 