Figure Skater Pursuing the Road to Nationals
The Hoffman Estates Park District's (HE Parks) figure skating academy Coach Ryan Bedard of McHenry has been having great success and is moving on to national competitions in not just one but two categories - singles and pairs.
At the young age of 17, he quickly has advanced through the ranks in figure skating competitions. He made it to the 2018 U.S. Nationals Dec. 29-Jan. 7, 2018, in San Jose, California, and is working on making it to Nationals again in 2019.
To do this, Bedard will need to place in the top four at regionals and the top four at sectionals to qualify for U.S. Nationals. The national competition is in Detroit, Michigan Jan. 19-27, 2019. He currently practices 25 hours per week in pursuit of his goals.
The park district sat down to ask him some questions:
Q: How long have you been skating? What has your experience been?
A: I have been skating for around 14 years. My experience has been great, I am able to travel to competitions, and meet new people.
Q: How did you get started?
A: My mom and my godmother are skating coaches and started me on the Ice when I was 2½.
Q: What is your favorite part about skating?
A: You get to perform in front of crowds and being able to accomplish new things by working hard.
Q: What goals do you have for your skating?
A: My goals would be to compete internationally for the United States and hopefully go to the Olympics.
HE Parks offers figure skating lessons starting at age 3. Browse the dates and times at heparks.org.