Figure Skating in Harlem or Dancing with the Stars?

The annual Figure Skating in Harlem event took place on April 5th - here's what Ice Network had to say about it:

It's an annual event where stars and fans meet, greet and skate under the stars (hopefully no rain this year) at Wollman Rink in New York's Central Park. This year, Figure Skating in Harlem (FSH), an organization that provides innovative ice skating and educational programming for girls ages 6-18 from the Harlem community, will honor three women who share a commitment to kids.

From the skating world, FSH has chosen Kristi Yamaguchi, who founded the Always Dream Foundation around the same time FSH came into being. On Jan. 16, the foundation celebrated the official opening of the Always Dream Play Park in Yamaguchi's hometown of Freemont, Calif. It's a place where physically challenged and able-bodied kids can play side by side.

And it seems the Stars on Ice tour bus took a pit stop in Central Park, because a lot of familiar faces pitched up to support FSH:






Also present from the skating world was Dorothy Hamill, Charlie White, Mirai Nagasu, Ben Agosto and Sasha Cohen. Donald Trump, Tamara Tunie and Christopher Meloni also attended the benefit due to their work with the cause.

One FSH regular who wasn't able to attend was Evan Lysacek, due to his commitments to Dancing with the Stars. He topped the leaderboard this week with his Quickstep:



But one person who isn't too interested in Evan's footwork? Johnny Weir, NY Mag is reporting:

"Evan is fine as a person. We've been competitors for years and years and years and that's kinda the forefront to us being people to each other," Weir said. "I think he worked very hard and he deserved that Olympic gold medal and he does a good job. He does his work. But as a person I don't really know him that well and we've never really made the effort to be nice to each other." But surely he must at least watch Lysacek on Dancing With the Stars? "No," Weir said. "And I won't."

Ouch! But who'd expect anything less from Johnny?

Skating vs School

There have been a number of skaters recently who had decided to sit out the upcoming season to devote themselves to their studies (Brittney Rizo, Katrina Hacker) as well as some who have prioritized skating over school (Emily Hughes). Many have, and continue, to manage both (Alissa Czisny). This poses a very interesting question - what should get priority? It's difficult to have a proper college experience if you're constantly training, and in the same way it's hard to train properly, especially when you get to National level or higher, if you're constantly having to catch up on assignments. So it's seems like a natural decision to take time off from school or work part-time/from home to get in the necessary amount of training. This technique has worked for a number of skaters; both Michelle Kwan and Sarah Hughes have recently achieved university degrees at 28 and 24 years old respectively.

However, does this all-to-simple conclusion actually hold a large number of drawbacks? By being at the rink whilst all their peers are at school, elite skaters are missing out on some valuable experiences, and some might say a proper childhood. Going to school is could be deemed too be necessary for them to have some sort of escape from the sport and to associate with people who aren't skaters.

Obviously it depends on a skaters' circumstances, but if you were an elite skater (or the parent of one) would you take the route of Hacker or Hughes? Personally I would be more inclined to do as Emily Hughes does; her attempts to balance skating and a full college course last season had very little success, and school will always be there in the future, whilst the probability of being a successful skater declines with age.

Image from people.com.