For much of the season, the focus for a handful of the Valley East Skating Club (VESC) crew wandered from one competition to the next, the search for improvement a never-ending one for newcomers and veterans alike.
Last week, it was time to skate and perform and enjoy as the VESC hosted their annual year-end performance gala.
"I love doing the shows," beamed 16 year-old Jaida Chartrand, one of several who will technically close off their season with the Let's Skate competition in Sudbury on the weekend of April 12th to the 14th.
"I'm just showing off with no one judging me. I've been told that at shows, I just perform better than in a lot of the competitions."
Just 12 years old and one of the larger next wave who hope to follow in the footsteps of Chartrand, Alyssa Fleury shares the sentiments expressed by her older club mate.
"The show is easier and less nerve-wracking because I know everyone there," said Fleury, a grade 7 student at Valley View Public School who started with the VESC some five years ago.
"I still do my solo in the show - but also other things," she added. "We're doing a bit of synchronized skating - and I'm there with my friends and stuff like that."
Making the move to the Star 3 level this winter, Fleury has competed in three events in recent months, with little doubt as to which one she enjoyed the most.
"In Renfrew, the whole club was there, so that was a lot more fun," said the older of two children in the family, her younger brother a member of the Sudbury Sprinters speedskating crew.
"I liked all of the support. And the judges in Renfrew were really sweet and always smiling - and that helps a lot."
Though all elements of her routine are subject to fine-tuning, Fleury is most pleased with the progress she has shown with her flip jump.
"When I first started, it was really bad, a work in progress," she stated quite honestly. "Then in Renfrew, I got a silver on it. I can't go too fast into that jump. I do like a mini-stop just before I jump which slows me down a bit - but I keep enough speed to get into the jump."
The eldest of all of the VESC skaters, Jaida Chartrand embraces the role that she now gets to play five or six years after moving from the outdoor rinks to the figure skating club.
"The club is starting to go on more of these out of town competitions - and now I get to see the little ones experiencing that and it's really wholesome and cute," said the older sister of Bishop Carter wrestler, Kane Chartrand.
"I try and just be myself and they like to follow me around - and they do the stuff I do on the ice."
While the muscle memory she has created on the ice often serves Chartrand well, there is still another facet of competition that can throw her for a loop, from time to time.
"It's all in the mindset," Chartrand stated. "You're out there by yourself. It's differen than team sports; and everyone is watching. I know that I can do it - it's just whether I can do it in that moment."
Those fears tend to dissipate when it comes to the year-end show - though Chartrand has stumbled across one other unorthodox method of relaxation that seems to work for her.
"I'll make some Tic-Tocs," she said with a laugh. "Dancing in the change-room helps me calm down. It just makes it more light hearted when I went out on the ice."
A jovial teen by nature, Chartrand offers an interesting dichotomy when it comes to her selection of music for her show routines.
"I'm a bit opposite about how I am as a person compared to the music I choose for shows," she said. "I like very dramatic, sad music. I find I just move better to that. That's what I like to do."
