The newly established Indonesian Skating Federation (ISF) will kick off Saturday its two-day Grand Elite Figure Skating Challenge at the Taman Anggrek Mall’s ice rink.

The event will feature 45 skaters between the ages of 8 and 16 from Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and the UK.

“We hope this event will be able to expose local skaters to higher-level competition,” said Robert Esguerra, head coach at the ISF, which was established last year and is based at Taman Anggrek Mall.

The competition will apply the judging system of the International Skating Union (ISU), the regulatory board for the World Skating Championship as well as the Winter Olympic Games.

South Korea is the Asian hot spot for the sport, boasting women’s Olympic champion Kim Yu-na.

The United States dominated the men’s singles at this year’s games, while Russia and China have long been juggernauts in figure skating.

Despite there being only one ice rink each in Jakarta and Yogyakarta, and another under construction in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia has since 1999 participated in Skate Asia competitions held by the International Skating Institute (ISI), which focuses on skating as a recreational sport.

In 2008, Indonesia finished second in the Skate Asia event in Malaysia, where figure skaters from 25 countries took part.

This year, Indonesia will also participate at the Skate Asia 2010 in Hangchou, China, in August.

ISF chairwoman Deborah Rosanti said most of the 500 youngsters taking lessons at the skating school in Taman Anggrek were doing it just for fun.

“Every weekend the rink is packed with these kids, but most of them aren’t into the competition,” she said.
She added a month of skating and related activities here cost an average Rp 1 million (US$110).

Chiquita Limer, 20, who began skating at the age of 7 and is now a figure-skating choreographer at the Taman Anggrek rink, also said the sport was prohibitively expensive.

“My father used to complain about paying for my skating lessons,” she said.

A pair of skates costs at least Rp 6 million, while the competition outfits retail for Rp 600,000 each.

Lessons cost Rp 380,000 an hour, while other expenses include event registration and accommodation.

“Nonetheless, I’ve got my heart set on figure skating,” said Chiquita, who came second at the Skate Asia 2007 in the Philippines and took four gold medals at the 2003 Singapore Skate championships.

“I love this sport because it combines the two activities I enjoy most: Roller blading and dancing.

“Now I’m making a living from this sport,” she went on, adding that given the opportunity, she wanted to continue studying figure skating in the United States.

“I think this sport simply needs better promotion because it’s not all that difficult to learn. Some people think you need a grounding in ballet to figure skate, but that’s not true,” Chiquita said.

“You just have to be brave enough to fall, that’s it.”

Popular

For Palestinians in Indonesia, education is an act of survival

Idul Adha and Indonesia’s protein intake paradox

1998 redux?