Julia Oudiz
Staff Writer
Aside from school and friends, Mira Costa sophomore Tracey Hoa spends her time skating on the ice and perfecting her jumps.
Hoa started skating when she was about eight years old and has competed in almost thirty competitions since then. According to Hoa, her interest peaked in figure skating when she attended a Disney Skating Exhibition at the Toyota Sports Center skating rink.
“My cousin started skating when I was little so I wanted to be just like her,” Hoa said. “She would always show videos of her skating during family reunions and it inspired me.”
Link: Read more about Mira Costa students who ice skate
Now that school is in session, Hoa practices for approximately six hours a week at the Toyota Sports Center. She takes private lessons weekly, with her coach, Beatrisa Liang, who makes improvements to her technique. Hoa also attends spin and power group classes to improve her jumps and skating techniques, which are taught by instructors such as Liang, Yuriy Kocherzhenko and Eric Millot.
Every year, Hoa competes in around six competitions. Last year, she accomplished her goal to compete at The United States Figure Skating (USFS) level . According to Hoa, a skater has to be at a toe loop jump level, which is a basic jump, in order to compete at USFS level.
Link: Learn more about the Toyota Sports Center
“I get really nervous [when competing],” Hoa said. “When the music goes on, I start freaking out and I don’t do as well as I usually do, [so] I take deep breaths [to help calm down].”
Hoa spends sixty to ninety minutes skating at each practice. She spends approximately ten minutes to warm up and exercise before jumps, spins and routines.
“In classes I am instructed to do specific things, but during practices I have more freedom,” Hoa said.
Hoa must remember to keep her back straight during competitions because she has a stray, or curved, back that can cause her to possibly lose points. However, Liang says that Tracey has a good knee bend that can help her get good speed when she skates.
“What I love about teaching Tracey is that she is a good listener,” Liang said. “She tries very hard to apply the corrections I give her, and asks questions when she doesn’t understand something. Effort is the one thing that I ask from all of my students.”
Hoa’s next competition will be in November where she will be participating in the fourteen to fifteen age division. In preparation for the competition, she will continue to work on her double jumps and fixing her rotations, so she can start working on her triple jumps.
“[Skating] is always a learning experience, whether you skated the best you’ve ever [have] or fell on [the floor,” Liang said. “You learn how to deal with [mistakes] and I believe that [skating] strengthens your character as a person and can apply to everything you learn at competitions to life in general.”
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