National Showcase 2025
- Pulsamai Bluberg
- Aug 9
- 4 min read
Updated: 7 days ago
Another year of the Ice Skating National Showcase happened in Rochester, Michigan, at Suburban Ice, located a 50-minute drive from Detroit airport. The showcase this year featured nearly 900 competitors, marked the largest Showcase competition in U.S. Figure Skating history, with skaters representing 42 states, 3 countries, and 181 clubs, and had 1,800 starts.Â
We arrived on July 28th and went straight to drop off our luggage at the Airbnb home we rented for 6 days in Royal Oak, which was a 30-minute drive to the rink. The home was beautifully designed even though it had only 2 bedrooms for the 4 of us (including Liz). We then drove to the rink for Sarah's 20-minute practice ice at 4:40pm and waited until 7pm for Sarah to do her Warmup Spotlight (individual ice practice with spotlight mimicking the real event).
Sarah was very anxious and nervous this time around. At recent showcases in the past 5 years, the judging system had been geared toward technical skating skill more than creativity and artistry itself. Michigan is also known for its highly regarded ice skating clubs, Ice House Skating Academy. Harmony Theater Company these teams always comes out on top year after year among other large skating clubs.
Sarah is a member of The Skating Club of New York, which had about 10 members competing in the national showcase this year. She had 4 solos and 2 team events to compete in. The competition schedule was tight and not what we expected. We were at the rink from 5:30 am to 10 pm almost every day. But the hard work paid off with 3 individual medals (gold, silver, and bronze) out of 4 solo events and a bronze medal for the Sky Rink team.
The theme event program was Sarah's last solo competition; she didn't practice much with it. She just kind of "goes with the flow." She had a group practice for "The Simpsons" right before the competition, and we told her just to go out there and have fun and make the audiences remember, and she did. There's not a lot of technique you can do with a milk and avocado costume.
Sarah didn't expect to get any medal in this lyrical pop category, she was nervous and not confident in her double jump, but having a warmup spotlight practice a few hours before helped boost her confidence, and she didn't slip out of her jumps this time. She picked her favorite Lady Gaga song, "Telephone," and had a lot of fun with it.
With all the members from Sky Rink and their parents cheering and congratulating her on an amazing performance, it was a highlight. Thank you, Nancy, for coaching Sarah since she was 5 years old. Her support for Sarah was irreplaceable, and Sarah will miss her dearly once she moves to college.
The Comedic Impressions event for the Young Adult category was at 8:10 pm on Tuesday, July 29th, which was David's birthday. We told Sarah jokingly to get him a medal as a birthday gift, and she did. She picked Blades of Glory as her theme. Dancing with a mannequin was not an easy task. She had to think about what technique she could apply with a mannequin attached to her skate boots at the beginning. I made this mannequin several times and tried to make it as light as possible. She won third place for creativity in the program, and it was very funny. Congratulations on her outstanding performance; it looked like she had a blast doing this program. The cheaply made outfit and wig from Amazon made it funnier than expected.
After the 4 solo events, Sarah and the Sky Rink All-Stars team competed in the mini production silver and won bronze as the Simpsons. I was nervous about all the headpieces I made; I prayed that nothing would fall off during the competition. Sarah was Homer Simpson; everyone on the team worked hard for this routine and earned them third place in this hard-fought program. Marni and Nancy were thrilled to put the team on the map once again. Thank you, Marni and Nancy, for making the Sky Rink All-Stars team, a team to watch out for.
Before the competition makeup station, the yellow paint color on their faces took a few days to come off. After learning they got bronze, everyone was ecstatic. At the end of all events at the showcase, there was a medal ceremony for all the champions. Sarah and Emily represented the Sky Rink team. It was an unforgettable moment to be a part of outstanding individuals who share a common love of figure skating. What a way to end this year's showcase.
Thanks, Liz, for being there with Sarah as a friend with tremendous emotional support and competing flawlessly in 2 solo events and helping the Sky Rink team win bronze. Thanks, Nancy and Marni, for being so amazing to Sarah all these years. She will miss seeing them 5 days a week, and she will miss skating at Sky Rink. But all good things must come to an end, and a new chapter for Sarah is just about to begin.
Let's end with this video filmed by Jordan Cowan from On Ice Perspectives on the warm-up spotlight before the competition.
After an exhausting week, we finally said goodbye to Rochester, Michigan. Now it's time to pack and get ready for Sarah's move-in day at the University of Colorado at Boulder on August 17th.
