Prospective Skaters

Whether you are brand new to figure skating, jumping back into the sport, or have lots of experience, CUFSC is the place for you! With inclusivity as a core tenet at CUFSC, we encourage members of ALL skill levels to join our team but there may be different steps to take depending on where you’re at. Here’s how you join!

All Prospective Skaters should fill out our Prospective Skater Questionaire which can be found here.

Qualifications

At CUFSC we value being an open environment for skaters of all levels! However, in order to ensure the safety of our members, you must have either:

  • Passed at least one USFS or ISI-recognized test

  • Completed at least one semester of the university’s skating PE class

  • You are currently enrolled in the university’s intermediate or advanced skating PE class.

If you wish to join but do not pass the above qualifications, please reach out to our Recruitment Chair and Co-Captains as you may still be eligible to join our club!

Active Membership

Completing our qualifications and paying ice dues or walk-on ice fees will qualify you to be an active club member! In being an active member you can:

  • Join either our social team or competition team

  • Can attend competitions, ice shows, and social events

  • Will be added to the CUFSC listserv and Slack to keep up with current communication

Extra Practice

If you would like to practice at other times than those offered by the team for practice ice, there are a few options. Aside from Lynah, there are three core rinks in the Ithaca area: The Rink in Lansing, the J.M. McDonald Sports Complex, and Cass Park. “The Rink” is about a 10-15 minute drive from campus in the town of Lansing. Figure skating sessions are offered in the evenings with many coaches present who are happy to give out lessons. The J.M. McDonald Sports Complex is a rink in Cortland ~35 minutes away that offers afternoon ice during the week and on the weekends. The rink at Cass Park is a seasonal outdoor rink located in Downtown Ithaca. It typically runs from November-March with public sessions available in the mid-late afternoons and evenings on the weekends. There isn’t much public transportation to travel to these rinks so skaters typically drive, taxi, or carpool with another skater that’s going. All websites to each rink are hyperlinked respectively.

Cornell Figure Skating PE Classes

Cornell University offers figure skating physical education classes and they’re a great way to get introduced to figure skating with more directed training. The PE department offers Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced level classes. Although most skaters on the team are above the beginner and intermediate level, the instructor will normally allow you to practice on your own during the advanced class with some constraints. Many of our club skaters also TA for these figure skating classes! If interested in the PE classes, you can register during pre-enroll with the respective course number found on the PE website. Please note the skating classes are very popular and spots will fill up quickly! If you have any questions you can contact Coach Robyn at rb765@cornell.edu.

Coaching

Most of our members practice on their own or consult one another while on the ice for extra help. We have a few skaters who are very experienced and have skated at the Junior/Senior levels. Please also feel free to reach out to our Coach Robyn Bentley if you’re a beginner level skater interested in receiving coaching. Robyn also runs a skate shop and can help you with being fitted for new skates as necessary. There are also other coaches at other rinks offering lessons in the area.

Questions

If you have any questions please reach out to our Recruitment chair Emily Hansen (erh68@cornell.edu) or our Co-captains Julia Forte (jgf84@cornell.edu) and Karen Chen (kc832@cornell.edu)!