Figure Skating Club at IU is an intercollegiate club that was founded on two components in mind, competitive and recreational. The club at Indiana University provides students with a place to carve their way to success by joining a group that loves to ice skate and cultivates lasting friendships.
Social Media Director Molly Gregory joined the Figure Skating Club her freshman year to continue the passion she loves while finding new friends at a large university.
“I feel like this was one the first places I made friends at IU who have the same passion as I do,” said Gregory. “We’re all really motivated people and I love everybody…the club is very much a safe place for me.”
The coach is run by former competitive figure skater Emma Harrison, who has committed her time to creating a positive environment for students to compete and continue their passion.
“It gave me the opportunity to reclaim figure skating, and my love for figure skating,” said alumni Maddie Aybar. “It’s not that I didn’t love it, but this was a space and environment where I was able to cultivate my love for skating with such a wonderful community of people.”
Social Media Director Molly Gregory
The longstanding club also has faced adversity in its duration as an organization. Just shy of COVID-19 the club had to eliminate competitions due to challenges in facilities and program funding. The club has utilized a local ice-skating rink fifteen minutes outside of campus.
“Unfortunately, a few years back we did stop competing just before COVID,” said Gregory. we were able this year as an executive board to come back and fundraise and get some stability to make sure we could travel out there and compete.
The club has had perseverance in its struggles and raised enough with fundraisers to travel to their first competition in years for their 2023-24 season. In February, the team went to its first competition in Wisconsin as competed as a team and individually.
“Skaters don’t normally go “Oh I want to skate and I’m going to go to IU”, said Aybar. “However, once you’re here to have this opportunity to skate, it’s beautiful and I’m just so happy that I had the opportunity to skate throughout my college years.”
In addition to the competition, the club welcomes IU students of all skill levels for recreational free skating. This allows students from different backgrounds and skill levels to come to the rink and skate.
Students can now work together on figure skating tricks and routines in a supportive environment, regardless of their career aspirations.
Skating alumni and former Figure Skating Club at IU member
In the future, the club hopes to continue its growth on and off the ice. They are raising funds and building a community on campus to support the costs of new equipment, costumes, and competition travel.
“I’m trying to raise as much awareness as I can, just getting our name out there so that people know that IU does have a figure skating team club,” said Gregory. “What we’ve seen as a result of that is more people coming to our fundraisers and…recognizing who we are as a club in general and that’s been valuable for us.”
Figure Skating Club at IU continues to hold open practices and applications to glide with the student organization. To learn more about the club or to join you can go to beinvolved.indiana.edu or contact them via social media for further information.
