Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Joyce Chan becomes a USFS gold medalist

Community School junior

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Joyce Chan Courtesy photo

Community School junior Joyce Chan achieved a well-deserved figure skating distinc-tion Nov. 17 in Boise.
    Chan, 16, became a U.S. Fig-ure Skating (USFS) gold medal-ist by passing Senior Moves in the Field—the last of eight in-creasingly difficult tests designed to demonstrate power, strong edge control and depth, extension, and precise foot-work on the ice.
    To pass the test and acquire gold medal status, a panel of qualified USFS judges con-cludes the skater has given an excellent performance, master-ing Moves in the Field at the highest level. Her achievement is acknowledged on the USFS Website and credited in “Skat-ing Magazine.”
    Andrea Nelson, SVFSC publicity chair and U.S. Figure Skating test chair, said, “Gold medal status is considered a high distinction in figure skat-ing. It signifies the achievement of an important goal that takes many years of practice and testing to achieve.
    “In the last five years the SVFSC has produced only three other gold medalists Community School junior Alexandra Harten, Nicole Pratt and Shayna Moellenberg.”
    Chan began skating at age seven in Hong Kong, where her family still resides. As a mem-ber of the Hong Kong Skating Union, Joyce competed in Hong Kong, Thailand, the Philip-pines, Singapore, Malaysia, San Jose, Boston and China.
    She moved to the Wood River Valley in the eighth grade to attend the Community School as an international student.
    Chan competes for the Sun Valley Figure Skating Club (SVFSC) as a member of U.S. Figure Skating. She has competed in Boise, Salt Lake, Jackson Hole (Wyo.), and Tacoma (Wash.) in Intermediate Ladies singles free skate on a regional and local level.
    She won the National Show-case Intermediate Light Cham-pionship event in San Diego, Ca. in 2012.
    This year, she won the National Showcase Intermediate Dramatic Championship and captured second place on the Parade of Champions exhibition podium in Cape Cod, Mass. Chan was a team member of the winning “Famous Pota-toes” 2013 National Showcase Ensemble Production.
    Her primary coach, chore-ographer Gia Guddat, designed all of Chan’s award-winning local and national competition programs, including “Famous Potatoes.”
    The current issue of “Skating Magazine” includes a photo of Chan and other Famous Po-tatoes cast members performing at National Showcase. The Famous Potatoes performance can be seen on YouTube.
    Chan’s talent for theatrical skating emerged in 2011, when she delighted a panel of judges with her remarkable flexibility and earned the Most Outstand-ing Artistic Trophy at the Sun Valley Summer Figure Skating Championships.
    In 2012 she won the Most Outstanding Showcase Trophy for her mesmerizing rendition of a giant slinky, a role which encored in “Battle of the Blades…It’s Back” and as pre-show entertainment in an Aug. 2012 Sun Valley Ice Show.
    Her success requires balancing her time between school, skating, community and friends. She trains on and off the ice at least five days a week, maintains a high GPA, serves as co-president of the Junior Board of the SVFSC, and enjoys videography.
    Twice, she has received the SVFSC Judy Fuller Sportsmanship Award for volunteerism and demonstrating positive attitudes towards her club and fellow skaters.
    Chan credits her many skating accomplishments to the guidance of Guddat, her primary coach. She also thanked coach Holly Wheeler for her help with the Senior Moves in the Field test. Chan receives additional summer coaching from Craig Heath.

Others pass tests
    The SVFSC also congratu-lates skaters Katie Peters and Isabella Bourret for also passing tests in Boise. Peters and Bourret passed Novice Moves in the Field. Peters also passed Pre-Juvenile Free Skate.

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