First Skating School Competitive Skaters to Perform at Farmington Spring Festival

On Saturday, April 5th, three Northfield figure skaters will represent the Northfield Skating School in their first skating competition, the Farmington Spring Festival. The competition will take place at the Schmitz-Maki Arena, 114 West Spruce St in Farmington, and will include skaters from clubs all over Minnesota. Fans and spectators are welcome.

The skaters participating are Sofie Jokela, a Junior at NHS skating to a piece by Rodruigo; Hattie Ryan, also a Junior at NHS skating to a Santana medley; and Anna Sheehan, a 7th grader at Northfield Middle School skating to a song by Angels and Airwaves. Sofie and Hattie have been skating since 2006 and Anna has been skating since the Northfield Skating School was established in 2005. All of them volunteer as Skating Assistants with the Northfield Skating School.

All three competitors began skating in group lessons with the Northfield Skating School. Over the past year they have also trained privately with Carey Tinkelenberg, Founder and Head Coach of the school, to work on polishing performance pieces and preparing mentally for competition. In the off-season when the Northfield Arena closes down, the group has travelled to Farmington, Lakeville, Prior Lake, and Edina to find ice time.

These are the first advanced skaters trained exclusively with the Northfield program, and the passion and dedication they have shown has been extremely impressive (as their coach, I can attest!) It’s a great accomplishment for them to have reached a level where they can perform in front of an audience and have a chance to win medals. Best of luck to Anna, Hattie, and Sofie on Saturday.

For more information about the event or the Northfield Skating School, please visit www.northfieldskating.org