Cost can be a big barrier to figure skating. Aside from paying coaches and purchasing practice ice time, the equipment for skating can be expensive. Such prohibitive costs can discourage beginner skaters from exploring recreational skating. At Harvard Figure Skating Club, our mission is to make skating fun and engaging for people of all backgrounds, from elite, experienced competitors who've been skating for years to beginners who are learning to skate for the first time.
At Harvard, figure skating is recognized as a club sport. Our club is open to all Harvard students, not just undergraduates. Due to space restrictions at the rink on campus, we are not able to purchase and store a set of rental skates for beginner skaters. This poses a barrier for us to engage new skaters and amateurs. So, to make skating more accessible without the option of rental skates, a few years ago we launched a subsidy program for new skates. Figure skates for a beginner can range from $60 to $300 and are even more expensive for competitive skaters. Harvard's athletic department generously provided us with funding to offer a flat $50 subsidy to anyone looking to purchase new skates.
Our program has allowed the club to engage new skaters who are just learning to skate. One example was Moshe Poliak, a junior at Harvard College who reached out to the club last year. Moshe says, "I have been dreaming about getting involved in figure skating ever since I was a child." His home country didn't have access to ice rinks, but he had visited rinks when traveling abroad. When he came to Harvard, he was very excited to get more involved in skating. We connected him with resources for purchasing skates from a local skate shop and advice on how to decide on a pair of skates. We also offered our subsidy for the skates. Moshe says, "Thanks to Harvard Figure Skating Club's skate subsidy, I was able to obtain my first pair of skates and finally make my figure skating dream come true."
As Harvard plans for a full return this fall, our club looks forward to continuing to make skating more accessible to everyone!
Marissa Sumathipala is a 2020-21 Collegiate Ambassador and a member of the Harvard University intercollegiate figure skating team.Â
