Team Image Skaters Rewrite Final Chapter

As the last practice of the 2021 synchronized skating season came to a close, Team Image skater Jessica Hamburg could not believe her time in a rink had come to a close. She had skated with Team Image for eight seasons, and over the years, her teammates had become like family.
 
She was not ready to leave the people who had watched her grow up, and she believed her skating story needed a different ending. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all synchro competitions were performed virtually during the 2021 season. That meant that rather than travel around the country and compete for a rink full of fans, teams submitted videos of their free and short programs to the judges for evaluation.
 
To Hamburg, skating for a screen was just not the same.
 
"I think just getting to share my joy of skating with an audience and having people watch and cheer was such a big thing for me," she said. "And I feel like last year, the virtual competitions were definitely harder, but I really wanted to compete and have a live audience again."
 
The desire to write one more chapter gave her an idea. She was slated to graduate high school at the end of the school year, but what if, rather than immediately attend college, she took a gap year and used the extra time to spend one more season as a member of Team Image?
 
Her parents were on board.
 
"My parents really wanted me to stay [with Team Image]," she said. "They wanted me to stay all the way back in December, before I was even, like, thinking about it, because they wanted to see me compete again in person, and I think they also wanted me to be home with them again for another year."
 
Hamburg was not the only member of Team Image weighing the prospect of taking time off from school to skate. Fellow junior squad member Charlotte Carter pondered the idea, too. She had just joined Team Image a year earlier and could not imagine leaving after only one season.
 
"I think throughout the last month, I knew that the season was ending, but it didn't feel actually real until like, that last practice," she said. "And it was like, this can't be the end. Like, I can't imagine myself not coming back here, and not working with this team to get to our full potential. So it really did feel like it was necessary that I did come back, because I knew I would definitely regret not being able to go with this team as far as we could."
 
Part of her desire to stay stemmed from the welcome she had received upon joining the squad. Like Hamburg, she felt at home with Team Image; they provided her with a sense of belonging unlike anything she had experienced before. She was not ready to let such a special bond go.
 
"I've met some of the best people I've known on this team," she said. "They're so caring and open to new people. And something about Team Image is that we're all kind of accountable for each other, and we all really want each other to succeed rather than competing against each other. We're each other's cheerleaders, and we pull people up when they need it. And you don't even sometimes have to ask for help. Somebody's always there for you."
 
That is exactly the kind of culture that Team Image director Cindy Kim strives to cultivate. Kim, who has led the team for eight years, first stepped onto the ice as a skater at a young age. Understanding a skater's mindset firsthand has shaped her coaching approach to team building.
 
"I think that experience allowed for me to understand what kind of environment allows a skater to thrive," she said. "And I think for a team, that's when you're all respectful and supportive of each other.
 
"I think it's everyone's responsibility to pull everybody forward, however much they can make the team great."
 
She was elated when Hamburg and Carter told her they planned to stick around for another season. Their experience on the ice as well as an innate understanding of the team's standards would be invaluable as they transitioned back to in person competition and strove to meet their next goal: being renamed to Team USA and becoming a top tier junior synchro team.
 
To achieve that aspiration, Kim choreographed programs that were more intricate and detailed than what the team had performed in previous years. No longer would they play it safe on the ice— Team Image was going all in and giving everything they had to become one of the best in their sport.
 
Reaching such a height is no easy feat, which is why achieving their goals would be so meaningful.
 
"I think [it would be important] just as a reflection of our own hard work," Carter said. "I think we're so capable of it. You know, this is what we've been working for, even before I was on the team, like this is this has just been such a long goal. We've worked in being able to reach our full potential."
 
Hamburg agreed and acknowledged that the work of previous Team Image squads has set them up for success.
 
"I think each year of junior, we have accomplished little steps to reach the potential of being in the top tier," she said. "I think it would be really rewarding to be in the top. It would just make us feel like we've accomplished what we've been working towards the past four years of junior."
 
For now, Hamburg and Carter are enjoying their final rides on Team Image. Though this season is still largely a blank slate, the Fall Classic has been a highlight.
 
"We worked so hard over the summer and getting to go out there and compete made me realize how good we really are this season," Hamburg said. "It really felt like all of the hard work over the summer paid off."
 
The Fall Classic stands out to Carter as well, albeit for a different reason. 
 
"After our long program, I remember so many people coming up to us and going out of their way to tell us how much they liked it," she said. "Just knowing how much it drew in the audience was really incredible, because I've never had that type of program, where everyone is really drawn into it."
 
The competition reaffirmed to both skaters that they had done the right thing in returning for their final season.
 
"Being able to receive two Challenger Series was incredible and [I loved] just being able to, like kind of reconnect with my team," Carter said. "It's just been really fun and really, a once in a lifetime experience. And I know that I have my whole life ahead of me with college and working. But this, you don't really get back. And so I'm really, really grateful that I took this year."
 
If the first few paragraphs are any indication, Carter and Hamburg's final chapter will be one to remember.