Hosting a Collegiate Competition

Intercollegiate competitions are hosted by schools across the country. This year, two of our ambassadors, Maria from University of South Florida and Kelvin from UC Berkeley, are on teams that hosted competitions. Maria's team hosted a competition for the first time in the team's history and Kelvin's team has hosted several times before, providing us with some interesting perspective. Read ahead to learn more about their experience balancing being a student, a skater, and a competition host!
 
Kelvin Li, University of California, Berkeley
 
There is something uniquely tiring and simultaneously exhilarating about hosting an intercollegiate competition. It is already a feat to successfully execute a multi-day competition with competitors flying in from the entire western seaboard and add on top of that having to compete at the competition while running the event, well you can see how things can become overwhelming. Golden Bears Skate 2023 was made possible only by the planning and leadership of our team's executive board and the assistance of the St. Moritz ISC and the Oakland Ice Center. Here I'm hoping to give you all a peak behind the scenes of setting up and running a competition while competing at that same event!
 
Though planning for the event by the executive board started over 6 months before the competition date. For me, this involved helping transport supplies (chairs and tables, oh so many of both) for the judges stand, accounting room and officials' hospitality to the rink then putting together said venues. Though the work was tiring - I was a tad bit concerned about overworking myself and not being in best form for the upcoming competition - it was also a great bonding experience as we saw the competition structures come together before our eyes.
 
After turning in for the night, our team was back at the rink bright and early (we left Berkeley at 5:30 a.m.!) to finish setting up before competitors started arriving. Throughout the whole competition we all took turns handling jobs like ice monitoring, running and staffing the registration desk. Though it made our cheering section in the stand smaller than normal, we made up for it with family and friends from the area that were able to attend the competition, something that wouldn't have been possible at an away competition! And though volunteering and keeping track of tasks that needed to be done did make it harder to focus on being a competitor, the feeling of accomplishment at running a smooth event was a worthy trade off. Despite these challenges, our team still managed to place second overall including taking home a trophy at every team maneuvers level!
 
Hosting an intercollegiate competition is a huge undertaking, but ultimately it is a fantastically rewarding experience. From getting to learn about the inner workings of a competition to seeing a mountain of planning and hard work come to fruition, the memories we made as a team while hosting Golden Bears Skate are, to be cliche, priceless.

 
Maria Gruszczynski, University of South Florida
 
In spring of 2022, the newly formed University of South Florida Intercollegiate Team placed a bid to host a competition for the upcoming season. In the summer, when we received the news that we got the bid, my team was incredibly surprised, grateful and excited, but also very nervous at the same time. Our team had only participated in two in-person intercollegiate competitions, and now we were tasked with hosting one that November! 

How would we accomplish such a thing and do it successfully, with only a few months to plan? Over the summer and into the fall semester, my club officers and I spent countless hours researching, planning, organizing, and making sure everything had been taken care of so that by the time competition day rolled around we would be able to provide our fellow skaters with the best experience possible. 

At the competition I competed in a free skate, free dance, short program and in team maneuvers. It was challenging to manage the competition and my own skating, but it was fun to be able to work behind the scenes. 

Hosting a competition helped me develop a lot of new skills. I learned how to better organize tasks, and coordinate with hotels, rink management, and other teams. At this competition I also had the opportunity to announce for the first time. I was nervous, but once I got comfortable with the mic, I was able to have fun with it. 

I would like others to know that whether you are a big team or a small team, with good leadership, and lots of time and dedication you can successfully host an intercollegiate competition! Although hosting was very stressful and time consuming, I am thankful for the opportunity to give back to other skaters!
 
Is your intercollegiate team interested in hosting an Intercollegiate conference competition or even the National Intercollegiate Final? Contact Chloe Roberts, Manager of School & Alumni Programs, at croberts@usfigureskating.org.