ice skating

On Saturday, June 13, from 1 to 5 pm, Cornerstone CFCU Arena’s Lockport Skating School will host its first Basic Skills competition, involving competitors from its Figure Skating and Learn to Skate programs, as well as skaters from Western New York, Central New York, and Ontario, Canada. Thirty-one of the 72 competitors train at the Cornerstone CFCU Arena. Spectators are welcome and admission is free.

Among the contestants will be Michelle Dyer and Macy Midla, of Batavia.

The competition will include 37 events beginning with Basic Skills and Hockey Basic Skills, where skaters skate a pre-assigned set of skills based on their most recently completed level, including Snow Plow Sam through level 8. Fourteen compulsory moves events will follow. Competitors in compulsory events also skate a pre-assigned set of moves, though these groups are for more advanced skaters who have moved out of the Learn to Skate program. Finally, eight freestyle events will close the competition. A free program is what fans of figure skating are most used to seeing on television. The programs are set to music and skaters have the entire ice to skate their program. The compulsory and freestyle events include five adult events with 7 adult competitors overall. The youngest Basic Skills competitor is 4 years old.

Saturday’s competition is just the beginning for the expanding Figure Skating and Learn to Skate programs at Cornerstone CFCU Arena.

“We are planning to host multiple events to draw skaters from across the region to Lockport. This event is the first of many,” says Dawn Ahlers, Figure Skating director at Cornerstone CFCU Arena. “I am proud to share the state-of-the-art Cornerstone CFCU Arena with the skating community. We have so much to offer here, including the Skate Ahead training facility which offers off-ice training for both figure skaters and hockey players.”

This summer, Cornerstone CFCU Arena is hosting two week-long kids fun camps (July 20-24 & August 10-14) and 2 week-long figure skating camps (July 13-17 & August 3-7) as well as two Learn to Skate sessions on Monday and Wednesday evenings through July and August. More information about these and other programs may be found at www.cornerstoneicearena.com.

Lockport contributors to the event include Tops Markets, McDonald’s, WalMart, Lake Effect Ice Cream, and the Milleville family, as well as many volunteers from the local skating community.

The Cornerstone CFCU Arena features two NHL regulation-size rinks, a pro shop, a performance training center, Skate Ahead, and seating for 630 spectators. The 93,500-square-foot facility at 34 Chestnut St. in Lockport opened its Figure Skating and Learn to Skate programs in October 2014.