Unlike most other synchronized skating teams, the members of the Mount Pearl Startlites are their own coaches. Team Captain Jillian Whiteway says the arrangement forces them to work hard at providing feedback to each other. The team members include, starting in the back row from left: Catherine Power, Lauren Quinlan, Katie Best, Keira Hancock, Sam Evans, Isabella Cura, Jakiera Rideout and Katie VanKoughnet; and in the front, from left, are: Veronica Cura, Leah Whitten, Anna Boland, Hayley Hynd, Katie Slaney, Dayton Fifield, Emily Thorne, Claire Bennett and Jillian Whiteway.
By Chad Feehan / Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The Mount Pearl-Paradise Starlites Synchronized Skating Team came fourth place in the Open category at the 2024 Skate Canada Cup, but the members still felt like winners as it just might have been their best performance of the season in the biggest competition of the year.
Yet again representing all of Atlantic Canada, the Starlites competed against synchronized skating teams from across the country last weekend in Waterloo, Ontario.
Team Captain Jillian Whiteway said the skaters are proud of both of their performances last weekend.
“Despite the nerves, we felt like we were able to go out and individually perform our best, and certainly as a whole I think that really showed through in the program,” she said.
Among an impressive array of solid performances at home this winter, the Starlites placed third at Skate Ontario this January where they competed against many of the same teams they would meet again this past weekend.
“It really helped give us a feel for where we sat relative to other teams that we would be competing against,” she said. “It was a really good addition to our training this year because it set us up a little bit more for success.”
Cheering them on from the stands was a large number of friends, parents, and two teams from the Prince of Wales Skating Club, who were competing in other categories.
“I think we had the biggest cheering section of the whole event which is not normal for us when it comes to an Ontario competition,” Whiteway said.
"We didn't just skate for ourselves, we skated for those who showed up to support us; our family, our friends, and our province," added Anna Boland. "It's such a special feeling steeping onto the ice, skating alongside 16 of your best friends, and looking into the stands seeing all of the people you love there supporting you."
The Starlites skated to No Ordinary by Labirinth a song about finding love and hope, and opened their performance with the artistic wheel, a move that begins as an ‘X’ shape before evolving into rotating parallel lines.
Whiteway said opening with the artistic wheel was meant to introduce the character of the performance and demonstrate the beautiful quality of skating as soon as the music started.
“That was probably our strongest element in terms of how we felt skating, but also how it was received by the technical panel and the judges,” she said.
Perhaps most notable about the Starlites is the absence of any dedicated coach. Originally implemented out of necessity, multiple members of the team have taken on coaching responsibilities in more of a collective manner.
Whiteway admitted it is a rarity to see that at the national level, but the team is proud of the arrangement that ultimately works for them.
“There’s no single person who leads the charge. We kind of split up the responsibility across the team so that everyone has a little bit more ownership,” she said. “I think that’s something that has helped us to grow our skating over the last number of years.”
Despite being their own coaches, the Starlites aren’t totally on their own given the presence of choreographer Jennifer Beauchamp-Crichton and sports psychologist Dr. David Hancock who both lend their services to the team from time to time.
Working with the Starlites for the past number of years, Dr. Hancock helps the team manage nerves and stress as individuals, taking into account how to work these strategies into the team's broad dynamic.
“When you’re on a team with 16 other people, what one person needs before a competition isn't necessarily what the other person needs,” Whiteway said.
Going forward, the team looks forward to the provincials in March, which they begin training for in the next couple of weeks, before getting ready for the next skating season in the fall.
“Our goal next year is to continue improving our skating, improving our score,” Whiteway said. “We have proven to ourselves over the last couple of years that we can compete with the top teams in the country and that’s something that we want to continue to push.”
