For the past three weeks, the Northern Lights Figure Skating Club has had to keep a secret.
And it wasn’t an easy thing to do.
U.S. Figure Skating announced Thursday that the Northern Lights club and Ralph Engelstad Arena will host the 2017 Midwestern and Pacific Coast Synchronized Skating Championships. The event will run from Jan. 19-22, 2017, at REA.
“We got the news about three weeks ago but we couldn’t say anything until they released it,” said Katie Boespflug, the Northern Lights director. “It’s a pretty big deal for us.”
The event is expected to bring more than 180 teams and 3,700 skaters from the Midwest and Pacific regions. Skaters will range in age from 4 to 75.
ADVERTISEMENT
There will be numerous benefits in hosting the event as well.
“It’s going to put our club on the map for figure skating,” said Boespflug, adding it will also help relieve fundraising for the skaters.
The event won’t be completely foreign to the club.
In 2003, the Northern Lights club hosted the Midwestern regional. The event went well and promoted local officials to make a run at the 2017 championships.
“That was such a big success,” said Boespflug. “We’ve had judges and officials put a bug in our ear to do it again.”
The 2015 event was held in Edina, Minn., and next year’s championships will be held in Portland, Ore.
The event is sanctioned by U.S. Figure Skating, which awarded the championships to the club after a formal bid process.
There are 13 levels for synchronized skating within the U.S. Figure Skating structure, with eight of the levels advancing from the 2017 event in Grand Forks to the U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships.
ADVERTISEMENT
“A lot of work went into the bid process,” added Boespflug. “It will be rewarding.”
