Dear Skyliners,
We hope you had a wonderful summer, and we are excited to head into our 2022-23 season with our phenomenal group of skaters and coaches!
This year, we are 14 lines strong: Senior, Junior, Novice, Intermediate, Juvenile, Pre-Juvenile Blue, Pre-Juvenile Black, Preliminary Black, Preliminary Blue, Beginner Blue, Beginner Black, Beginner Sapphire, Beginner Onyx and Beginner Aqua.
We would like to welcome all of the new skaters joining the Skyliners family. Our returning skaters can vouch for the incredible memories and lifelong friends you will make as a Skyliner. And welcome back to all the skaters who continue to make Skyliners one of the top teams in the nation and the world!
Skyliners mission is to prepare skaters to compete at the highest level of USFS synchronized skating: locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.
This issue of SkyBlast features boot camp diaries, a Summer Splice photo gallery, and Meet the Board Q&A's. Enjoy, and Go Skyliners!!!
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PLACE YOUR ADS
IN THE SKYLINERS JOURNAL!!
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Parents & Alumni!! Don't forget to submit your ads for the Journal. This beloved tradition is filled with important team information and well wishes from skaters, liness, families, friends, etc! Purchase an ad to wish your favorite skater or lines good luck this season! This is always a special keepsake for our skaters, and an important Skyliners fundraiser! Please share this opportunity to support Skyliners with your favorite local businesses as well! CLICK HERE FOR INSTRUCTIONS TO ORDER AN AD Our next deadline is October 1st. After that, ads will be accepted until October 8th at a higher price. Year after year, 90% of our organization participates in this Journal...don't miss out!!
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GET READY FOR PEP RALLY!
ALL DAY - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29
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This year's Pep Rally will begin the afternoon of Saturday, October 29th at Terry Conners Rink in Stamford, CT! As always, this is a free event showcasing our amazing skaters debuting their new programs! We encourage Skyliners alumni to join us along with individual coaches, family members and friends. Spread the word! More details to come. |
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PEP RALLY DINNER
Evening of Saturday, October 29
Don't miss the Skyliners Pep Rally Dinner and Auction at the Italian Center of Stamford, the evening of October 29th immediately following the Pep Rally performances (approximately 6:30 pm).
If you are new to the lines, this is a not-to-be-missed evening of fun, food, photos, dancing, celebrating...and shopping!
Tickets for family members go on sale in late September - stay tuned! Skaters attend for $1!
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PEP RALLY AUCTION
Donations Needed!
Our silent auction is one of the highlights of the Pep Rally Dinner, and a very important fundraiser. Please donate an item for the auction, all donations are tax-deductible! Some ideas include sports & entertainment tickets, travel (airline tickets, vacation homes, timeshares), skating paraphernalia, gift cards, gift baskets or cash contributions (we can do the shopping for you!) No item is too big or small, the sky's the limit!
Email our auction team at
Every year we receive both individual donations from Skyliners families, as well as line donations from each Skyliners line. This fundraiser is crucial to underwriting our ice costs.
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SUMMER SPLICE 2022
PHOTO GALLERY
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Skyliners is one of the largest parent-run skating organizations in the nation. We are grateful to the many parent volunteers who contribute to our team and its programs. The 2022-23 Skyliners Board of Directors is comprised of 13 parents (of both current and alumni Skyliners) along with Director of Synchronized Skating Josh Babb. The Board is responsible for much of the long-term planning for the team (like parties, fundraising, special events) as well as the day-to-day operations (such as purchasing ice time, selling Spiritwear, accounting, website management and coordinating travel).
Our Board members include Lawrence Cooke (President), Masako Sparks (Treasurer), Gina Ilardi (Secretary) and Directors Meredith Berkowitz, Missey Dweck, Leslie Goudie, Mia Kim, Melissa Schauble, Jill Stanek and Ben Vallieres.
This season, we welcome newly-elected board members Eunjin Park and Takaki Sakai. And we give our whole-hearted thanks to recently retired board members Anastasia Priyanikova, Lisa Ortiz-Vilarelle, and Elvira Medus for their years of service to the team.
We also thank our dedicated Board of Trustees who offer strategic advice and develop long-term goals for the organization. Trustees include Jeff Young (chairman), Josh Babb, Lawrence Cooke, Rick Brenner, Joe Elmlinger, David Snow and Lynette Snow.
If you have questions to ask or ideas to offer, feel free to reach out to the Skyliners Board by clicking here.
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Lawrence Cooke, President |
Name of Skater: Sennett Cooke skated for Skyliners from 2001-2012 and was part of Skyliners first Nationals medal and first Junior National Championship. After graduating from college, she returned as an assistant coach.
How many years have you been a part of Skyliners? 22 years
What do you do in your time outside of Skyliners? I am a litigating lawyer in a national law firm. When I am not in the courtroom or working with Skyliners, I am a volunteer fireman in Pelham Manor.
What are your main responsibilities on the Board? The President works with the coaches and the Board to set goals for the organization and provide the resources to achieve those goals.
Having been involved with the organization since its founding 22 years ago, I have seen Its spectacular growth and competitive accomplishments as the result of commitment from skaters, parents and coaches; we stand on the shoulders of giants.
Favorite Skyliners moment? Skyliners International gold medal in Prague (2010); first Junior World Challenge Cup (2010), 2020 Eastern Championships, and carrying Catherine’s bags and traveling with the Senior line to Milan (2020).
What town do you live in? Pelham Manor, NY with my wife Catherine, son Ted and daughter Cassie
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Name and Line of Skater: Mia Sparks, Alumnae
How many years have you been part of Skyliners? 13 years
What are your main responsibilities on the Board? Treasurer, Financial Control, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Payment Systems, Used Dress Sales, Summer Splice
What do you do in your time outside of Skyliners? Outside of Skyliners, I enjoy sewing/crafting in my spare time. I love anything embroidered, personalized and customized. I love to organize, tidy, and optimize, so I find myself channeling konmari methods in my daily chores. My therapy dog, Suzu, is now 4.5 years old and she continues to bring smiles and joys to my life.
What town do you live in? Darien, CT
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Name and Line of Skater: Francesca Ilardi, Juvenile
How many years have you been part of Skyliners? 6 years
What are your main responsibilities on the Board? Secretary
What do you do in your time outside of Skyliners? I am a lawyer, so when I'm not working or at the rink, I love to be with my kids. Our family loves to be outdoors, so a lot of our time is spent together golfing or hiking with our dog, Archie. We also love cooking and going to the movies.
What town do you live in? Greenwich, CT
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Meredith Berkowitz, Director |
Name and Line of Skater: Devin Berkowitz, Novice
How many years have you been part of Skyliners?
7 years
What are your main responsibilities on the Board? Competitions, Ice Contracts and Volunteers
What do you do in your time outside of Skyliners? I am an attorney specializing in capital markets, venture capital and general corporate and contract law. I served as Commissioner of West Side Soccer League, a not-for-profit youth soccer league in NYC with over 4000 children and 32 travel teams, for seven years and continue as an ex-officio advisor and a member of their board. I am also an officer and director of the Bridgehampton Civic Association. I enjoy reading, tennis and biking. I'm also a hockey mom to an 18-year old son.
What town do you live in? New York, NY
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Name and Line of Skater: Morgan Dweck, Intermediate
How many years have you been part of Skyliners? 10 years
What do you do in your time outside of Skyliners? I was previously a talent agent representing actors for film, TV and Theatre and now am at home with my daughters and participate on various boards.
What town do you live in? Darien, CT
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Names and Lines of Skaters: Felicity Goudie, Novice, and Ellie Goudie, Alumnae
How many years have you been part of Skyliners? 10 years
What are your main responsibilities on the Board? Spiritwear, Used Dress Sales and Team Apparel
What do you do in your time outside of Skyliners? When I'm not driving to various rinks, I volunteer at the girls' school. I'm also on the board of the Skating Club of Fairfield County. I enjoy skiing, hiking and traveling.
What town do you live in? Stamford, CT
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Name and Line of Skater: Jayne Kim, Novice
How many years have you been part of Skyliners? 7 years
What is your main responsibilities on the Board? Travel
What do you do in your time outside of Skyliners? As a full-time working mom, I enjoy the precious time I have with Jayne, as I shuttle her back and forth to skating practices, lessons and competitions. I did some skating as a child, so I get very excited cheering for Skyliners or watching other skating competitions on TV. We are a winter sport family and enjoy skiing and love to travel with our mini Goldendoodle, Leah, who loves running around in the snow.
What town do you live in? Mount Kisco, NY
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Melissa Schauble, Director |
Name and Line of Skater: Taylor Schauble, Intermediate
How many years have you been part of Skyliners? 5 years
What is your main responsibility on the Board? SkyBlast
What do you do in your time outside of Skyliners? I'm a travel agent specializing in family travel, including my favorite - Walt Disney World and Hawaii. My 11 year old son, Cooper, plays for a travel hockey team and travel soccer team so our family spends a lot of time at the ice rink and in the car traveling from New Jersey!
What is your favorite memory with Skyliners? The first season at Skyliners, I was a Line Mom that helped the line before competing. At our first Easterns competition, the line skated out to a loud cheer and noticed so many Sky teams and families cheering for the team. It brought tears to my eyes with the amount of support the organization has for every line.
What town do you live in? Succasunna, NJ
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Name and Line of Skater: Sawyer Stanek, Juvenile
How many years have you been part of Skyliners?
6 years
What do you do in your time outside of Skyliners? After working full time for 25 years in technology, I left the workforce to focus on my children and their activities. I enjoy spending time with my family, traveling, walking and hiking.
What town do you live in? Wilton, CT
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Name and Line of Skater: Lily Rose Vallieres, Novice
How many years have you been part of Skyliners? 9 years
What are your main responsibilities on the Board? Technology, Audit and Nominating Committees
What do you do in your time outside of Skyliners? I am a portfolio manager for a large renewable energy company. When I am not working on helping Skyliners, I like to study and play poker, read and watch movies with Marie and Lily Rose.
What town do you live in? Purchase, NY
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...AND MEET OUR NEW BOARD MEMBERS |
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Name and Line of Skater: Eleanor (Ellie) Kim, Pre-Juvenile
How many years have you been part of Skyliners? 3 years
What do you do in your time outside of Skyliners? Mom, chauffeur, housekeeper, caregiver for senior parents, work as a physician assistant, and gardening.
What is your favorite memory with Skyliners? I have two! At Eastern Sectionals in 2020, we had an amazing dinner with lots of FUN (for the parents) and their skaters. But I’m pretty certain we adults had much more fun than our skaters. This competition is when our underdog line, pre-preliminary placed 2nd during round 1 (cue the cowgirl music!). Another favorite memory was last year's Pep Rally! It was exhilarating!
What town do you live in? Stamford, CT
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Name and Line of Skater: Yurika Sakai, Junior
How many years have you been part of Skyliners? 4 years
What do you do in your time outside of Skyliners? Running, reading, and cooking.
What is your favorite memory with Skyliners? Having chanted U-S-A! with fellow parents after the line completed a clean skate at the Junior Worlds!
What town do you live in? Greenwich, CT
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2022 SUMMER BOOT CAMP
Diaries
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Beginner Aqua: After a fantastic summer, Beginner Aqua is ready to return to the ice! We are looking forward to a fun season making great friends and teammates!
Beginner Onyx: The Skyliners Beginners Onyx line is 16 members strong. They are looking forward to the season’s first practice in September and experiencing their first year as official Skyliners!
Beginner Sapphire: The Sapphire line is geared up for an exciting new season! They have received their gear and were fitted for competition dresses. They look forward to practices and competitions!
Beginner Black: Beginner Black can't wait to start practice! We cannot wait to hear our music and begin program work!
Beginner Blue: The season is almost here for Beginner Blue! They are ready to "rock the ice"!
Preliminary Blue: Skyliners Preliminary Blue is a fairly new line with 5 veteran Prelim skaters, 5 new Skyliners and 10 skaters that leveled up from last season’s undefeated beginner line. While we have big shoes to fill from the success of last year’s Preliminary lines, this year’s Preliminary Blue skaters are full of heart and tenacity. The dedicated skaters have spent the summer improving their skills, often meeting up to practice together and with their individual coaches. Some skaters also attended Splice and various summer camps. Monthly birthday celebrations and team bonding excursions were created for the skaters to help them thrive in the positive spirit of competition. We look forward to the official start of the season with our coaches: Lori, Alex, Nicole, and Nikki. A special birthday shoutout to our head coach, Lori! With Melissa, Dawn, Lin and Tina as Line Moms/ Line Assistants, we wish all our Skyliners Teammates a healthy and successful 2022-2023 Season. Go Skyliners, Rock da Boat!
Preliminary Black: This line is ready to go! They cannot wait to get movin' and groovin' at their upcoming boot camp!
PreJuvenile Black: PreJuv Black line is starting off the fall season strong, full of joy, energy, and celebration! The girls celebrated birthdays together, sharpened their skating skills, deepened their friendship, and got ready for an amazing competition season ahead!
PreJuvenile Blue: PreJuvenile Blue are looking forward to boot camp and a season full of fun, friends and challenges. It's going to be a great season!
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Juvenile
After a few weeks apart our Juvenile line was excited to start their Summer Boot Camp at Chelsea Piers CT on August 25th! There was a big reveal for our theme- our coaches gave us little clues throughout the summer. We even got to see our dress! We worked super hard for 4 days on our program. It was fun to learn and implement all of the new rules with Ashley & Sarah. We finished 5 of the 6 elements in our program. It was fun to enjoy lunches and bonding time with our teammates and celebrate with a team dinner at the end! We can’t wait to keep working hard on our “NYC” themed program! We are excited to cheer on all Skyliners on what will be out best season yet!
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Intermediate Boot Camp Diary
by Kristen Lau and Gwen Oakley
Skyliners Intermediate hit the ice at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, August 1st, for our four-day boot camp at Chelsea Piers Connecticut. We started by skating around the rink, following Coach Jordan’s famous warm-up. Coach Josh began choreographing our program by masterfully crafting a dramatic opening. We had lunch in the Squash lounge, then we worked on more of the routine in the off ice room. During off-ice we had fun learning different stretches from Coach Nikki so that we might hope to improve our flexibility.The first day concluded with a second on-ice session in which we finished our beginning, traveling element, and pivoting block. We had a great start to the next day as we started to learn our no-hold. Since there are many new rules this season, such as the removal of the step sequence in the no-hold and the requirement of a difficult entry into the intersection, our program will look quite different than last year’s. Throughout the day, we had fun experimenting with many new tricks such as knee slides and loop jumps. We continued working hard over the next two days, adding the remaining elements to our program; on day four, we successfully completed our black swan themed program. After four days of intense flying, the line had a small party with pizza and cupcakes. We are so excited to show off our hard work and we cannot wait for the new season to begin. GO SKYLINERS!
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Novice Boot Camp Diary
by Isabelle Gao
At the start of boot camp, we were all a little nervous and hesitant. After some time off in the summer, we all seemed to need a refresher on the program. But once we knew our starting positions and went through the steps, everyone started to feel more comfortable. When we got on the ice, we started choreographing and adding onto the existing program. On the first day of bootcamp, we had lunch in the common area upstairs. However, for the rest of bootcamp we ate in the squash lounge. During lunch, the line bonded, and we had a lot of fun talking and laughing together! Then we had off ice again and ran through the program and lined things up before getting back on the ice. At the end of our successful boot camp, we were able to finish the program! Coach Pam made us do 2 run throughs, which was challenging, but we got through it together. Afterwards, we took pictures as a line and went “ice swimming”! We had a pizza party in the squash lounge and ate pizza and cupcakes. We are so proud of the progress we made and we can’t wait to show everyone the program!
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Junior Boot Camp Diary
by Madison Jarvis
After spending a week in Simsbury, for our bootcamp, the Junior line is excited for the upcoming season! Although our traditional Lake Placid bootcamp was still not able to happen, we made the most of our time in Simsbury, CT, spending time each day with on and off ice practices as well as countless hours of team bonding. For the first two days, we focused our time developing and practicing our new long program for the 2022-2023 season. As a line, we all really connect with the theme this year, this has motivated and inspired us to strive for great things this season. After working hard for the first two days, we all enjoyed ice cream together as a team! The next day, we worked on our new short program. Having already finished the choreography before our camp, we were able to make small changes and begin cleaning elements up with our ice time. On our final day, we were able to do run throughs of both of our programs, that is pretty amazing! Besides the time we spent on ice, we were also able to work with our sports psychologists Caroline and Lauren during our time. Although we were only able to spend a few hours with them, we talked about emotions that we put into our time on the ice and how we can better our practices through our emotions. However, despite all the amazing progress we made, my personal favorite part of boot camp was our game night. The entire line gathered at tables outside of the hotel, we all brought fun games, and we played them for hours. Not only were we able to bond with teammates we had skated with before, but it was the perfect opportunity to meet new people. Overall, bootcamp was definitely a success. We completed both programs, grew closer as a line, and developed a drive for the season ahead of us… and we can’t wait!!!
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Senior Boot Camp Diary
by Alyssa Dunn
After taking our summer break, Senior met up in Simsbury, CT, for free- skate boot camp. We started the first day attending Sports Psychology with Lauren and Caroline. We shared our concerns and our excitement about the 2022-2023 season. The main focus was to teach us mental techniques to push our skating to the next level. Throughout our on-ice sessions, we were able to fully finish the long program, in addition to skating full runs. After day two of ice, we stopped by a cute ice cream truck, Twisted Sisters, to get a quick treat and some much-needed sunshine! Every day we were fortunate to have our own personal crossing guards, Mrs. Jen and Mrs. Joy, as they stopped traffic to ensure we made it safely to the final destination. Our personalities shined through as we took our individual headshots and did our interviews for Instagram! On our last two days of camp, Nicole came in to help solidify our new choreography and emphasize the programs' styles. Our versatility as athletes is showcased throughout both programs, as we portray Britney Spears and the six wives of King Henry VIII. Josh and Pam have given us a challenge that we have eagerly accepted as we find our inner Brittany and then show the depth of Six. Our excitement is building for the opportunity to show off what the Skyliners seniors have in store for the 22-23 season!
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Skyliners was established in 2001 by a group of parents who wanted to create the most competitive synchronized skating club in the tri-state area. In that first year, the team had three lines - Preliminary, Juvenile and Intermediate. Twenty-two years later, Skyliners has grown into one of the top synchronized skating teams in the country, now 14 lines and 265+ skaters strong. While the majority of the skaters reside in the tri-state area, we also have had skaters from Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin. Our resume of achievements includes 33 Eastern championships, 16 National championships, 8 International gold medals, and making history with one bronze and two Junior Worlds Silver medals.
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SKYLINERS!
Download the SportsSignUpPlay app
Parents & Skaters - We encourage you to download the SportsSignUpPlay app on your smartphone or tablet. It offers line schedules, team chat, roster, photo & video uploading capabilities.
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