• Coach's Words of Wisdom
• Skating Etiquette
• Racing Checklist
• Bay State Blitz - Nationals Edition, March 10, 2008

by Geert Kinthaert

Skate hard. Don't forget to turn.

With the new season looming ahead, it becomes high time to consider where we are at and what our goals are this year: Do you want to race, or are you happy to be a recreational skater ? If the answer to the racing question is a positive one, then what races do you want to skate ? - the calendar is available: make a schedule, think about your budget and travel plans. Now that it is later in the summer and club ice will start up shortly, are you in decent physical shape - getting back on the ice with little or no preparation is not a good way to go about it ? If you don't have a plan or training schedule (and if you are a racer, you should be following one) there will be some more dryland get-togethers at Prospect Hill in the month of August, so you can assess your fitness and skill level before attending the club sessions. Skating becomes a whole lot more fun and feasible if you have the strength and stamina taken care of. Do you have the right equipment - long blades and safety gear should definitely be considered ? Now is the time ot tune your equipment - radius, bent, boots - all of these factors need to be considered before getting on the ice.

Rink etiquette and safety should always be considered - get into good habits before we start multiple club sessions:

Skate a certain track and get as close to the apex as you can. If you drift away from the apex you're actually taking up a couple of lanes, your turning radius will be different from other people's. Don't change track suddenly. Skaters 'expect' you to be somewhere. Decide where you want to go; be aware of where you are and where you are heading; take into consideration the skaters around you, behind you, and in front of you. Follow the instructions of the coach. Have safety equipment on the ice, not at home. Take care of your equipment. Dull blades can ruin a practice for everyone. Help with the mats, put blocks back when you hit them. Help out with the little maintenance tasks that come with running a practice.

Have fun !

by Geert Kinthaert

A couple of thoughts on rink etiquette: We will be skating harder and faster now that the season's here, which means that we have to be more careful out there.

Skate a certain track and get as close to the apex as you can.

If you drift off the apex you're actually taking up a couple of lanes.

Don't change track suddenly.

In meets, you will get DQed. In practice, you can send another fellow skater to the hospital. Especially in relays you don't veer off your track and go to the middle unless you're 100% certain nobody is coming up behind you (and they can come up fast).

Follow the instructions of the coach.

If (s)he wants you to skate in a pack, please do so. If (s)he makes groups in a certain way, don't let your ego speak. It is done for your and everyone's safety.

Have safety equipment on the ice, not at home.

Helmet, gloves, long sleeves are mandatory. Kneepads, shinpads, safety goggles, neckguard, etc... can be helpful.

Take care of your equipment.

I will have no pity on skaters that have dull blades or loose bolts. Check your equipment all the time. It ruins your workout and the workout of the skaters around you.

Be cordial and helpful.

Help with the mats, put blocks back when you hit them, no words or fist fights, keep those off the ice. Skating can be stressful on body and mind, but let's try to deal with it in a nice way.

Have Fun. Give your all.

by Joanne Hallisey

What to bring:

• Skates (sharpen them before you leave). Be sure the ends of the blades are rounded.
• Skate guards.
• Jig, stones and oil (if your stones require it, you will have to sharpen multiple times).
• Gloves, helmet, knee pads, shin guards, neck guards (they will not let you race without them).
• Tape.
• Spare shoelaces.
• Tools for blades.
• Skin suit or racing tights. If you have an extra bring it.
• Hairdryer....in case you get wet and only have one suit.
• Warmups - if you have zippered or snapped warmup pants bring those.
• Hat and jacket......it may be colder than you think.
• Snack foods and drinks. Keep junk food to a minimum. Choose foods that are easy to digest and give you energy. The rink will probably have peanut butter and jelly, bagels, bananas and oranges, but bring something in case. Power bars or Nutrigrain bars are good for between races. Go easy on bananas and oranges as they may sit heavy in or upset your stomach....same for apples.
• Bring a copy of your race application and check if you made a copy. Have your US Speedskating card information. If you do not have a card yet, check with the club secretary so that can provide a list of paid registered Bay State skaters to the meet director.

What to expect:

• Arrival at the rink and check-in. The check-in is relatively early compared to the racing time. If they have a preliminary schedule you may want to look at it.
• Be sure to check your blades for rock and bend.  You should not make any major changes, but be sure that there are not problems.
• Tighten all bolts. You should check this periodically, but
  checking before meets is very important.
• Warm up before the competition. Jog, jump, stretch, loosen up.
• Check the time for your age group's ice warmup. Be ready to go on the ice at that time.
• Ice warmup - some easy laps, some accels, some rolling starts, some regular starts, a few warm down easy laps.......this is not a workout!!
• Notice where the heat box is. This is the area where each race waits before going on the ice. Normally you will pick a number for your position on the line. You want to check the race schedule which should be posted (but try and get a copy to have nearby). This will let you know when to get ready. You should start to get things together and head for the heat box about 10 minutes before your race. Keep your warmups on until your heat is called.....don't let your muscles get cold.
• Let the coaches know when you are racing so they will be ready. The coaches are usually on the side of the rink. They can talk strategy with you and you will want to listen for their tips during a race.
• Have fun!

Bay State Skaters Show Up In Force by Joanne Hallisey

The Petit Center in West Allis, Wisconsin opened its doors to a 'fierce' group of Bay State speedskaters this past weekend. Our club was well represented by Dan and Emily Ott, Lauren Mullineaux, Andrew Grosenbaugh, Lydia Conaway, Maddie Vale, Hugh Johnston, Ben and Dave Gertner, Brenday Raftery, Eric Peckham, Jen Kola and Tod Shannon. Our family support crew included Rozita Gertner, David, Jeannie and Jacqueline Raftery. And our coaching was ever present with Nate Bolton, John Chadis and your's truely. Caroline Hallisey brought 5 skaters from Colorado, but she was always ready to give advice to her home club skaters.

I woke up this morning and my legs were tired. It felt as if I had skated every lap with our skaters. Then I realized that I must have run up and down the stairs from one side of the Petit a hundred times over the course of the competition!!

We had many highlights and lowlights. This is short track speedskating afterall. Personal best times were set for many....this was "work ice" so any personal bests were hard earned.

I will try to run down some of the highlights.
Masters began on Friday, March 7. Dan Ott garnered medals in all of his distances. Hugh Johnston kept himself in the mix for all of his races. Lauren Mullineaux fell victim to some creative officiating, but came away with medals in her class. She was joined by Jen Kola in some very competitive races for the division. Tod Shannon had a very competitive class and rallied from his cold on day 2 to an awesome 2nd place finish in the last race. Brendan Raftery came away with a personal best time and third place medal in the 500. This qualified Brendan for his favorite distance, the 3000. We all cheered when Maddie got the text message at the airport that he finished 5th in the final race of the weekend. Dave and Ben Gertner and Eric Peckham also skated the Junior Men division and surprised quite a few people. There were always in the pack and showed great execution. Dave finished third in the 1000 final, but was DQ'd on an unfortunate call. It was really a bad call by the refs, but again, that's short track. Maddie and Lydia had great races all weekend. They will be ready for the next step up for next year's season. Andrew Grosenbaugh had a tough first three races with some soaking falls, but he rallied in the 1500 to skate in the very competitive juvenile men division. Andrew's first heat was called back after 8 laps when one of the skaters fell and was slow to get up. (He was OK). So, Andrew got to start all over again. Skating a 22 lap 1500 is not fun! But Andrew did a great job. Emily Ott had very tough competition in the Midget girl division. She surprised us all by skating into the 333 semi-final with some personal best lap times. Of course the highlight for Emily was the photo of her superman slide at the start of her 500 race.

The crew managed the logistics of shuttling everyone back and forth to the rink and airport with some tense moments as we realized that the events did not end until 6:00 on Sunday. I was happily fed by the bags of bagels brought each day by bagel-miesters Tod Shannon, John Chadis, Lauren Mullineaux and Hugh Johnston, not to mention the sandwiches at lunchtime. We missed John and Hugh's lunch run on Sunday.....hey, where are my Subway coupons!!!

The skaters who went to the banquet were disappointed to find that there were no medals to present. They were delayed on route and so skaters were presented with coffee mugs and a hand shake. That hardly matters as we were all very proud of our medal winners and equally proud of all of our competitors.

Skaters took advantage of the long track oval after races and Bay Staters could be seen cruising around the shiny surface after their racing was done for the day. We were happily joined by Matt Hickson who gave skaters some pointers on the long track.

Our skaters all made improvements over last year's Nationals. I hope that next year we can bring more skaters to the big meets throughout the year. If this year is any indication, we will continue our upward progress in the results column.

Of course, we could not do this without the support of our families and for that we are grateful. So special thanks to the mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers who help us throughout the year.

Of course we are all psyched for racing now, but this is the end of the season and we will now do a little recovery and then start the off season work in preparation for next season.