2014 Rule Changes

Many of you may have heard about the big changes coming to figure skating after the 2014 Winter Olympics. US Figure Skating and ISU have announced that as of July 1, 2014 all singles and pairs skaters will be permitted to use music with words. Currently, ice dancing and synchronized skating permit music with words and pairs and singles only allow instrumental selections.

I have thought a lot about this change and the reasons behind it and I have narrowed my thoughts down to a few hypotheses. For one, it's evident that figure skating is losing popularity. With the economy circling the drain and the average family income decreasing, the participation rate in figure skating is falling. Skating is an expensive sport and families in a poor economy are much more likely to put their children in a school sport in order to dodge the mega-expensises that come with an individual sport. Not only is participation falling but so is viewership of televised events. It is my belief that ISU passed this change in an attempt to keep up with the times, and raise their viewership and participation rate by increasing their relevance.

This is going to make me sound like an old creaky coach, which I'm not...yet, but I must say that I am opposed to this change. Imagine every show, every synchronized skating competition you've ever seen. The skaters (some, not all) take the ice to pop songs, wiggling their hips to Justin Bieber and frolicking to One Direction. This is fun, lighthearted and very laid back. Skaters get the opportunity to express themselves to music they normally wouldn't be able to. But that is what separates a show from a competition. Competitions are supposed to be serious and intense, although you still have the opportunity to express yourself and have fun, the atmosphere in the rink is different from that of an exhibition. I think the change could be successful, after all it works in ice dancing. But my fear is that in singles skating mostly, it will be abused. You'll hear every top 40 hit skated to more times than you ever thought possible. This is so unprofessional, even at lower levels, that the thought makes me queasy.

The other change, which will be less profound, is that they are placing an age range on the Junior Level. Female singles skaters must be at least 13 but no older than 19. Male singles and all ice dancers must be 13 also but cannot be older than 21. In order to compete in Senior Events skaters must be at least 15 years of age. This rule will cut down on the amount of teeny weenies that are shoved quickly to the top by their parents in an attempt to make them the next olympic champion but it obviously won't change the mindsets of crazed parents.

Karen Chen 2013 Junior Ladies Pewter Medalist
and yes...she can do a triple lutz

Nathan Chen 2013 Junior Mens Bronze Medalist

Let me know what you think! Comment below or tweet me @Flutzing using #flutz
Best of Luck!!