Are girls moving from figure skating to hockey?

[Anonymous]

I think it depends on the area. I was in an area with top tier speed skating programs (Olympian feeder) and ringette - lots of girls move to those in addition to hockey.

In DMV we are lucky to have top tier speed skating program as well (Potomac). But no ringette.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Figure skating at a high level is not a lifetime sport, the adult championships notwithstanding. It’s a toxic, perfectionist culture with abusive coaching practices that are not acknowledged or addressed. My daughter’s coach still weighed his skater and told my daughter to find ways to punish herself every time she missed a jump. Please, tell me another sport where two major female competitors (Gracie Gold, Amber Glenn) spent time in inpatient mental health treatment during their competitive years. Choose hockey or basically anything else.

While this is all true, so many of us end up back in the sport one way or another I would say a third of the competitive skaters at our rink are second generation figure skaters.

Bullshit

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Figure skating at a high level is not a lifetime sport, the adult championships notwithstanding. It’s a toxic, perfectionist culture with abusive coaching practices that are not acknowledged or addressed. My daughter’s coach still weighed his skater and told my daughter to find ways to punish herself every time she missed a jump. Please, tell me another sport where two major female competitors (Gracie Gold, Amber Glenn) spent time in inpatient mental health treatment during their competitive years. Choose hockey or basically anything else.

You do realize this is that mental health struggles are emblematic of literally every sport at the elite level, correct?

Stop bashing figure skating because you or your daughter couldn’t cut it.

Here is a short but broad list:

Athletes who disclosed during active competition — Simone Biles (withdrew from events at Tokyo 2021, citing the “twisties” and mental health), Naomi Osaka (withdrew from the French Open 2021, disclosed depression and anxiety), Michael Phelps (spoke extensively about depression and suicidal ideation during his career), Kevin Love and DeMar DeRozan (both went public with depression/anxiety while active in the NBA), Ricky Williams (left the NFL citing social anxiety disorder), Terry Bradshaw (disclosed depression while still in the public eye), Mardy Fish (withdrew from the 2012 US Open due to anxiety disorder), Allison Schmitt (depression during competitive swimming), Amanda Beard (depression, self-harm during her career).

Athletes who entered treatment facilities or were hospitalized — this is a much shorter and more sensitive list. Phelps did inpatient treatment. Chamique Holdsclaw was hospitalized. Royce White advocated publicly around his generalized anxiety disorder and refused NBA assignments over it.
Post-career disclosures — this list is enormous: Andre Agassi, Serena Williams, Brandon Marshall, Aly Raisman, Clara Hughes, and many more.

[Anonymous]

You don't have to be -big to be a good women's hockey player. Kendall Coyne Shofield is 5'2" and has two gold medals. Cayla Barnes is also either 5'1" or 5'2". Amanda Boulier is only 5'1". There is a place in hockey for small, fast players. I believe Cayla Barnes started out as a figure skater.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Figure skating at a high level is not a lifetime sport, the adult championships notwithstanding. It’s a toxic, perfectionist culture with abusive coaching practices that are not acknowledged or addressed. My daughter’s coach still weighed his skater and told my daughter to find ways to punish herself every time she missed a jump. Please, tell me another sport where two major female competitors (Gracie Gold, Amber Glenn) spent time in inpatient mental health treatment during their competitive years. Choose hockey or basically anything else.

The truth and nothing but the truth so help me god

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You don't have to be -big to be a good women's hockey player. Kendall Coyne Shofield is 5'2" and has two gold medals. Cayla Barnes is also either 5'1" or 5'2". Amanda Boulier is only 5'1". There is a place in hockey for small, fast players. I believe Cayla Barnes started out as a figure skater.

Very few girls over 5’8” play ncaa

[Anonymous]

You do realize this is that mental health struggles are emblematic of literally every sport at the elite level, correct?

Stop bashing figure skating because you or your daughter couldn’t cut it.

My other daughter competes at the elite level in a non-performance sport. It has its issues, but nothing like the toxicity of figure skating.

My figure skater moved to ballet. She had triples, NQS medals, and could hack it physically, but the toxic culture of the sport made her deeply unhappy. When ballet is the healthier option, you know something is truly wrong with a sport.

Ballet and gymnastics confronted the problems in their cultures. Figure skating is singularly unwilling to do so.

[Anonymous]

Beyond college what can they do with it? I’m down if anyone wants to start a pro league

[Anonymous]

My DD has participated in ice hockey for the past 6 years and I have not noticed an uptick at any event.... YMMV

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't have to be -big to be a good women's hockey player. Kendall Coyne Shofield is 5'2" and has two gold medals. Cayla Barnes is also either 5'1" or 5'2". Amanda Boulier is only 5'1". There is a place in hockey for small, fast players. I believe Cayla Barnes started out as a figure skater.

Very few girls over 5’8” play ncaa

This is just wrong. Generally defenders tend to be on the larger size, and D1 girls tend to be taller as well, but there are plenty of girls under 5' 8" playing NCAA hockey. Looking at just the teams that went to the finals in D1 and D3:

Wisconsin - of the 26 girls on the roster, 12 are under 5' 8"
Ohio State - of the 22 girls on the roster, 12 are under 5' 8"
Wisconsin River Falls - of the 26 girls on the roster, 14 are under 5' 8"
Nazareth - of the 27 girls on the roster, 23 are under 5' 8"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Figure skating at a high level is not a lifetime sport, the adult championships notwithstanding. It’s a toxic, perfectionist culture with abusive coaching practices that are not acknowledged or addressed. My daughter’s coach still weighed his skater and told my daughter to find ways to punish herself every time she missed a jump. Please, tell me another sport where two major female competitors (Gracie Gold, Amber Glenn) spent time in inpatient mental health treatment during their competitive years. Choose hockey or basically anything else.

While this is all true, so many of us end up back in the sport one way or another I would say a third of the competitive skaters at our rink are second generation figure skaters.

Bullshit

All true. Of the NQS skaters at our rink who are in contention for the national development team or nationals, over a third have a mom or dad who skated at a high level (one Olympian, a couple who competed internationally and a several more who at least got their golds). Some of us still love the sport enough to let our own kids try. None of the former skaters are delusional about where it's going, though (in contrast to some of the parents without a skating background). My DD does other sports; one in particular is becoming her main sport when it's in season, rather than skating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't have to be -big to be a good women's hockey player. Kendall Coyne Shofield is 5'2" and has two gold medals. Cayla Barnes is also either 5'1" or 5'2". Amanda Boulier is only 5'1". There is a place in hockey for small, fast players. I believe Cayla Barnes started out as a figure skater.

Very few girls over 5’8” play ncaa

This is just wrong. Generally defenders tend to be on the larger size, and D1 girls tend to be taller as well, but there are plenty of girls under 5' 8" playing NCAA hockey. Looking at just the teams that went to the finals in D1 and D3:

Wisconsin - of the 26 girls on the roster, 12 are under 5' 8"
Ohio State - of the 22 girls on the roster, 12 are under 5' 8"
Wisconsin River Falls - of the 26 girls on the roster, 14 are under 5' 8"
Nazareth - of the 27 girls on the roster, 23 are under 5' 8"

Take. Chat bot

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, and hockey is a lifetime sport, rec leagues, etc. Figure skating is...not.

You are loud wrong about that. If you feel like a road trip, the 2026 U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships, sanctioned by US Figure Skating, is next week in Duluth, Georgia. Every year at Adult Nationals, the youngest skater presents the oldest skater with the Yvonne M. Dowlen Trophy. Last year, 21-year-old Maggie Altmann had the honors in presenting Connie Curry with the Trophy. Connie was 86 years old. In 2025, twenty-four women and two men skated in Class V technical events. As they proudly state, Class V is for skaters aged 66 'til death.

Oh, wait, there's more. The International Skating Union sponsors an annual event for adult skaters in Oberstdorf, Germany. Last year, Jana Pribylova from the Czech Republic was the oldest skater in the competition, taking silver in Silver Ladies V. Jana's daughter, also named Jana, greeted her mother in the Kiss and Cry after the elder Jana's skate. (For her part, the younger Jana won her event, Masters Elite Ladies IV, the highest technical level.)

And those are the singles skaters. If the ages of both partners equal at least 100, they can skate in dance and pairs Centennial events at Adult Nationals. And how many sports can you compete against your children for a national championship? In 2015, Tim Bookwalter and Barbara Walker won a national pewter (4th) medal in Championship Adult Dance, two places behind Tim's son, Erich Bookwalter, and Melissa Patsalides' silver medal winning performance.

Many adults don't compete, but they grow their skills in pursuit of passing aptitude tests in free skating, Moves in the Field (I refuse to recognize the silly new name), dance, and even school figures. Adults who pass the gold level tests earn the same gold medalist status and jackets as the kids.

If that ain't lifetime, I'm not sure what is. Adults Skate Too.

https://usfigureskating.org/sports/2025/11/3/2026-us-adult-figure-skating-championships-presented-by-prevagen.aspx
https://www.facebook.com/USFSAdultSkatingCommittee/posts/at-86-years-connie-curry-was-honored-with-the-yvonne-m-dowlen-trophy-at-the-2025/1276894067770115/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mrqwim-A6s&list=PL-CheZaoFWwT1yF7IVOlRQ7lCRN8fOfid&index=10
https://usfigureskating.org/sports/2025/9/4/adult-skating.aspx

I started figure skating competitively as an adult, and loved it. All the good parts of the sport without the toxic coaches and pressure to diet and achieve triples. I competed on the regional circuit and at ISI Worlds. Also played ice and roller hockey. For me it wasn’t either/or, it was both/and. I just loved skating.

Both sports had a very different vibe. Surprisingly, the hockey crowd was a lot more chill. The adult figure skaters I hung out with were a little more high strung. Even though we weren’t dealing with toxic coaches and constant pressure to diet and achieve triples, there was still a lot of drama, jealousy, rivalries, and backbiting. I guess that’s a given with performative sports. I had closer friends among the figure skaters, but I liked hanging out with the hockey gals more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, and hockey is a lifetime sport, rec leagues, etc. Figure skating is...not.

You are loud wrong about that. If you feel like a road trip, the 2026 U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships, sanctioned by US Figure Skating, is next week in Duluth, Georgia. Every year at Adult Nationals, the youngest skater presents the oldest skater with the Yvonne M. Dowlen Trophy. Last year, 21-year-old Maggie Altmann had the honors in presenting Connie Curry with the Trophy. Connie was 86 years old. In 2025, twenty-four women and two men skated in Class V technical events. As they proudly state, Class V is for skaters aged 66 'til death.

Oh, wait, there's more. The International Skating Union sponsors an annual event for adult skaters in Oberstdorf, Germany. Last year, Jana Pribylova from the Czech Republic was the oldest skater in the competition, taking silver in Silver Ladies V. Jana's daughter, also named Jana, greeted her mother in the Kiss and Cry after the elder Jana's skate. (For her part, the younger Jana won her event, Masters Elite Ladies IV, the highest technical level.)

And those are the singles skaters. If the ages of both partners equal at least 100, they can skate in dance and pairs Centennial events at Adult Nationals. And how many sports can you compete against your children for a national championship? In 2015, Tim Bookwalter and Barbara Walker won a national pewter (4th) medal in Championship Adult Dance, two places behind Tim's son, Erich Bookwalter, and Melissa Patsalides' silver medal winning performance.

Many adults don't compete, but they grow their skills in pursuit of passing aptitude tests in free skating, Moves in the Field (I refuse to recognize the silly new name), dance, and even school figures. Adults who pass the gold level tests earn the same gold medalist status and jackets as the kids.

If that ain't lifetime, I'm not sure what is. Adults Skate Too.

https://usfigureskating.org/sports/2025/11/3/2026-us-adult-figure-skating-championships-presented-by-prevagen.aspx
https://www.facebook.com/USFSAdultSkatingCommittee/posts/at-86-years-connie-curry-was-honored-with-the-yvonne-m-dowlen-trophy-at-the-2025/1276894067770115/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mrqwim-A6s&list=PL-CheZaoFWwT1yF7IVOlRQ7lCRN8fOfid&index=10
https://usfigureskating.org/sports/2025/9/4/adult-skating.aspx

I started figure skating competitively as an adult, and loved it. All the good parts of the sport without the toxic coaches and pressure to diet and achieve triples. I competed on the regional circuit and at ISI Worlds. Also played ice and roller hockey. For me it wasn’t either/or, it was both/and. I just loved skating.

Both sports had a very different vibe. Surprisingly, the hockey crowd was a lot more chill. The adult figure skaters I hung out with were a little more high strung. Even though we weren’t dealing with toxic coaches and constant pressure to diet and achieve triples, there was still a lot of drama, jealousy, rivalries, and backbiting. I guess that’s a given with performative sports. I had closer friends among the figure skaters, but I liked hanging out with the hockey gals more.

I agree with all of this, and as bad as you think the skaters might be, the parents are even worse. My daughter‘s other sport is a racing sport, and the parents are so much more enjoyable to hang out with because, in part, your kid is objectively faster or they’re not - there’s no drama in that. Having grown up a skater, I felt it was important to balance with other sports, not just helping skating sports like gymnastics or ballet, but other sports for themselves. figure skaters make fantastic skiers, FWIW, Nordic, Alpine, freestyle, figure skating translates to all of them.

Collegiate nationals is this weekend nationals is this weekend! I love watching the skaters who love the sport enough to hang on through college, grt their golds, and find a group to compete with in a really fun context. In my opinion, the collegiate skaters who keep doing it through the end of college because they love it so much are the success stories of the sport. And you can always go on tour for a year or two after that before you start a boring office job or go back to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I mean...are the figure skaters prepared to gain like at least 50 pounds and start getting smashed into the boards...and possibly fighting?

Just seems a little strange. Like saying that a downhill skier is now going to become a freestyle skier...both sports take place on skis, but require a different physique and mental approach.

Tell me that you don’t know what you’re talking about while telling me you don’t know what you’re talking about