Hi, I'm Katherine Huntling with Lower Cape TV, and after 20 years competing in figure
skating, including six years at the highest level, I know how many sacrifices go into
participating in the sport.
Well, we just followed Lexi Hoffman, local skater, who competes with her off-cape theater
and ice team, who is nationally ranked.
She and her family go to so many lengths to make sure that she can go to school as well
as compete in the sport that she loves.
It's just fun theatrical skating, and we travel, compete, and do shows, and it's really fun.
It's her passion.
I mean, we're going to support what she wants to do, and when she first went to the workshop
for theater, I remember she got off the ice, and she was like, this is what I want to do.
I started, and I liked it a lot, and now that I've gotten into it, it's just such a fun,
creative sport, and it just kind of never gets old.
Theater on Ice is a growing form of competitive skating involving many types of choreography,
elaborate props, and costumes.
Lexi's team, Ocean State Ice Theater, out of Attleboro, recently placed third in the
nation at Nationals in Indiana for their on-ice rendition of the Broadway hit Wicked.
A team of this caliber affords Lexi opportunities that she wouldn't necessarily have otherwise.
Meeting all the guest coaches that she brings in, and just having fun with my friends, and
doing theatrical skating, and it could really take you anywhere, because you could do these
shows all around the world when you're older, or Disney on Ice, and so it gets you a lot
of opportunities, and it's just really fun to do.
We also spoke with Lexi's coach, who as a career skater herself, knows how much time
and effort the family's put in to being on a competitive team.
It's definitely a commitment we skate on Sundays, but then there's a lot of travel, and competitions,
and shows, and obviously we have so many skaters that come from so far, which is fantastic.
It just shows how committed they are to the team, and it's one of the things that makes
us so good.
As a skater, being able to balance skating and school is a hard task, but Lexi's mom
Kristen has a unique perspective on it.
I think what's interesting with skating, and I wasn't a figure skater, but what I think
what happens is you learn how to schedule your time, and what does happen is, yes, school
and things that are going on with school are going to affect your skating at certain times,
but I find that because she is on such a schedule, she knows when she has to do her homework,
when she has to get things done, you know, she's not going to save things until Sunday
night if we're not going to be home, so that works out.
Even Lexi herself admits that it's difficult at times to balance, but when asked why she
doesn't just skate less to allow for an easier schedule, she had an answer that summed up
the reason for the sacrifice.
I mean, like obviously I've thought about it because I'm like, oh wait, I could have
more time, but I mean once I get on ice, it's just like why would I ever stop because it's
just so fun, and I like it a lot.
