fore generally travel to Ohio, Michigan, and throughout
Pennsylvania to compete. Competitions are designated as
qualifying and non-qualifying, and the top five teams from the
qualifying competitions go on to the Nationals. But according
to Snyder, because the Steel City Blades “are a newer establish-
ment, it’s going to take them a little time to build up that cred-
ibility. They could possibly go on to more qualifying competi-
tions in years to come, but right now they’re just trying to get a
little more advanced.”
And that is happening. For example, at the Diamond Classic
Synchronized Skating Championships in Ohio last March,
the Little Blades took first place in their category and the Free
Championships in Ottawa in 2003 and placed eighth. She
came to the Steel City Blades as an assistant coach in 2005, and
later took over as head coach.

While Snyder will continue to handle the choreography as
director, her two assistants, Grace Fields and Jennie Vicinie, are
moving into head coaching roles; and Christine Lippert and
Karen Volk are coming in as their assistants. “We’re not only
getting more skaters, we’re also bringing in more coaches, so our
program is definitely growing,” Snyder commented.

Each team also has a manager, and Smokonich’s mother,
Paula, serves in that capacity for the Competitive Team. She
explained a little more of what takes place in the competitions:
“The skaters have to be linked a certain amount of time—either
through their arms or shoulders or wrists or elbows. (At times)
they can be unlinked, but they have to skate in formation—
they have to do blocks or pinwheels, and they have to do
footwork in a pattern.” She added that all skaters wear identical
outfits and wear the same makeup. “They all have to look the
same and skate the same.”
The skaters are judged on their technical skills and creative
performance, with points being deducted for such mistakes as
falls, or touching a skate down at the wrong time.

The Blades are part of the East Coast section and there-
Spirits were second in theirs. The Little Blades also finished first
at the Golden Blades Competition in Delmont last April.

Emily Smokonich skates on the Competitive Team. She has
participated in several competitions and says, “We improved
our scores from past years, which was our goal. We made it to
the point levels we were hoping for, and for next year, we want
to improve.”
The synchronized skating calendar runs practically year-
round, with some of the activity taking place at Mt. Lebanon
Ice Rink. Tryouts are held in April and May. Summer skating,
for training and strengthening, starts in August. The competi-
tive season begins in December or January, with nationals held
in February and world competition in March. “Our teams are
not to that level yet,” Snyder says, “but that’s one of our goals, to
get a team to the national level. Hopefully we can achieve that
in the years to come.”
There’s no doubt that the popularity of the sport and the skill
level of the participants is growing. In 2006, synchronized skat-
ing was featured as an exhibition sport at the Olympics in Torino,
Italy, and everyone involved is hoping to see it become included
as a regular event—perhaps as early as 2010 in Vancouver.

By that time, the Steel City Blades will likely have done their
part to make synchronized skating much more well known.

Renee Rosensteel
until this year, when she stepped into the position of director.

Having performed individual skating since the age of 5, Snyder
says she first learned about synchronized skating when she saw
a brochure for a summer camp at Miami University, Oxford,
Ohio, one of the top schools for the sport. “I thought I’d try
it out one summer because a coach suggested it to me,” she
explained. “I thought that was a good way to go to the univer-
sity and see what else I could do with the skating, because I was
going to be graduating from high school. So I went to the camp
and absolutely loved it.”
For four years Snyder skated on the varsity team, which
won three national titles, and which went to the World
www.mtlebanon.org 43



story by anne lutz zacharias and m.a. jackson
Wedding I don’t think there’s a wedding
we don’t get butterflies over.

You lie in bed and think about it.

It’s like getting married over and
over again.

—Carmel Vandale,
owner Mt. Lebanon Floral
44 mtl • october 2008