A purple dress and the nursery rhyme, \u201cTwinkle, Twinkle Little Star.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those two details stick out the most when Juneau-Douglas High School senior Laurie Balstad harks back on her first program she skated as an 8-year-old.<\/p>\n
Ten years, two coaches, six U.S. Figure Skating regional competitions and countless hours at Treadwell Arena later, and Balstad has become the face of Juneau\u2019s youth figure skating scene. As the most accomplished figure skater to come out of Juneau \u2014 a berth to the USFS Pacific Coast Sectionals last November cemented that designation \u2014 she is also a prized instructor and show choreographer with the JSC. Balstad also co-captains, \u201cTeam Forget-Me-Not,\u201d a synchronized skating team that has competed at the state and national level.<\/p>\n
An ending and<\/strong> a beginning<\/strong><\/p>\n Saturday\u2019s Juneau Skate Club Spring Show, \u201cNursery Rhymes to Fairy Tales,\u201d at Treadwell Arena will be both an ending and beginning for Balstad. As one of the show\u2019s directors and featured performers, it will be her last skating event in Juneau for the foreseeable future. It will also be the beginning of her legacy as a role model and example of what\u2019s possible for an expanding body of Juneau club skaters with a lot of hard work and tenacity.<\/p>\n There are now approximately 30 figure skaters and over 50 youth and adults in the \u201clearn to skate\u201d programs.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to be self-motivated,\u201d Balstad said of developing into an elite figure skater in a town that only has a rink eight months out of the year. \u201cBut then you also take motivation from other kids excelling in their own way.\u201d<\/p>\n For years, Balstad has been in a league of her own. Ever since she started out in the club\u2019s basic skills courses, Balstad never settled in her training to become a better skater.<\/p>\n For the last five summers, Balstad has traveled out of state for one to two months at a time to continue her training. For four summers she stayed with an aunt in Minnesota while skating five days a week at the \u201ca\u2019Xel International Training Center\u201d that counts among its staff a yoga coach for off-ice training.<\/p>\n During the school year, Balstad was known for getting up hours before class to cross train at the gym. After school, she\u2019d spend a couple hours with a coach at the rink.<\/p>\n She has always liked a challenge, and figure skating, with all its spins, twists and jumps, allows Balstad to continually test her physical and mental stamina.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time I came to the ice there was something new to do, and it was really exciting in that respect,\u201d she said. \u201cWhere as I feel like in some other sports you get to the top and it\u2019s a lot of repetition, a lot of repetition, a lot of repetition, a lot of repetition \u2014 with skating you come back and you always have something new.\u201d<\/p>\n JSC founder Pam Leary has coached Balstad for the past five years. Leary says Balstad\u2019s cerebral approach to skating is part of what has made her so successful.<\/p>\n \u201cIn all of her skating, she has, I think, had an idea from within about how things should be done and I think that\u2019s really important in figure skating because it\u2019s very individual and independent,\u201d Leary said.<\/p>\n After years working with Balstad, Leary has learned what the skater\u2019s mom has known all along.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you make her mad, she\u2019ll suddenly be able to do something,\u201d Laurie\u2019s mom Liz Balstad said.<\/p>\n \u201cLaurie doesn\u2019t like being told she can\u2019t do something, so very often if she\u2019s having trouble doing something I play into that,\u201d Leary adds. \u201cSometimes I say, \u2018We\u2019re not going to do that particular move,\u2019 and that challenges her.\u201d<\/p>\n Inspiring the next wave<\/strong><\/p>\n Balstad\u2019s can-do attitude rubs off on anybody who has ever shared the ice with her.<\/p>\n High school freshman figure skater Katie McKenna can attest to this.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve watched the other kids look up to her and decide that\u2019s what they want to do,\u201d McKenna said.<\/p>\n Coach Leary agrees with McKenna, and says Balstad\u2019s given \u201crock star\u201d treatment when she skates at shows like the one coming up Saturday. (See below for details)<\/p>\n \u201cShe is everything that each of those girls want to be \u2014 she is it,\u201d Leary said. \u201cAnd then she takes the time to give back and work with them on what makes skating great, which is line, and beauty, and just grace.\u201d<\/p>\n Balstad says she wouldn\u2019t be surprised if the next crop of Juneau\u2019s youth figure skaters surpass her own achievements.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been really cool and really exciting to see this next wave of skaters. There\u2019s seven or eight girls who are in 8th grade right now and they\u2019re all going to be in high school next year, so it\u2019s been fun to see them grow up through the years,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Balstad is interested in a career in the sciences and is still weighing her options about which college to attend. Whether she skates in the collegiate ranks or not, she knows skating will always be in her life.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s such a part of my personality at this point,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n