ISU updates and news
While the world is experiencing a massive shutdown of all sporting events, most governing bodies, including the ISU, have been hard at work in the background.
Much of this work centers around how to salvage the remainder of the season, but when the season ends in June, like ours does, a time comes when tough decisions need to be made.
The ISU has effectively closed the 2019/2020 season and has begun looking to next season. This was undoubtedly a tough decision to make and one which comes with several downsides. But the benefit to this is that it has removed a lot of the uncertainty currently being experienced by all of its members and athletes.
The ISU’S OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT explains their decision.
On a positive note, dates for the ISU Challenger Series for the 2020/21 season has been announced and can be viewed HERE
(Currently the 2020 South African National Championships is still scheduled to go ahead from 24-26 August 2020.)
KEEP TRAINING
The ISU, through their Centers of Excellence, have also put together a series of training videos under the title of KEEP TRAINING, hosted by some well established instructors, for the benefit of all skaters from around the world. These were initially streamed live on the official ISU Youtube channel and are now available to view in your own time and at your own pace.
OPEN ICE – COVID-19 SOLIDARITY RESPONSE FUND
American-Canadian Ice dance star, Kaitlyn Weaver, put together a remarkable online talk show this past weekend called Open Ice Live. It included many great legends of the sport, both past and present. They were able to reach their fundraising goal very early on in the event and eventually went on to raise over $ 40 000.00 for the United Nation Foundation’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. It was a strong showing of the international skating community coming together for this great cause.
While the entire event is pretty long at over 4 hours, it is well worth a watch, even if just to watch The Battle of the Brian’s continue (Boitano vs Orser 2.0). There are plenty of skating superstars to choose from, if you only wish to watch those who you know, but watching the entire event certainly gives viewers a more intimate look into the relationships between these stars and the circumstances they all find themselves in, which is exactly the same as our skaters and coaches.
The show can be viewed on the Open Ice Live official page or on the ISU Youtube channel or below:
