The South African national figure skating championships will be taking place from Monday, 13 March to Tuesday, 14 March at Forest Hill City Mall, Centurion. The opening and draw will take place on Sunday, 12 March 2023 at 17:00 in the Theatre and the championships will take place on Monday, 13 March (11:00 – 17:00) and Tuesday, 12 March (12:00 – 21:20) in the Ice Rink.
There are fifty-five single skaters, two Ice Dance teams, two Pairs teams and three Synchronised Skating teams representing their provinces at the championships.
The SAFSA is excited to welcome talented young Nicolas van de Vijver (17 years old) home after training and competing internationally. In October 2021, the International Skating Union (ISU) awarded Nicolas and his coach, Lisa Stigant, an internship at IceLab in Bergamo, Italy. IceLab is one of five ISU Centres of Excellence in the world. This internship allowed for him and his coach, Lisa Stigant, to train at IceLab for a month in March/April 2022. Nicolas was also awarded a Junior Skater scholarship by the ISU in June 2022. Nicolas’ first high-level international competition was the Junior Grand Prix in Ljubljana, Slovenia, which took place in September 2021. In April 2022, he competed in the Egna Spring Trophy in Egna, Italy. In September 2022, he competed in the Junior Grand Prix in Riga, Latvia and in October 2022 he competed in the Junior Grand Prix in Egna, Italy. This year he competed at the Merano Ice Trophy in late January (placing second and qualifying his free skate for the World Junior Figure Skating Championships). At the beginning of February, he competed in the Bavarian Open in Oberstdorf, Germany (placing fourth) and in the Sofia Trophy in Sofia, Bulgaria (placing fifth). His collaboration with IceLab has continued since he first trained there in March 2022. He spent a month training at IceLab in September / October 2022 and spent January 2023 there as well. His goals for the next two years are to qualify for his short programme for the World Junior Championships in February 2024 and to start competing at the Senior level, both in South Africa and internationally.
Other athletes who participated in ISU international competitions include Gian-Quen Isaacs, Ella Hawkes, and Haley-Rae Thomson. ISU/ European Criterium Inter Club competitions, Vincent Grun and Layla Kamel. There were another two skaters who went to other competitions, Tristiné Schmulian-Tayside Trophy in Dundee and Ava Keenan-Canadian regional competition in Stratford, Ontario.
We invite you to watch the athletes as they glide over the ice demonstrating their technical skills. Please contact Jo Cossavella (0824888969) to arrange media accreditation to attend the championships, allow us to prepare accreditation for you and receive a brief about the championship’s protocols while athletes are on the ice
Contacts: Ms Jo Cossavella
National PRO for SAFSA (The South African Figure Skating Association)
E-mail: [email protected]
Cell: 0824888969
Mr Ricardo Jacobs president of SAFSA
E-mail: [email protected]
Cell: 0834385258
The South African Figure Skating Association Contact Details:
WhatsApp Number: 0824888969
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.safsa.org.za
