Local 11-year-old enjoying early success on the ice

Oct. 31, 2006

By Jeremiah Bartz/ Frontiersman

MAT-SU - For Claire Gillespie, an ice rink is both a playground and a classroom.

It's where she goes to be with her friends and compete in a sport she really enjoys. But it is also where the 11-year-old Midnight Sun Charter School student has learned to become one of the top figure skaters in the state.

Earlier this month, Gillespie placed first in her division at the Northwest Pacific Regional Competition in Spokane, Wash. Her performance earned her the opportunity to compete a sectional meet, an event one step away from the national championships.

In her first major competition, Gillespie competed against a group of 14 participants from eight different states.

&#8220I wasn't trying to get first, I was just trying to bring something back,” Gillespie said on Thursday, as she was preparing for a practice at the Brett Memorial Ice Arena. &#8220It was a lot of fun. It was me going out there and skating my best.”

Gillespie said she really didn't know what to expect of her first competition, and was really surprised at the outcome. But she didn't see many of the other skaters who performed.

&#8220I don't watch the people who skate before me, so I have no idea how they did,” Gillespie said. &#8220I watch them, and then I get very nervous - very, very nervous.”

Judging by her progression in the sport, at such a young age, her fellow competitors could be nervous watching Gillespie.

&#8220She has quite a bit of potential,” said Gillespie's coach David DeCapprio, a P.S.A master coach. &#8220She's got a solid background, is well disciplined and had a good attitude. That makes all the difference.”

DeCapprio, her coach for the past four years, said Gillespie is ready to skip a division, and move up to the sub-juvenile level. On Thursday, Gillespie was among more than a dozen young athletes to hit the ice as part of the Brett's Learn to Skate program, but at the regional championships, Gillespie did something a skater from this area had not done in about seven years - qualify for sectionals.

With her quick advancement and ability to perform some difficult routines at 11, DeCapprio there is a legitimate possibility that Gillespie's future will include major competition.

&#8220If Claire should wind up in the 2014 Olympics - which is, the way she's going, feasible - we have to be at this level by this year, and that level by that year, and so forth,” DeCapprio said. &#8220That's on our long-term calendar.”

Unfortunately for figure skaters, there are not a ton of opportunities at high levels. The best end up in the national program. DeCapprio said regardless of whether the Olympics or the national programs are part of the destination of a career, coaches and parents can motivate and instill the qualities that will help athletes get there.

The analogy DeCapprio uses he said, &#8220We may not go to Harvard, but we'll start getting those grades up, even in the sixth grade.”

DeCapprio said Gillespie already has many of the qualities it takes to be successful in a sport, that is very different from many activities the

average 11-year-old may take part in.

&#8220The ability to concentrate and not be dependent on others is the plus and the minus in this sport,” DeCapprio said. &#8220It is a solitary sport.

&#8220If you don't do it, it doesn't get done,” he added. &#8220You can't rely on a teammate to shoot the puck in the net when you pass it off.”

Even though it is an individual sport, Gillespie also looks to the social side of it.

&#8220I've got a lot of friends because I go skating,” she said.

Gillespie spends a great deal of time on the ice. She practices about eight hours a week during the winter, and as much as eight hours a day in the

summer.

During the summer DeCapprio sent Gillespie to Indianapolis for what he called a high intensity training program for five weeks. For the first week, Gillespie received instruction from a former coach of Michelle Kwan - one of the most prominent women in figure skating. DeCapprio said Gillespie may be able to return to Indianapolis for the program next year.

Gillespie began skating as a 3-year-old.

&#8220My mom said it was because there was nothing else we could really do at that age,” Gillespie said.

While Gillespie certainly has the potential to achieve lofty goals, she is concentrating on the short-term ones, like perfect her double-axels. Completing the double-axels are just a few of the reasons Gillespie intends to stay on the ice.

&#8220I like the feeling you get when you're doing a jump or a spin, (and) how you can go faster on ice than you could if you were just on the ground,” Gillespie said with a beaming smile.

And they're probably many of the main reasons, why she will strive to stay on the ice.

&#8220I don't think I'll be quitting anytime soon,” she said.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.