The city of Columbia is an ice skating desert.
With only 4.7 inches of snow from December 2022 to February 2023 and the nearest ice rink 30 minutes away, there aren’t many places to lace up the ice skates.
However, there are a few dedicated athletes who make the journey to Washington Park Ice Arena every Sunday and Tuesday night from September through February. These 14 individuals are the members of the Mizzou Synchronized Skating team.
Synchronized skating is similar to dance as a highly technical blend of performance and sport — involving high speed, intense accuracy and the formation of exacting displays.
However, the sport has the added difficulty of taking place on ice, needing an extra level of balance and trust which the performers have to obtain.
The majority of the team has been skating since they were extremely young. That applies to the current president and senior Emma Marsh. Growing up in Kansas City, Marsh first hit the ice at the age of four, as both her dad and brother played hockey.
“Just from the beginning, I’ve always done synchronized skating,” Marsh said.
The decision to come to Missouri and compete on the team was an easy one for Marsh.
“A lot of these girls I skated with in high school, and we all went to Mizzou, so we get to skate together here,” Marsh said. “You create life-lasting friendships.”
One of those close friends is Korby Pyles, the current head coach of the team. Pyles first got into skating after watching the Olympics. After skating individually, she joined a synchro team by the time she was 11.
“We used to skate together when we were little babies,” Pyles said. She has been skating alongside Marsh for nearly two decades.
Pyles, Marsh and the rest of the leadership board work together to perfect the team’s routine while also balancing the different backgrounds and experiences of the members.
“Some of them have never even skated on a team with synchro before,” Pyles said. “Getting them in there and having the team to support them is the biggest thing.”
Thankfully, it’s easy to get new members involved, as the competitions and routines are less stressful than the majority of the high school programs. One member who benefits from this more relaxed style is freshman Lily Delk.
Delk grew up skating her entire life skating at the Washington Park Ice Arena, as it was close to her home in Jefferson City. She followed in the footsteps of her older sister, Laurel, as they skated together from a young age.
“I felt like I could be strong and graceful at the same time,” Delk said. “I love to skate fast and just feel like a strong, pretty girl.”
Delk began skating synchro at 7 years old before eventually quitting during her senior year of high school.
“I had some issues with some people at the rink here,” Delk said. “I wanted to get out of that toxic environment.”
To Delk, the Mizzou Synchronized Skating team has a much more relaxed feel, focusing more on creating a strong team culture.
“We’re not a very competitive team,” Marsh said. “People find a lot of fun in it, and it gets their mind off school.”
While unity is the focus, competition never takes a backseat.The team performs and competes consistently throughout the year. Their first performance is coming up this Saturday, Nov. 4 during the intermission of the Missouri Club Hockey game at Washington Park Ice Arena in Jefferson City.
“People love it,” Marsh said. “It’s obviously very different.”
Missouri Synchronized Skating will also compete in official competitions throughout the year, usually taking place in Michigan. As the club president, Marsh is in charge of planning those events and making sure the trip runs smoothly for the entire team.
“I’ve never been in a leadership role like this before,” Marsh said. “It’s definitely a lot, but it’s all worth it.”
Since the team is a club sport, they receive no funding from the school. As a result, all of their funding comes from their own members along with any outside donations.
Despite the costs, the excitement around the team is high, as they continue to improve with each passing day to become a better all-around team.
“We have started out the strongest that we ever had in a season so far,” Pyles said. “I’m so proud of them and I know they’re just gonna knock everybody’s shoes off when we show up at competitions.”
Copy edited by Natalie Kientzy and Grace Knight | gknight@themaneater.com