Young Spokane skaters receive chance to join idols on ice

Imagine an AAU youth basketball team taking the court and joining in a shootaround with the NBA All-Stars.

U.S. Figure Skating officials provided the equivalent for 42 youth skaters from Spokane Figure Skating Club as part of the three-day Team Challenge Cup at the Arena.

The young skaters were also invited to take part in Thursday’s Red Carpet event at Northern Quest Casino, said Maureen “Moe” Herr, director of the Spokane Figure Skating Club.

“That lets these kids get as close as they possibly can to their idols,” Herr said. “They get to skate on the same ice as their idols. It’s just a fantastic opportunity.”

The advertising flood for the event also helped keep skating on the minds of any parent or child who may have some interest in the sport, which has struggled to keep up with the popularity of other sports.

“It is a big door opening for a place that does not have skating as the No. 1 sport,” Herr said. “This brings such awareness to our sport in a non-Olympic year. That’s crucial to our recruitment.”

Herr said she couldn’t thank the organizer enough for how welcome they made the local skaters.

“This is not a typical time of year for anything figure skating. And, everybody is talking about it,” she said. “It helps build and carry our numbers through the summer when we would normally lose our skaters to soccer or lakes or vacation.”

For more information about local opportunities, visit www.spokanefigureskating.org