THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 12, 1996 TAG: 9604110109
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GREGORY SCOTT BURT, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
Two young Virginia Beach skaters will take to the ice Saturday in Chicago to compete in the U.S. Figure Skating Association's national competition.
Although ice skating together for only two years, Colin Shaw, 13, and Tyler Rosenberg, 11, have qualified to compete with pair ice skaters from around the country for the national juvenile title at the Kodak Junior Olympics.
According to their coach, this is the first time any ice skater representing Hampton Roads has qualified for this event.
``Anything can happen,'' said their pairs coach Mary Hutchinson. This is their first time to compete on this level with skaters far more experienced, yet Hutchinson said ``they have every chance to do well and to at least get a medal.''
Colin, a student at Kempsville Middle School, and Tyler, a fifth-grader from Dey Elementary, said they weren't nervous. ``I'm just happy to leave school,'' said Colin. ``And the other thing I like about it is I get to meet new people.''
Performing before large audiences isn't a problem for these two. As this year's Admiral mascots - the Admiral Golden Stars as they were called - they got plenty of performance experience entertaining hockey crowds between periods at Admirals' home games.
When the two first started skating for the Admirals no one really paid any attention to them, said Colin's mother, Kerrie Shaw. ``But as they kept appearing week after week they sort of got a following.'' After the games people started coming up saying they attended the games just to watch the young skaters.
Each week Colin and Tyler learned new moves and ice skating techniques. They do press lifts, pair spins, a death spiral and a throw axel in which Colin spins Tyler into air and watches her rotate 1 1/2 times, usually to a solid landing. ``The biggest comment people have said is that it has been neat to see how they have progressed,'' Tyler's mother, Pam Rosenberg, said.
``And, they have fallen in front of 8,000 people and they have lived through it,'' she said. For one game, the Admirals' owner, Blake Cullen, invited the two to sit with him to watch the game in his special seats.
Tyler and Colin didn't even know each other when they were first matched as skating partners two years ago. They were just two kids out of 400 who were taking lessons at Iceland, a rink in the Pembroke area. Hutchinson, who also manages the rink, thought it would be cute to have a pair performance for the ice show they were putting on for the parents. After the show everyone commented on how good they looked together so the matchmaking stuck.
In the beginning Colin and Tyler hardly spoke to each other. Pam Rosenberg remembers the heated arguments they used to get in when they started competing. ``There were a couple competitions where we were wondering whether they were going on because they were in the back arguing five minutes before their warmup,'' she said. ``As they have aged they have learned how to deal with each other.''
Commenting on their ice skating future together Colin said that he doesn't know how long they will stay together because ``most of the time we are fighting.'' To which Tyler quickly responded, ``No we aren't.'' Colin then admitted most of the time he is just being a big tease. ``I just do that to see what her face looks like.''
Hutchinson, who competed for 13 years as an amateur ice skater herself, said, ``They are still kids so they are having to learn what it is to have a relationship with someone. It's one of those swing times where they're not sure how they feel about boys and girls and vice versa.'' Tyler has to develop a trust in Colin and they have to learn to be buddies, Hutchinson said.
Both youngsters are in training up to 15 hours a week. That's in addition to going to school. Sometimes it has been difficult. Both are at the ice at 5:45 three mornings a week and then after school four days. On Mondays both go to a gym for dance and gymnastic training. ``He really has no free time,'' said Kerrie Shaw. ``He's in school, he's skating or he's working on homework.''
Tyler is the one who wakes her mom up early in the morning for ice skating practice. Their schedule sounds harsh, but they like it, said Pam Rosenberg. ``If (Tyler) didn't like it she would tell me.''
Kerrie Shaw and the entire Rosenberg family left with the skaters this week for the competition.
Tyler and Colin will be completing with the best juvenile skaters from around the country. ``Certainly for them this competition is really something special,'' said Hutchinson. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by STEVE EARLEY
Colin Shaw, 13, a student at Kempsville Middle School, and Tyler
Rosenberg, 11, a student at Dey Elementary, have performed before
large audiences at Admirals games while learning new moves and
techniques.
by CNB