Gold medal performance
It was a comeback story straight out of a movie script.
In 2017, the Magic City Theatre on Ice’s intermediate team placed dead last at the national championships. At the end of June 2018, the overall team took home gold medals.
And Trussville resident Halle Parsons was part of the champion team.
Magic City Theatre on Ice combines figure skating with choreographed theatrical performances. The team practices at the Pelham Civic Complex’s ice arena, as part of the Birmingham Figure Skating Club. Coach Anita Saxena said the club hadn’t heard of Theatre on Ice before winning a bid to host the national competition in 2016.
Saxena said they created a team to compete in the 2016 season, placing eighth out of 18 in the first year. In 2017, the club’s Preliminary team placed ninth out of 10 teams and the Intermediate team placed last out of 15, while the older Open team placed in the middle of their rankings.
“This year we made the decision to combine skaters from all three 2017 teams into one big team for the 2018 season. It was a challenge, but everyone worked so hard to make our team successful,” Saxena said.
Parsons, an eighth-grade student at Hewitt-Trussville Middle School, learned to skate from her father, a hockey player. She has been figure skating for about three years and has been on the Theatre on Ice team two years. She’s typically on the ice three or four days a week.
“I love competing and all the dresses and stuff. That’s one of my favorite parts,” Parsons said.
When she’s not on the ice, Parsons also plays flute and piano, participates in school theater productions and is involved in her church, First Baptist Church of Trussville.
Parsons said she loves Theatre on Ice because it’s about “big emotions and having fun.” It’s hard for her to choose between that and figure skating, however.
“Theatre on Ice is more theatrical and it’s a little more relaxed,” she said. “I can’t really choose. I guess I’m more of a performer.”
Parsons said last year’s last place finish was fresh in her team’s mind as they practiced all year.
“We worked way harder. We had longer practices, … but I think the motivation from last year kind of carried over,” she said.
And when they got to the national championships, Parsons said her goal was simply to do the best she could.
“You’ll meet people from California and Florida and Michigan and wherever. But once you step out on the ice you forget about all that,” she said.
The nationals were June 26-30 in Geneva, Illinois. Magic City Theatre on Ice’s theme was “Wild West,” with music from “Bonanza,” “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” and the “William Tell Overture” to match.
The Magic City Theatre on Ice team competed in two segments and received the overall highest score, earning team medals and the national title. Parsons said they “knew we did the best we’d ever done” as soon as they came off the ice. When their win was announced, most of the team was crying or screaming, she said.
“I wore it [the gold medal] around for about three days afterward. I was just so excited,” Parsons said.
Team coaches Priscilla Fowler and Emily Sanders both lauded the work put in by the entire team to raise their performance level in the span of a year.
“Guiding these skaters through that process and seeing it pay off for them in such a big way has been one of the greatest joys of my life,” Fowler said.
Next year, the team will have the chance to defend their title on their home turf. Saxena said the Pelham Civic Complex and Ice Arena will host the national championships in late June 2019.
Learn more about the Birmingham Figure Skating Club and Magic City Theatre on Ice at bhamfsc.org.