Summer Competitions

Cleveland.com

My summer has been dominated by work and toddler care, so I have not highlighted major figure skating events that happened this summer as I wanted to. But I'm going back and doing it now.

Gay Games
This week-long, Olympics-style competition was held in Cleveland this year in mid-August. It is held once every four years, is open to LGBTQ&F athletes, and features just about every sport. This slideshow from cleveland.com shows off some of the talent and fun costumes that were part of the figure skating competition.

Collegiate National Championships
I always feel a little pang of regret when I hear about this competition, having blown my chance to enter a fun event by not skating during college. The competition, held every August, is open to junior- and senior-level skaters enrolled full-time in college. It also offers financial aid for the winners of the senior singles events.

National Showcase 2014
Some skaters feel that standard competitive programs are stuffy and limiting to personal expression, and find an outlet for their need to express themselves on ice in showcase competition. Think props, acrobatics and spotlights. This annual national competition invites skaters from around the country to compete and entertain. It's a lot of fun and very creative.

Junior Grand Prix
This is underway now, and you can watch livestreams here. It's a seven-event series that began August 20 and goes through October 12, It's--as the name of the competition clearly indicates--is the junior version of the Grand Prix series, for skaters who are not competing at the elite level yet, but are darn close. You'll likely to see a few of the skating stars of tomorrow trying out their skilz on the international level.

We have the start of 2015 qualifying competitions to look forward to this fall, starting with North Atlantics in Lake Placid on October 5.