Our Juvenile and Mixed Age teams started the 2024-2025 season with great performances at the weekend Test Skates, where our senior team also presented their new programs in front of a home crowd.
Learning and development – that’s what the Test Skates, organized for the first time by the Hungarian National Skating Federation in the Budapest Practice Rink, was all about for our teams last weekend.
For our Juvenile unit, the competition was not only the beginning of a season of learning and development, but also the start of a career. The team, with very young members in their category, made a great debut, finishing their first competition in 3rd place with 45.52 points.
“It’s very useful to get feedback on the program so early in the season. We see the Test Skates as a great opportunity to gain experience. For many kids this was the first competition as synchronized skaters, so it was a great pleasure to do it on home ground, in the presence of many relatives, friends and almost the whole Passion family, cheering and encouraging them, in a fantastic atmosphere,” said Loréna Bubcsó, the team’s coach and member of our senior team. She added: “The aim is to incorporate the feedback we have just received and to refine the program, both in terms of the technical difficulty of the elements and the quality of their execution, before the next competition, the Santa Claus Cup in December in Brno.”
Fotó: Hunskate Media
Similar goals were set for our Mixed Age team, which won first place in its age group with a score of 60.42 points, almost 15 points ahead of the other teams. Their coaches, Lilla Tápai-Szabó and Lili Szilágyi, former and current members of our senior team, like Loréna, stressed that it was extremely encouraging to have their program and skating skills assessed by experts before the international competitions.
“However, the Test Skates was also a visible goal for the children, who really enjoyed the opportunity to compete. In the light of the feedback, we will continue to prepare for the Santa Claus Cup, where they can finally show what they are capable of in an international environment. If everything goes as planned in the next few weeks, we can hope for another podium finish in Brno after last year’s gold medal,” said Lilla and Lili.
Fotó: Hunskate Media
A very strong field will be waiting for our senior team in Brno, which, like last season, was invited to the Shanghai Trophy in early October to start the season there. Over the past month, the team has worked hard and was able to improve the difficulty of several elements of the short program.
“It is always a wonderful feeling to compete in front of a home crowd, the girls were looking forward to presenting the programs to their friends and loved ones,” said head coach Erika Kendelényi-Gulyás. “We received very useful feedback and advice, which we will try to take into account. There are still a lot of elements to improve and we will do our best to get everything in place before the Brno tournament.”
Fotó: Hunskate Media
