By Ally Najera
Freshman Danielle Trinh and her figure skating team, Rose City Crystals Synchronized, placed third at the open juvenile level at their sectionals in Wichita, Kansas, this past January. Previously at sectionals, the team placed fourth and has placed between 1st and 4th in local competitions.
With constant practices consisting of almost eight hours on the weekends at the Pasadena Ice Rink, the progress was inevitable. Previously, Trinh had feelings of concern and even doubt, these were soon replaced with confidence after her group worked hard and pulled through. Between Trinh’s collaborative effort and her personal involvement in the accomplishment of the team, there was obvious success that was displayed at the end of the competition.
Starting from age three, her early interest in skating transformed into a total dedication to the sport. With constant practice and a focus on teamwork, she seeks to get better and better.
“Winning the bronze medal was super exciting for me. I thought that we would do bad and we would go home feeling a little sad, but then the judges came into our room and announced it. We started screaming, not believing we did it,” said Trinh.
While team efforts are a major part of the win, individual contributions were important too. Trinh’s personal work ethic and passion for the sport helped her teammates.
On a personal level, Trinh does not struggle to balance her skating and academics because she prioritizes what is more important; which to her would be her academics. For Trinh, figure skating is a fun hobby but not a career goal, so she makes sure to prioritize school.
“I can prioritize my homework and skating is not super big for me because I know I want to focus more on academics but skating is one of my favorite hobbies so I do make sure that I have time for it,” Trinh said.
However, she manages to do well in school and still make time to practice in order to be successful in figure skating since she loves it.
She hopes to continue to see her team thrive and to hopefully move on to bigger and better titles, such as Nationals.
“Although skating will definitely not be a career choice for me, I do really hope I can continue on until at least my senior. This year I am trying out for a higher level team where this year that team went to Nationals and that’s where I hope to go,” Trinh said.
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