New Fundraiser Opportunity

MEFSC Parents,

One of the great benefits of being a MEFSC member is the opportunity to fundraise and offset some of your skater’s expenses. 

Would you like to earn money outside of just the RAMS games?  Well now you can!

The number of parents interested in fundraising opportunities continues to increase and there will be one less RAMS home game next year because the RAMS will play one home game in London.  So, we have signed up as a fundraising group with Busch Stadium.  We have made a commitment to provide a minimum of 15 workers for 12 games during the first half of the season.  At that time, we will evaluate the success of fundraising at CARDINALS games and make a decision whether to participate in the rest of the season, although there is no guarantee stands will be available for the remainder of the season. 

This is a signed contract much like what we have with the RAMS fundraising opportunity.   These 12 games meet our obligation for the year.   So, we may only work these twelve games for the entire year. 

ACTION REQUESTED:
1)      Decide if you have interest in working all or part of the games listed in the attachment.
2)      Complete the attached form and return to me.  Complete games willing to work and training date.
3)      Complete by Friday, February 17th.

If you have ANY interest in working CARDINALS games, please let me know as I plan to create a separate distribution list for emailing details.

Regards,
Matt


Matthew Kirkpatrick
314.378.4134  Cell

VOTE ON OUR SPRING SHOW THEME!

Our spring show will take place on Friday, April 27^th at 7 PM, but we need your help on deciding on a theme to set our show to.  We have received several ideas from members and would now like for you to vote on your favorite!  We like to keep the spring show theme pretty broad to provide skaters with a broad selection of music and allow skaters the opportunity to use music and/or costumes from current or past programs.  Please take a moment to review these ideas and vote for your favorite by Friday, Feb. 10^th.  When voting on the theme, keep in mind there will be club groups formed to perform in the show as well as individual skaters and small groups performing in the show.  If you have ideas on specific show names, sets and promotions to go with one of these themes please feel free to e-mail your ideas to Karen Rosemann at karenr@metroedgefsc.org.

Vote HERE!

Midwestern Sectional Champs

We all have a lot to be proud of after last weekend’s Midwestern Sectional Championships (aka “Mids”). We had four teams skate incredibly well and a few broke new ground for skating in Missouri.

For those who maybe haven’t heard (and for those who like to hear it again and again), Saint Louis Synergy has two reigning Sectional Champions. The Preliminary and Intermediate teams earned gold medals and became the first ever sectional champs from the state of Missouri. Intermediate’s gold medal qualified them for Nationals. In addition, our Novice team took the Pewter medal and qualified for Nationals as well. This also marks a first. Our Intermediate and Novice team qualifications for Nationals mark the first time two teams from the same Missouri club qualified together. Finally, our Juvenile team had a great skate, their best of the year, in an incredibly difficult division and finished 9^th.

Our club showing at “Mids” was a team effort. The team that I am talking about includes dedicated skaters, great coaches, and committed families. So, thank you. Thanks to coaches, parents, and skaters for all of your hard work, your willingness to sacrifice for the good of the team, and your devotion to the sport of synchronized skating. This is not a sport for the faint of heart.

Now, on with the rest of a great season!

Laura Arnold

SAVE THE DATE!

Save the date!

2012 MEFSC Awards Gala
Sunday, April 29th

Location:
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church Parish Hall in South St. Louis
(near Target)
4714 Clifton Ave
St. Louis, MO 63109

Committee and Volunteers:
If you would like to volunteer for the Gala committee,
Please contact Dawn Jungermann at dawn@ten8.com or 314-39-8611

Volunteer Opportunities-
Decorations
Set up/Take Down
Awards Powerpoint Presentation
Year End Video
Procurement of Awards/Certificates/Trophies
Good Sports Note Store –Procurement/set up/Staff
Photography/Video
Catering and Beverages

Seniors: Please forward photographs and bios/accomplishments to Dawn (dawn@ten8.com) for Senior recognition video.

Valentine Breakfast for the Teams

Dad's and Grandpa's Valentine breakfast  on Feb 11th
Need food for 5 teams  starting @ 7am cleanup @ 11:30 am

If possible  food and drinks needs to arrive by 7:30 to be available for 1st teams!!
If your dish will be later please let me know!! So I can plan accordingly!


Contact Mark   @ markdirs@yahoo.com       314-6504455

(Dad's if you can't make it you can always send a special dish wih your skater!!)

Lets make it the biggest and best ever!!!!!

e.g  casseroles , bakery good , fruit salad , milk, Juice Waffles , Sausage , Bacon , ect....
Please let me know what you can whip up !!!

St. Louis Synergy Bowling in Michigan

St. Louis Synergy Juvenile has their best skate of the year!

The Juvies place 9th out of 15th at Midwestern Sectionals. We are so proud!

The Intermediate is heading to Nationals!

The Intermediate team wins 1st place at Pacific Midwestern Sectionals! They are headed to Nationsls.

Novice is heading to Nationals!

First Place Medals

St. Louis Synergy Prelim take 1st at Sectionals!

Just like our St. Louis Cardinals, our Prelim team hit a grand slam with their baseball themed program at The Pacific and Midwestern Sectionals in Plymouth, Michigan!

WANTED: SPRING SHOW IDEAS!!!!

We need theme ideas for a fabulous Spring Show!  Themes must be age appropriate for skaters from 4 to 18 and should allow individuals and groups to work on numbers independently.  Our spring shows are typically not productions that have specific characters and sets needed to tell a full story but rather a general theme.  Themes that have been used in the past few years are:  Oscars on Ice, Best of Disney and Gleeks on Ice.  Please e-mail or text your theme ideas to karenr@metroedgefsc.org or 314-409-9986 by January 31st.
We will put a poll up on the website on Feb. 1st that includes the best ideas received for the membership to vote on.  The skater that submits the winning theme will recieve a FREE entry into the show and first choice of music to perform to!
The spring show is scheduled for Friday, April 27th.  The time is still being determined.

Congratulations to Madison Havel

On December 9th Madison Havel became Metro Edge's first freestyle Gold Medalist to test and pass her senior free skate test as a MEFSC home club member.  Congratulations to Madison on this achievement!  Madison is a senior at Triad High School in Illinois and has been skating since age 5.  She skates on the Synergy Intermediate team and appeared as the Sugar Plum Fairy in this year's production of the Nutcracker on Ice.  Madison is coached by Gina Oesterlei and Tina Randazzo.

Great Night at the St. Louis Blues Game!

St. Louis Synergy's Juvenile Team performed at last nights St. Louis Blues game in between the first and second period!

Baby LaMear Has Arrived!

Announcing

Brayden Emmett LaMear

Born 12-14-11 at 9:48am
8lb 8oz.   20.5 inches long.

It's Still Not Too Late!

Several people have inquired about getting additional Synergy soft good items from the backpack order form that was used at the start of the season. The t-shirts and sweatshirt are practice approved.  These items are different than the items available on a regular basis from Julie Latta.  The order form is attached and is also posted on the website under the synchro tab and there are hard copies at the rink on the bulletin board.   Due to the interest that has been expressed, an additional order will be placed with hopes of arriving by December 21st for those interested in the items for gifts.  

If you have an interest in these Synergy t-shirts, sweatshirt or polo shirts, please complete and return an order form with payment (checks should be made out to MEFSC) NO LATER THAN THURS, DEC 8.  NO LATE ORDERS WILL BE ACCEPTED.  Orders may be handed to Cindy Grigg or placed in the wooden box. 

Measuring Ourselves Against The Best

Over the past few months, I have spent some time talking with Board Presidents and Vice-Presidents at several different clubs across the country that have elite synchronized skating prograsms. The goal was to find out how these clubs established and maintain their consistent success. I asked questions about team and organizational structure, Board oversight, coaching compensation, and aspects of their programs that they believe contribute to their consistent success. At the last MEFSC Board meeting, I shared my findings with the MEFSC Board. I wanted to share some of what I learned with our Synchro families.

During the course of these conversations, I learned, not surprisingly, that we are doing many things that are consistent with these clubs. Our ice time is consistent with these clubs. The incorporation of training and ballet were considered vital by almost all of these clubs. We are fielding a range of teams consistent with the top clubs. Perhaps most gratifying, the leadership of these clubs are familiar with us and recognize how far we have come over the last several years.

There are some things that need our attention as well. I’d like to mention two that are particularly pressing. The first concern is recruitment of skaters. The most successful clubs field fully rostered teams and use alternates from the Juvenile level on up. While we have large teams at some levels, we still need to recruit skaters, especially at the younger levels. This provides a continual supply of skaters and allows clubs to develop skaters from an early age. Secondly, I learned from these conversations and a USFS study of synchro programs that we pay our coaches between 25-35% less than the Midwestern average and significantly less than the national average. What many of our families do not know is that our coaches are only compensated for the on-ice time for their two primary teams. Any time they spend in off-ice, working with a third team, on administrative functions or communicating with parents is essentially volunteer time. This is a significant concern for all of us as we seek to retain quality coaches.

The MEFSC Board has begun a review of the administrative structure of our synchro teams and how we compensate our coaches. We want to find a way to continue on the successful path we are now travelling while also finding a way to organize ourselves efficiently and compensate our coaches in a way that demonstrates respect for their skill, commitment, and performance. We are well aware of the cost of skating and the need to keep skating affordable. That is also a priority for our organization.

Thank you to all of you for your commitment to our skaters and their success.

Save the Date!

Show-Me State Games
Figure Skating Competition

SAVE THE DATE
and Go for the Gold!
Friday, Saturday & Sunday
February 24, 25 & 26, 2012


Hosted by: The Metro Edge FSC
Webster Groves Ice Arena

Application Packets will be available on-line and emailed to you by October 30th.

Change of Dates for the Resale

The dates have changed for the resale to Monday November 7th - Saturday November 12th. It will be open at all LTS, Club ice and Synchro Practices.
If you want to see your things please have them hung on a hangar if necessary, clearly marked with your initials and the price of the item. 
Also include an "inventory" list of all item with the cost of each item as well. All items need to be brought to the rink to me on Thursday November 3rd.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! IF your willing to help, please let me know! Email me! nichole0617@yahoo.com

Juv Team to Perform at St. Louis Blues Game

The juvenile team has an incredible opportunity to showcase their program between the first and second period of a Blues Game!  The game will take place at 7:00 pm on Thursday, December 15th at the Scottrade Center as the Blues take on the NY Rangers.  Crowds for Blues games typically average around 30,000 people so we should have a great audience for which to perform.  We will be purchasing tickets as a group for a discounted rate, so if you are interested in joining some MEFCS families and cheering the team on, please contact Kim Oliver (tkoliver@charter.net) and let her know how many tickets you would like to order.  Tickets would make a great Thanksgiving or early holiday gift, too!