It’s like herding cats when trying to keep these determined athletes from the Promenade Ice Skating team in one spot to snap a group picture. Hessah and Noora, the two oldest girls, are at the back of the ice rink and not on the ice, but you can see them flying in the air, practicing jumps from the floor. Selma and Lara are warming up on the ice, one diving into spins and the other zooming across the rink, and Dalal is around here too, somewhere. At least we’ve managed to corral these bundles of energy long enough to get them to put on their team jackets so we can spot them from a distance.
It has been for a while now that bazaar has been keen to meet these young and talented Promenade Ice skaters, but they are always off somewhere competing, studying or traveling. Their medal haul in competition is outstanding, 71 between these five alone. The youngest, Salma, is a champion, winning the cubs level Ice Skate Egypt Championships over the summer. One would be forgiven for thinking that these girls had been training all their lives to reach this level of accomplishment. In truth, the longest period that any of them has been skating is three and half years, and the shortest only two years.
When asked, the girls say that the most difficult thing about training is to keep going. When trying a particularly difficult jump or a new move, if you don’t make it first time around, it’s the getting back up to do it again that can be tiring. And you’ve got to keep on trying, again and again. Remember, that when these girls don’t make it, they are often slamming into a freezing, rock hard ice rink, so how many among us really could keep going to try it just that one more time? The power of visualization is what these girls have been taught by their coaches. They think, “I have already made this jump before.” Even if they really haven’t. It’s like a Jedi mind trick to make the body do what the brain wants. And every single one of these girls have this strength of mind, even if they have very different backgrounds and ambitions when it comes to skating.
Whether these athletes continue onto bigger and better things within figure skating or not, if the sport becomes their careers or not, the transferable skills they are learning within Promenade Ice are invaluable. These young women are living proof that great coaching in sport can teach you interpersonal skills and teamwork, goal orientated planning, self-discipline and positive visualization. The health benefit of weekly exercise has been recognized for decades. We now know that mental well-being is supported by regularly taking part in sports too, like figure skating in Promenade Ice. As far as bazaar is concerned, there can be no doubt about this, especially if this lively, smiling bunch are anything to go by.
Name: Hessah Alsarrawi
Age: 16
School: American Creative Academy
Years Skating: 2
Freestyle level attained: 4
Training for: Freestyle 5
Total medal haul: 7 Gold, 3 Silver
One word for how skating makes you feel: Satisfied
Fun facts: Two years ago, Hessah couldn’t even walk on the ice and in her last competition she won five golds; which she found very satisfying because it is proof of the time she spent training and working hard. She loves the positive, friendly and encouraging environment in Promenade Ice. She finds discipline the most challenging thing about skating but still sets herself a goal every day to achieve.
Name: Noora Quttainah
Age: 15
School: Bayan Bilingual School
Years Skating: 3
Freestyle level attained: 5
Training for: Freestyle 6
Total Medal Haul: 9 Gold, 7 Silver, 3 Bronze
One word for how skating makes you feel: Powerful
Fun facts: Noora has skating in her genes. Her mom was a figure skater and Noora remembers in Canada, her mother taking her to frozen lakes and placing her on the ice. Noora’s mother and sister travel with her for competitions to help with costumes, make-up and final words of advice. No matter what she achieves, as long as she is happy on the ice, this is good for Noora.
Name: Lara Knight
Age: 12
School: FAIPS DPS
Years Skating: 3.5
Freestyle level attained: 4
Training for: Freestyle 5
Total Medal Haul: 3 Gold, 6 Silver, 4 Bronze
One word for how skating makes you feel: Confident
Fun facts: A Promenade Ice coach spotted Lara’s potential when she was on the ice rink for her ninth birthday celebration, skating just for fun. In conversation, Lara likes to talk to people about figure skating as it is such an unusual sport to take part in here in Kuwait. Lara says, “It’s the confidence it gives you, that is what makes skating what it is; so special.”
Name: Dalal Mubarak Albader
Age: 14
School: American Creative Academy
Years Skating: 2
Freestyle level attained: 4
Training for: Freestyle 5
Total Medal Haul: 9 Gold, 4 Silver, 3 Bronze
One word for how skating makes you feel: Happy
Fun facts: Dalal used to be a Karate kid! She now uses skating to grow physically and mentally, and the figure skater she looks up to most is seventeen years old Russian, Alina Zigitova; the current World, Olympic, European and Russian champion. The most challenging thing for Dalal is to have patience to learn the more complex and difficult moves which are coming at this level of training.
Name: Salma Hesham ElSakka
Age: 10
School: British School of Kuwait
Years Skating: 2.5
Freestyle level attained: 5
Training for: Freestyle 6
Total Medal Haul: 1 Championship, 9 Gold, 4 Silver, 1 Bronze
One word for how skating makes you feel: Happy
Fun facts: The youngest and smallest in this group but one of the most confident on the ice. The coaches have taught her to always try her best, and if she falls, she should continue to get back up again. Salma is determined to always keep smiling, especially after she’s fallen. At only eight years old she already has her sights set on being the youngest ever Olympian skater in Beijing 2022.
For more information on visiting Promenade Ice or booking lessons call 2227 7130, or contact them directly for the latest updates on Instagram @promenade.ice. You can also find all of the latest information by visiting their website promenadeicekw.com. Images by bazaar Studios.
