Photo by Sydney Cromwell
From left: Hoover students Sophia Latham, Adria Liliac, Blayne Powers and Hewitt-Trussville Middle student Halle Parsons are part of the Magic City Theatre on Ice team that recently won the national championships.
It was a comeback story straight out of a movie script.
In 2017, the Magic City Theatre on Ice’s intermediate team placed dead last at the national championships. At the end of June 2018, the overall team took home gold medals.
And three Hoover students — Blayne Powers, Adria Liliac and Sophia Latham — were part of the champion team.
Magic City Theatre on Ice combines figure skating with choreographed theatrical performances. The team practices at the Pelham Civic Complex’s ice arena, as part of the Birmingham Figure Skating Club. Coach Anita Saxena said the club hadn’t heard of Theatre on Ice before winning a bid to host the national competition in 2016.
Saxena said they created a team to compete in the 2016 season, placing eighth out of 18 in the first year. In 2017, the club’s Preliminary team placed ninth out of 10 teams and the Intermediate team placed last out of 15, while the older Open team placed in the middle of their rankings.
“This year we made the decision to combine skaters from all three 2017 teams into one big team for the 2018 season. It was a challenge, but everyone worked so hard to make our team successful,” Saxena said.
Powers, Liliac and Latham were all part of the 2017 team and noted the hard work put in by every member to achieve this year’s victory.
“We had more people and everyone was more focused this year,” said Latham, a fourth grader at Rocky Ridge Elementary. “Last year I didn’t think it was that important, but this year I did.”
Latham said she is on the ice almost every day in the summer and a couple days a week during the school year.
Liliac, also a Rocky Ridge fourth grade student, credited the coaches and the choreography for helping to bring home a national championship. This year, Magic City Theatre on Ice’s theme was “Wild West,” with music from “Bonanza,” “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” and the “William Tell Overture” to match. Liliac said she has been skating for about six years and from the first time she got on the ice, she never wanted to leave it.
“I just wanted to be a star at it,” Liliac said.
Powers, a fifth grader at Deer Valley Elementary, said learning moves that were brand new was challenging, but she enjoys time with the rest of the Theatre on ice team, as well as the chance to meet other skaters from around the U.S. at the championships. Skaters got to trade specially made pins during the event.
“I like that we’re more than just a team. We’re friends,” Powers said.
The nationals were held June 26–30 in Geneva, Illinois. The Magic City Theatre on Ice team competed in two segments and received the overall highest score, earning team medals and the national title. With such a step up from their 2017 performance, the skaters agreed that it took a moment for the news to sink in.
“I felt in shock at first, but then I started screaming,” Powers said.
“We were screaming like hyenas, really,” Latham said.
Team coaches Priscilla Fowler and Emily Sanders both lauded the work put in by the entire team to raise their performance level in the span of a year.
“Guiding these skaters through that process and seeing it pay off for them in such a big way has been one of the greatest joys of my life,” Fowler said.
Powers, Liliac and Latham all said they’re interested in being part of Theatre on Ice again next year. This time, they’ll have the chance to defend their title on their home turf. Saxena said the Pelham Civic Complex and Ice Arena will host the national championships in late June 2019.
Learn more about the Birmingham Figure Skating Club and Magic City Theatre on Ice at bhamfsc.org.
