About Figure Skating
The RRFSC and the USFSA
The world of figure skating can be confusing for the new skating family. The United States Figure Skating Association (USFSA) is the national organization that sets standards and rules for competitive figure skating, and sanctions official events. The structure of the USFSA programs looks like this:
Basic Skills: Learn to Skate programs for introductory skaters, Basic Skills are organized from Basic 1-8. Once skaters have mastered the Basic Skills, they are promoted to the Basic Freestyle program, which has levels from Basic Freestyle 1-6. If a skater wishes to pursue competitive figure skating, at this point in their career they usually start taking private lessons from one of our coaches.
Free Skate: The style of figure skating most people are familiar with is the free skate, which is the kind of skating showcased at the Olympics and National and World Championships. The USFSA sanctions a variety of different competitions at rinks throughout the country. In our area, our skaters commonly compete in Free Skate competitions in Delaware, York, Atlantic City, Maryland, and Philadelphia. Free skate competitions are organized by skill level. A skater’s skill level is established by passing a Free Skate Test in a Test Session. The levels are:
- No Test (skaters have not passed any Free Skate test)
- Pre-preliminary
- Preliminary
- Pre-Juvenile
- Juvenile
- Intermediate
- Novice
- Junior
- Senior
Skaters at the Intermediate level and above can compete in what are called Qualifying Competitions. There are three levels of Qualifying Competitions: Regionals, Sectionals, and the US Figure Skating Championships. Skaters who place at the Regionals can compete at the Sectionals; those who place at Sectionals compete at the US Figure Skating Championships (”Nationals”). Junior and Senior National champions go on to compete at the World Figure Skating Championships, and the Senior champions can qualify for the Olympics. Skaters at any level can compete in non-Qualifying competitions, sometimes called “open” competitions.
Competitive Test Track: The USFSA has recently created the Competitive Test Track, a second track for recreationally-mind skaters of all levels who would like to skate competitively, but may not have mastered the more difficult elements at a level. The skill levels for CTT are:
- Limited Beginner
- Beginner
- Pre-preliminary
- Preliminary
- Pre-Juvenile
- Juvenile
- Intermediate
- Novice
- Junior
- Senior
Although the levels are similar to the Free Skate track, the USFSA limits the difficulty of elements allowed. Competitive Test Track events are bracketed by age, allowing older skaters the ability to compete on a level playing field with other skaters of their approximate age and ability.
Moves in the Field (MIF) : In the good old days, figure skaters had to trace shapes (”figures”) in the ice during competitions. Although those days are gone, competitive figure skaters are expected to master certain moves central to the choreography of free skate programs. These are called Moves in the Field. Structured with the same level categories as Free Skate, skaters pass MIF tests at Test Sessions organized by figure skating clubs like the RRFSC. Our skaters commonly test for MIF and Free Skate levels at our own Test Sessions, but also at sessions held in Hershey and York.