Sofia Vialpando
Staff Writer
For most student athletes, juggling academics and a high school sport can be challenging. Freshman Mini Kang not only juggles cross country and school, but competes on a nationally ranked figure skating team.
Kang has been competing on a figure skating team for three years and is currently on the most advanced synchronized skating team, called the Intermediate Level, at Toyota Center in El Segundo.
“I have a great passion towards skating overall,” Kang said. “I have loved every moment of skating since the minute I stepped onto the ice.”
Freshman Mini Kang’s interest in ice skating was sparked when she went to a friend’s birthday party at the Toyota Center when she was eight years old. After falling in love with skating, she took individual lessons for a year before deciding to take her passion to the next level and join the Toyota Sports Center’s figure skating team.
“I love the sport because there is always constant movement going on and there are so many different elements to figure skating that it never gets boring,” Mini Kang said.
Kang made the Intermediate Level when she was twelve years old after taking private lessons for two years to prepare for the tryouts. She has been competing on both solo and synchronized teams since she was ten years old, but chose to focus only on synchronized skating this year in order to make time for school and cross country.
“I love seeing that Mini has found her passion and is trying her best,” Kang’s father YT Kang said. “Having the commitment to the teams that she’s involved with and seeing her improve is what I’m most proud of.”
Mini competes nationally in ice skating competitions and travels to places all over the world, such as Minnesota during Jan. 2015 for Sectionals. Kang’s ice skating team consists of 12 girls who will all be traveling to Portland, Oregon in Jan. 2016 to compete in Sectionals. To make it to Nationals, which takes place in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Kang and her team will have to place in the top four teams at Sectionals.
“Our main goal for this season is to win Sectionals,” Kang said. “At competitions, especially Sectionals, being around such a great team lets me know that they always have my back.”
Because she competes on such a high level of ice skating, she spend nine hours at the rink each week. She practices with her team in the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo from 5am to 6:30am on Mondays and Fridays, 7:40pm to 9:10pm on Tuesdays, 4:45 a.m to 6:15 a.m on Thursdays and 4:45am to 8:45am on Saturdays.
“You really have to be fully committed to the sport and be able to manage your time well,” Kang said. “I am still in the process of learning how to play two sports and keep up with my schoolwork.”
Not only does Kang compete in figure skating but she is also a member of Costa’s Cross Country team. When she started cross country in July 2015, Kang had difficulty doing both sports due to races and practices being held at the same times.
“I couldn’t give up either sport because I love doing both,” Kang said. “However, I am learning how to make sacrifices for sports and manage my time.”
Kang plans to keep competing in figure skating throughout high school and is still deciding if she wants to skate in college because of the commitment and dedication it takes. According to Kang, her family, friends and coaches all keep motivated to compete on such a high level in skating through their support.
“I do plan to keep up figure skating because it is one of my passion,” Kang said. “I get to experience new things, travel around the nation, and meet new people that I would have never met if I never joined skating in the first place.”
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