About Team ELITE

"Skating makes me feel like I'm flying"

Overview of Elite

The Elite coaches teach roller skating skills from beginner, to intermediate, then advanced to World Class levels; with the focus on independent learning journey's and accelerated learning cycles.

Our sessions offer a focus on artistry in roller skating as well as perfecting skills like balance, posture, speed and precision.

We aim to move skaters out of their comfort zone, into their growth zone so skaters are always improving and learning.

Roller skating at Elite develops individuals in confidence, self-discipline and motivation as well as physical skills such as flexibility, coordination and strength. We believe to be a top performing athlete, a skater needs to exhibit these characteristics.

Every Elite skater has an individual learning plan as we recognise every skater is on their own learning journey and all will progress at different rates. We think it is important for all skaters to recognise their own development and focus on their personal progress.

We provide a safe and secure learning space for all of our athletes so they can learn to fail, overcome challenges and problem solve with the support of the coaches and teammates around them.

When the skills become more advanced, the skaters learn to how to develop a resilient mindset for competions. Our coaches guide skaters on how to develop their mindset from 'fear and comfort zones' into a positive perspective and remind them of their amazing progress.

It is always satisfying to look back at videos from previous competitions and see how much the skaters have improved.

Competitions occur throughout the year usually beginning in February and ending in November. Our goal is to improve competition results throughout the year by working on skating ability an the skaters' confidence. Then we upskill skaters in the off season with more technical dances/free dances for the next season. Our aim is to always have our skaters progressing through the test standards and always having a challenge.

At Elite, we encourage our athletes to participate in other hobbies outside of skating which help enhance their performances on skates such as: circuit training, ballet and gymnastics. We understand that skating is more than just a sport, so we split our focus between techniques, stamina training, characterisation, dance classes, acro skills, team building, dress designing, musicality, social media and goal setting. We help our skaters to become well-rounded athletes as best we can. We are also encouraging athletes to train their mindsets and competition preparation as we believe this is really important.

History

Elite Artistic Skating Club was founded in 2019 when head coach, Lauren Jarvis, was in her second year at University studying chemistry. She decided to set up her own club after doing consultant coaching and choreographing at local clubs for many previous years. She always knew she would one day set up her own club and was very proud when that day came.

Lauren had a very successful skating career as a soloist. She began skating as a 6 year old doing fun sessions locally. Once she got into competitive skating, the passion only grew further and there was not a weekend that went by that she didn't go skating. She went on to achieve a GB Championship title - Youth Solo Dance Champion of 2016 and several Vice Champion titles. Her success in GB lead to her being selected by the GB panel to compete in competitions all over the globe such as World Championships, European Championships and Cup of Europe. In total, she has represented GB at 13 international competitions. The highlight of her career was competing in the Inaugural World Roller Games hosted in Nanjing, China, where she achieved an incredible 18th place against the best athletes from around the world.

"The memories I made at those international events are so special to me. I remember feeling so overwhelmed with pride and honor stepping out onto the rink, they call your name and your nation, you take to the floor full of nerves and hope you do our country proud. You have all your friends watching and supporting you through live stream or social media. It's such a surreal moment, one that is hard to explain. I just know I will never forget, and I would love to be part of my skaters' journeys to help them reach these dreams."

We entered our first competition in 2019 - this was the GB National Championships. Our two skaters had 6 weeks to train for this events, it was a whirlwind of new choreography and technique training on the lead up. During covid-19, we unfortunately were not a sport deemed serious enough by the Government to return to training, therefore we did not skate throughout the lockdown until restrictions were eased and we could meet up with people from outside of our family bubble in the outdoors. This is when we first discovered TikTok and decided to get us through the lockdowns, we would create some fun skating dances and film them.

We got back to competitions in 2021, the GBSA national championships were able to go ahead despite the restrictions, and the athletes were so glad to be able to get back to competitions!

2022 and 2023 we had newcomer skaters starting competitions, which they were so excited about! In these two seasons we did a lot more competitions per year. To find out more, please see our yearly blog pages. 2022 was a big year for us as we hosted our first competition at our home rink, Hartpury Elite Sports Academy. It was a big success, we had 14 clubs from over GB travel to Gloucester to compete in Solo dance, team and duo dance and duo/trio free dance events.

2023 was the first time we had taken a Tot and a male skater to National Championships. This was also the biggest team we have selected to be in our Pro Team for the season.

For season 2024, we are going to focus on our club mission and compete in less events this season. We have such a talented group of athletes, we have decided our Pro Team will include 15 solo skaters and two couples this season! We can't wait to see how they all do! To follow along, please find us on our social media pages.

We have had some fantastic National level results at the championships over the 5 years we have entered. We are so proud of these achievements.

Highlights of Nationals Results

2019 - Espoir Ladies Solo Dance Champion - Freya Abbott

2021 - Mini Ladies Solo Dance Champion - Maisie Boucher

2021 - Espoir Ladies Solo Dance Vice Champion - Eva Hart

2022 - Espoir Ladies Solo Dance Champion - Maisie Boucher

2022 - Cadet Ladies Solo Dance Vice Champion - Eva Hart

2022 - Classic Advanced Solo Dance 3rd place - Annabel England

2023 - Mini Ladies Solo Dance Vice Champion - Beatrix Aros

2023 - Mini Men Solo Dance Vice Champion - Thomas Farrant

2023 - Cadet Ladies Solo Dance Vice Champion - Eva Hart

2023 - Tot Ladies Solo Dance 3rd place - Hannah Farrant

2024 - Mini Ladies Solo Dance Champion - Eartha Peacock

2024 - Espoir Men Solo Dance Champion - Stanley Ellis

2024 - Espoir Couples Dance Champions - Beatrix Aros and Thomas Farrant

2024 - Espoir Ladies Solo Dance Vice Champion - Saffron Cook

2024 - Espoir Men Solo Dance Vice Champion - Thomas Farrant

2024 - Espoir Couples Dance Vice Champions - Ellie Davis and Stanley Ellis

2024 - Cadet Ladies Solo Dance Vice Champion - Katie Blackwell

Highlights of International Selections

To get an international selection, the skater must compete at the GBSA National Championships. For each age category, there is a different number of places available for the GB team to select.

2019 - Hettange-Grande International, France - Freya Abbott, Espoir Ladies Solo Dance

2021 - as covid-19 was still causing restrictions on travel and sports, the GBSA team did not send any athletes to international events.

2022 - World Skate Artistic International Series, Italy - Rubee Burns, Junior Ladies Solo Dance

2022 - European Championships, Andorra - Eva Hart, Cadet Ladies Solo Dance

2022- Cup of Europe, Netherlands - Maisie Boucher, Espoir Ladies Solo Dance

2022 - Hettange-Grande International, France - Freya Abbott, Youth Ladies Solo Dance

2023 - World Skate Artistic International Series, Italy - Eva Hart, Cadet Ladies Solo Dance

2023 - Cup of Europe, Croatia - Eva Hart, Cadet Ladies Solo Dance

2023 - Hettange-Grande International, France - Rubee Burns, Senior Ladies Solo Dance

2023 - Hettange-Grande International, France - Beatrix Aros, Mini Ladies Solo Dance

2024 - Cup of Europe, Switzerland - Eva Hart, Youth Ladies Solo Dance

2024 - Cup of Europe - Katie Blackwell, Cadet Ladies Solo Dance

TEN C's

One of our main focusses as a team is getting the best culture for our athletes to learn in. Training with Elite is all about learning in a safe and supportive space where it is encouraged to take on challenges, ask questions, try new things. We think a great athlete and team mate encompasses all of these attributes.

Courage

Athletes who are courageous show they are in the growth zone, deal well with challenges, set realistic developmental goals. They are always on the progression pathway and are not afraid to push themselves.

Curiosity

An athlete who has the desire to learn more, asking frequent questions, determined to keep trying until they have mastered a skill, listens and takes on board all feedback.

Care

A teammate who supports all members of Elite and competitors at competitions. Speaking kindly to others. Celebrating others' successes and being a cheerleader for the team and themselves. Showing good rink etiquette. Being kind to themselves in their inner monologue. Being inclusive.

Commitment

Athletes who are early to each session to warm up, have done their homework, are self-motivated. They are fully involved in their own progress and will work hard in many aspects inside and outside of the rink to enhance their skating.

Communication

Speaking with respect and appreciation, communicates regularly, developing mutual trust. An athlete who shows positive attitude, language and body language.

Confidence

An athlete who shows resilience at training and in competitions, can handle failure well and switch their mindset to get back out there and keep trying. Turns challenges into opportunities. Sets achievable regular goals for training and competitions.

Capability

An athlete who strives to understand and put into practice advance techniques and skills. Ability to pick choreography up well and remember it. Ability to self-correct, step up in competitions and handle competition pressure.

Coachability

Is respectful and grateful of all coaches, committee members, skaters and any external coaches. Able to take direction and work hard on feedback. Has great internal motivation and self-driven goals, focused in sessions on and off the rink. Can overcome frustrations in a positive way. Focusses on progress over perfection.

At the end of every season we have an annual awards ceremony mixed with our club Christmas party. This is a great chance to celebrate all the fantastic behaviours we have seen throughout the season.

Courtesy

This is a new attribute we are implementing from season 2024.

An athlete who acts with professionalism in all circumstances in training and at events. Thinking of politeness, respect and consideration for others.