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Competitive Figure Skating FAQ: References


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Archive-name: sports/skating/ice/figure/references
Last-modified: 21 Sep 2008

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                      COMPETITIVE FIGURE SKATING FAQ:
                      ===============================

                                REFERENCES
                                ==========

This article is part of the FAQ list for (amateur) competitive figure
skating.  This section contains references to other sources of
information about the sport.

This FAQ list is posted monthly to rec.sport.skating.ice.figure.  It is
available in both plain-text and HTML/Web versions.  You can get to the
HTML version from SkateWeb at URL:

http://www.frogsonice.com/skateweb/

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Table of Contents

  * [1] Are there any good books about figure skating?
  * [2] What about magazines?
  * [3] Are there any other figure skating resources on the net?
  * [4] Where can I find skating videos online?
  * [5] Who wrote this FAQ list?
  * [6] Can I redistribute this FAQ list?

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[1] Are there any good books about figure skating?

    A recommended book about the technical aspects of figure skating is
    John Misha Petkevich's "Figure Skating: Championship Techniques"
    (ISBN 0-452-26209-7), published by Sports Illustrated and available
    in many bookstores.  It's a trade-sized paperback, and features
    photos of Brian Boitano.

    "Artistry on Ice", by Nancy Kerrigan with Mary Spencer (ISBN
    0-7360-3697-0), is also a useful how-to book.  It's slightly less
    technical in its approach than the Petkevich book but includes more
    material on pair skating, off-ice training, and competition
    preparation.  "Figure Skating for Dummies", by Kristi Yamaguchi and
    Christy Ness with Jody Meacham (http://www.dummies.com/, ISBN
    0-7645-5084-5), focuses more on competitive skating than on the
    details of technique.  It covers much the same ground as this FAQ.
    One caveat:  do not confuse the "cheat sheet" for scoring with the
    actual rules used by judges.  For that, you'll need a current copy of
    the official rulebook.

    The complete ISU regulations (governing international competitions in
    figure skating) are available for download in PDF format from the ISU
    web site at http://www.isu.org/.  They also sell printed copies and
    other materials such as judging handbooks and instructional videos.

    The US Figure Skating rulebook includes complete competition and
    eligibility rules, diagrams of compulsory figures and dances, and a
    directory of participating clubs.  It comes in a loose-leaf binder
    and costs about $10.  It's updated yearly, in the fall.

    You can order a copy directly from US Figure Skating, at:

    20 First Street, Colorado Springs, CO 80906
    (719)-635-5200
    http://www.usfigureskating.org/
    usfigureskating@usfigureskating.org

    You might also be able to buy a copy through your local skating club
    or pro shop.

    Beverly Smith's book "Figure Skating: A Celebration" (McClelland &
    Stewart, ISBN 0-7710-2819-9) is an excellent source of information
    about the history of the sport.  It's a large hardcover book,
    featuring many photographs of famous skaters.  There's now a trade
    paperback edition available.

    The "Skater's Edge Sourcebook" is also a useful reference. It's
    primarily a directory of skating rinks, equipment manufacturers and
    dealers, skating associations, etc. but also contains addresses for
    fan mail/agents, lists of medalists from past competitions, and
    information about books and videos.  Now in an updated third (2003)
    edition.  The cost is $35 plus shipping; order from:

    Skater's Edge Sourcebook, Box 500, Kensington MD 20895
    http://skatersedgemag.com
    (301)-946-1971

    One book you should definitely avoid is called "The Encyclopedia of
    Figure Skating".  It's full of errors and is not a reliable source of
    information.

[2] What about magazines?

    Here is a list of the more popular periodicals which deal with
    skating.  (Disclaimer: this isn't intended as a commercial
    endorsement of any of these publications.  Also, you might want to
    double-check the subscription rates, since they may have changed
    since this information was collected.)

    A more complete list of skating publications, including
    foreign-language publications and fan newsletters, is available on
    the web at http://www.jbmittan.com/pubs.htm.

    SKATING
    20 First Street
    Colorado Springs, CO 80906-3697
    719-635-5200
    http://www.usfigureskating.org/Magazine.asp
    10 issues/year
    $25/US, $35/Canada, $45/other countries

    Official magazine of the United States Figure Skating Association.
    Profiles of skaters, competition and tour reports, articles about
    participant skating at all levels.  Focus on US eligible skaters.
    The feature articles and competition reports are often shallow,
    simplistic, and excessively "politically correct", but it's useful as
    a source of USFSA information and for archival competition results.
    Most photos are tiny.

    BLADES ON ICE
    7040 N. Mona Lisa Road
    Tuscson, AZ 85741
    Phone: 602-575-1747
    Fax: 602-575-1484
    http://BladesOnIce.com/mag/
    6 issues/year
    $29/US

    This magazine is available on newsstands as well as by subscription.
    Magazine with news, interviews, competition reports; coverage of both
    professional and eligible skaters.  Feature interviews and
    competition reports are in-depth and detailed.  Many full-page color
    photographs.  Recommended.

    INTERNATIONAL FIGURE SKATING
    Mavador Media
    PO Box 595
    Boston, MA 02117
    1-800-437-5828
    info@ifsmagazine.com
    http://www.ifsmagazine.com/
    6 issues/year US: $22.97, Canada: $32(USD), international: $45(USD)

    As of May, 2004, IFS magazine is under new ownership as a result of a
    legal dispute involving its parent company.

    This magazine is available on newsstands as well as by subscription.
    Includes a mix of news and profiles, plus coverage of the business
    aspects of the sport.  More European skating news than other North
    American publications.

    PATINAGE MAGAZINE
    39 Bld de la Marne
    F-76000 Rouen
    France
    5 issues/year
    $30/US, $38(Canadian)/Canada

    Published in French w/ English translations.  The writing and/or
    translations leave a lot to be desired.  Initially made its
    reputation for having fabulous photography, but reports are that it
    has gone downhill.  Also notorious for pro-French editorial bias.

    SPOTLIGHT ON SKATING
    208 Mohawk Rd.
    Ancaster, ON, L9G 2W9
    Canada
    http://spotlightonskating.com/
    4 issues/year
    $28.75/US, $32.20(Canadian)/Canada

    Canadian/international focus; skater profiles, competition and show
    reports.

    SKATER'S EDGE, AMERICAN SKATING WORLD and TRACINGS are no longer
    being published.

[3] Are there any other figure skating resources on the net?

    The best place to start is the SkateWeb page at
    http://www.frogsonice.com/skateweb/.  This web site includes an
    archive of skating pictures, the hypertext version of this FAQ list,
    a collection of reviews, articles, cartoons and humor, and an
    extensive collection of links to official skater web sites and fan
    pages, skating webzines, the official web sites of various skating
    federations and clubs, competition and tour web sites,
    skating-related businesses, and archival competition results and
    other reference material.

    The Skatefans mailing list is for spectator-oriented discussion of
    figure skating.  For subscription information, visit
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SkateFans.  Note that this is a fairly
    busy mailing list, and if you can't handle getting a hundred or more
    messages per day in your mailbox you may want to subscribe only in
    digest mode, or read the messages from the web archive instead.

    You can also find links to quite a few specialized mailing lists at
    SkateWeb, such as those devoted to discussion of particular skaters,
    and to participant skating.

    For more background and reference material on figure skating, check
    out the main entry for figure skating on Wikipedia, the free
    encyclopedia that anyone can contribute to.  It can be reached at
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure_skating.

[4] Where can I find skating videos online?

    The Figure Skating Videos message board has an active community of
    users who share skating videos using external file-sharing servers.
    Videos of current events usually show up here within 24 hours of the
    time they are broadcast.  Many people have also contributed videos of
    historic interest from their tape collections.  You can access this
    board at

    http://www.fsvids.net/

    US Figure Skating has made videos of current-season qualifying events
    available on "The Ice Network".

    http://www.icenetwork.com/

    CCTV-5, the Chinese sports channel, carries live and/or same-day
    coverage of many international skating events, and can be viewed over
    the Internet with PPLive, free peer-to-peer software which again runs
    on Windows only.  It can be downloaded at

    http://www.pplive.com/

    CN8, a cable channel provided by Comcast which covers a number of
    East-coast skating events each year, offers live webcasts of their
    programming at their web site,

    http://www.cn8.tv/

    You can find many skating videos using the search feature at YouTube:

    http://www.youtube.com/

    A general resource for locating streaming webcasts of television
    broadcasts from around the world is at

    http://tv4all.com/

    In particular, in the past RAI Sport (from Italy) has carried live or
    same-day coverage of major competitions such as the World
    Championships and Olympic Games.

    For information about possible webcasts of other skating events,
    check the appropriate competition websites.  You can also usually
    find information about how to connect to webcasts of current events
    on most of the major skating mailing lists and message boards where
    current events are discussed.

[5] Who wrote this FAQ list?

    My name is Sandra Loosemore.  I've followed the sport for many years,
    although I've never been more than a recreational skater myself.  In
    "real life" I have a PhD in computer science, and I work as a
    software engineer.  I also have some professional experience as a
    technical writer.

    Some of the information in the FAQ is taken from the ISU and USFSA
    rulebooks.  I also incorporated suggestions from Helena Robinson,
    Fred Chapman, Ann Schmidt, Mary Kolencik, Stephen Kawalko, Louis
    Epstein, and many others.  Janet Pooley sent me the list of European
    champions, and Fiona McQuarrie supplied the list of Canadian
    champions.  The list of World Junior champions was sent to me by Jay
    Miller of "Skating" magazine.  The information about magazines was
    provided by Deborah Reed-Margetan, with updates from Barry Mittan.
    George Robbins, Trudi Marrapodi, and others contributed to the
    netiquette section.  Ellyn Kestnbaum and Janet Swan Hill provided
    information about judging.

[6] Can I redistribute this FAQ list?

    Yes, provided that you do not charge money for it, and that you
    acknowledge the source and authorship.

User Contributions:

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