Skating to the top

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 Oak Mountain High School junior Rebecca Zaharko was part of the championship 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 middleof 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.

Zaharko, who is originally from Maryland, has been skating for nine years. She got her start because both of her grandparents were figure skaters and encouraged her to take lessons. However, being on the ice was an acquiredtaste.

“I cried the first time that I was out there for lessons,” Zaharko said, adding that a friend’s birthday party at a skating arena made her like the sport more.

Now, Zaharko can be found at the ice rink around 6 a.m. several mornings a week, getting in practice time before school.

Zaharko prefers team skating to individual figure skating competitions. She previously participated in synchronized skating while in Maryland, and she has been in the Magic City Theatre on Ice team for two years.

“It shows off how you can work as a team,” Zaharko said.

Though last year’s performance at the national championships wasn’t strong, Zaharko said the team put in the work this year and she felt a lot more prepared heading into the 2018 competition.

“Our team spent a lot of time working together and doing off-ice to perfect things that needed to be done on-ice,” she said.

The nationals were held June 26–30 in Geneva, Illinois. 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.

The Magic City Theatre on Ice team competed in two segments and received the overall highest score, earning team medals and the national title. Zaharko said the announcement that they had won didn’t seem real at first.

“I don’t cry often, and I was a sobbing mess. So I was really excited,” she 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.

Zaharko said she’s planning to be part of Theatre on Ice again next year. This time, the team will 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.