When the Yankton Area Ice Association (YAIA) hosts its second annual Yankton Winter Miracle figure skating event at the Yankton Kiwanis 4-H Ice Arena Sunday, it’ll be more than an opportunity for 15 young ice skaters to show what they’ve learned over the winter. It will also be a key step toward being able to host larger tournaments in Yankton in the future.

Coordinator Susan Zavadil said the YAIA is certified with the Ice Skating Institute (ISI) and close to being able to host other certified clubs.

“We are an ISI-certified rink which means we follow some pretty strict rules about structure of our classes, what our kids are learning in our classes, we only have certified coaches here,” Zavadil said. “It’s been kind of a challenge to us in a tiny little town but we’ve been able to make it work so far. What we want to be able to do is have other ISI-certified clubs come in and compete here.”

In order for Yankton to be allowed to host tournaments featuring other ISI clubs, the YAIA must first host two “in-house” tournaments featuring only members of the Yankton club. The 2014 Winter Miracle event is the second such tournament.

Zavadil said a lot of work has gone into the competition.

“It’s sort of a practice competition,” she said. “You have to apply for an endorsement and there’s a lot of paperwork we have to fill out about what we’re going to do. We have to have certified judges, referees and so on. This is our second year of an ‘in-house’ and after this, next year we’ll be able to invite other towns for a bigger figure skating competition.”

Martha Pajl, a parent also working on coordinating the competition, said the expansion will have a positive impact on Yankton, the YAIA and students alike.

“It’ll be good for Yankton,” Pajl said. “Hotel rooms, eating out, food, more income into the town and help us grow. It will give our girls exposure to other competitors coming to us versus us traveling to them.”

Pajl added this weekend will also be an opportunity for younger skaters to watch and put their minds at ease about performing in front of crowds.

“Figure skaters will probably come and watch because sometimes a lot of the younger ones say, ‘Oh, I don’t want to be out there in front of everybody by myself’,” she said. “Once they see it, it’s not really that bad.”

Zavadil said next year, skaters from ISI’s District 10 will be able to compete in Yankton. This includes the Dakotas, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

She added the ISI endorsement will be a boost to those competing with the YAIA.

“It brings the game up,” she said. “It means that the kids competing at an ISI endorsed event in Yankton have to skate on the same level as a kid who would be skating in Denver, Chicago, Dallas or any big city. It assures parents that just because you’re in Yankton, your kid is not getting a watered-down figure skating or that their skills aren’t comparative to any other kid in any other ISI program.”

Pajl hopes expanded competition will also bring more interest to the sport in the community.

“Hopefully we’ll just get more excitement about it,” she said. “Those younger kids will see they can compete and participate right alongside other kids from other areas their age.”

Zavadil said the group ultimately wants an expansion of competition to help serve as a teaching tool for the skaters involved.

“The very most important thing to us is that the kids have fun and that they get a sense of accomplishment from what they’re learning whether competing or not,” she said. “And for the competitors, we teach them sportsmanship and grace under pressure. Competition is good for that. We’re trying to give these kids a skill-set while they have some fun.

The 2014 Yankton Winter Miracle is set to take place at 10 a.m. Sunday at the Yankton Kiwanis 4-H Ice Arena.

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For more information on the Yankton Area Ice Association, please visit http://www.yanktonice.org/.

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For more information on the Ice Skating Institute, visit http://www.skateisi.com/

You can follow Rob Nielsen on Twitter at twitter.com/RobNielsenPandD/. Discuss this story at www.yankton.net/

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