These figure skaters find joy on the ice, decades after they left it

A group of women in central Newfoundland say they've rediscovered their passion for figure skating and competition while finding community after coming together to form an adult skating team.

Jeanine Connolly, coach of the Central Blades adult women's synchronized skating team, which skates out of Grand Falls-Windsor, said the adult division has grown in recent years.

The team came together when women from the Grand Falls-Windsor and Bishop's Falls areas expressed interest in returning to the rink as a group.

Connolly had originally hoped for 12 people to start the group, but over 50 people took part in the first tryout.

"It absolutely warms my heart to see adults out skating," Connolly told CBC News Tuesday. "The progress from September to now is unbelievable."

WATCH | Jeanine Connolly says it's heartwarming to see adults return to the ice:

Adult figure skating team brings women together in central Newfoundland

5 days ago

Duration 2:04

Figure skating is often part of the lives of many young people, who tend to age out of it as they grow. But adult figure skating is alive and well in central Newfoundland thanks to the Central Blades. Coach Jeanine Connolly and skater Erica Edison spoke with the CBC's Alex Kennedy about what it means to them to get back on the ice.

The team recently competed at SkateNL provincials in Conception Bay South, taking a 2nd place finish in their division.

Erica Edison of Grand Falls-Windsor was one of those skaters. She had skated up until she was 14, but joined the Blades in September after a near 30-year absence from skating.

"I had totally forgot the rush that you feel when you step out on the ice and the rush you feel afterwards when it's done. And you just feel really proud of yourself and what you've accomplished," Edison said.

"You just get exhilarated. The fresh air, the cold air and just the camaraderie."

Connolly said she finds joy in seeing women come back to the sport. Synchronized skating requires discipline, she said, but it also serves as a something that has brought the group together.

"It's nice to show younger kids that it's not [just[ a sport you do as a child or a teenager," she said.

"This is a really fun way to keep active, but also competitive. Because everybody likes having a goal."

Connolly said she'd like to see the sport continue across Newfoundland and Labrador, particularly beyond the Avalon Peninsula.

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