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A victory that means a lot


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Team Butterfl'Ice won the Mixed Age competition with a score of 61.66.

They recently received the award "Team of the Year" of their city and a few days ago won the AmadéCup in Salzburg, Austria. Team Butterfl'Ice, from Germany, is one of the most successful Mixed Age teams in Europe.

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Team Berlin 1 was not the only German team to win gold last weekend in Austria. In the Mixed Age category (which is a bit the equivalent of the Open division in North America), Team Butterfl'Ice made a stunning comeback into the competitive stage.

"We are very happy! Not only because we won (of course we're very proud of that) but mainly because this competition meant so much more to us," started Team Butterfl'Ice. The team trains in Neuss in the west of Germany.


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Team Butterfl'Ice in 2019 at the Budapest Cup. (Credits: Ru-Pho)

As for many teams, the last two years have been challenging, and there were moments in which the team's future wasn't certain. "It was easy to lose motivation, and from time to time, training seemed kind of pointless. But we still exist as a team and as a part of the synchro community, which also still exists. Last weekend we were finally able to compete again and to do what we are training so hard for," the team said. 

Not being able to compete for almost two years has also made the team extremely nervous for this first event. "We were afraid, that we lost our confidence and ability to showcase our skills when it matters. To know that this isn't the case gives us so much motivation and confidence for the next competitions."

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Staying strong despite the pandemic
The pandemic was difficult for Team Butterfl'Ice and all German teams. "From being forced to do online training, not being allowed to touch each other on the ice and not knowing when we see each other again to being in a state of constant fear for when the next lockdown will come. It was incredibly hard and so very tiring!," explained the team.

"It could change every week and that made it so much harder. We could never 'rest' and had to constantly and very quickly adapt and come up with new solutions to train somehow. That was mentally very exhausting and often took the fun out of the training, so it seemed more like a chore. But we made it through because all of us wanted so bad to make it work somehow!" continue Team Butterfl'Ice, who as a team look out for each other and want nobody left behind.



"It was very hard for everybody, no matter if you are an ISU or Non-ISU team. [In Germany,] the government made the same rules for all of us. So when we were no longer allowed to train, the others experienced the same thing," said the Mixed Age skaters.

Recruiting new team members was even more difficult during the pandemic. Indeed, skating - and even more synchronized skating - is not very popular in Germany. 

"We knew that we made it"
The next competition for Team Butterfl'Ice Team will be the NRW-Trophy at the end of March, which will also be their Open National Championships. Until then, the image that will remain is that of their stunning victory on Sunday.

On the Kiss & Cry, Team Butterfl'Ice The skaters hugged each other and shouted for joy. "There was so much relief in everybody's eyes. We had some small mistakes in our program, but at this moment, that didn't matter at all. Because we knew that we made it."

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