By meeting each other in the ice rinks, synchro moms often develop beautiful friendships. (Synchro image credits: Ru-Pho)

Synchronized skating would for sure not be the same sport without "Synchro Moms"! Those who give everything for the passion of their children or who were themselves, synchro skaters a few years ago. Three mothers tell us about their experiences. And to share experiences, Jura Synchro is launching a new group on Facebook!

Carpool drivers, hair bun and glitter experts... None of them knew synchro existed before their children started skating a few years ago and are now fully involved in synchronized skating. Some of them have even become team managers!

Today, we pay tribute to synchro moms through the lives of three of them. Funny and passionate, synchro moms deserve our full attention.

Sanna, Karmen and Katrina are so different and at the same time very similar. They are trying to balance between kids' hobbies and work life. They are living in Finland.

Sanna is the mother of two kids, an ice hockey-playing son and a ten years old synchro skater daughter. She is also a synchronized skating team manager. Karmen moved to Helsinki about ten years ago. In the family are two daughters (age ten and five), a husband and two cats. Besides skating (between two girls and herself, it is about eight practices per week), she has tons of hobbies. Katriina is half English, half Finnish, and mother of two girls. She moved to Finland in the 90s, and her current job: "chauffeur to ice skating princesses".

"Our obvious connection is that our children skate in the same synchro team but what brought us together is our shared quirky and weird sense of humor!"

How did you discover synchronized skating?  

"Blame our kids. In each case, they asked to start skating school and the next thing we know they have been invited into teams and suddenly we’re asking ourselves: Ice skates cost how much? Will I ever have a lie in? Will I ever go on holiday again? Will I ever feel warm again?"

Between them, they have four synchro girls, one upcoming synchro skater and one hockey player. "Our girls skate in the club Helsingin Taitoluisteluklubi. Currently three skate in the team Peppermints, and one in Mini Sparkles. The littlest is progressing through skating school and will no doubt soon be in a team herself. Our girls are aged 12, 10, 10, 9 and 5. All of them are such keen skaters, the teams train 5 times a week, but they will grab every opportunity to much around and train on a public skate. The youngest girl is very bitter that she doesn’t get as much ice time yet."

"Being a synchro mom requires extreme flexibility and outstanding organizational skills. We plan everything around training schedules. Don’t get us wrong - we love it! It is the best thing in the world to hear your child talking about training and dreams when their eyes light up," says Karmen. 

For Sanna, it means being part of something extraordinary and special. "I feel proud of the team Oona is skating and privileged to get to know all of the lovely kids and see closely how they grow and gain more skills. As a mom, it means the role of a supporter, financially and mentally. As an adult, it means time well spent at the ice rink with other synchro moms with the same humor and values. It´s great to have friends around who can share feelings and thoughts, someone to relate". 

Katriina could watch skating all day long. "I loved rollerskating as a child and am absolutely thrilled that my girls share this love of skating with me. They can do all the things I longed to be able to do and I feel such pride and awe watching them on the ice, and seeing the dedication they put towards their sport. I love that they are in a team sport, and I used to love hanging out at the rink, gossiping with the other synchro moms. Sometimes I feel only synchro mom friends really understand your lifestyle and don’t judge you."

Like many other synchro moms around the worlds, Sanna, Karmen and Katriina volunteer at the club. They also started their own team the Royalettes, a tribute to the ultimate team, the Helsinki Rockettes.

"It started as a joke because we all are a little bit too mature and our skating skills are at such a different level to our number one team – Helsinki Rockettes. We decided we needed our own team, where we can polish our skills in our own time and just have fun skating together," they explain.

"Royalettes is an unofficial team made up of good friends and wannabe skaters. We have a group of five moms who were interested to start a beginners ice skating course for adults. The five of us have known each other for a few years as our daughters have skated in the same team. We had a joke among us that we are the spare skaters for our daughters’ teams and we need to practice," the moms continue. 

They also thought that it was not fair that their daughters have a skating uniform and they don’t, so they designed and ordered sweaters "and suddenly we had a team. One of the perks is we must hold team meetings, which is a great excuse to spend time together."

What are they learning from their children in terms of skating? 

"Everything - the joy, smooth teamwork, that learning new things together is so much more fun than doing it alone."

"We are amazed about their ability to adapt, learn and just do things so naturally with little fear. Our children are of course stars in our eyes and we cannot get enough of watching them to practice and fly on ice. The girls and their teammates are very encouraging and ask to see what we have learnt in the last week and give us tips on how to improve."

"We think they can learn something from us too, not maybe about ice skating but about life around ice rink."

"The skating community is great! We love giving back and we love making things happen so that our kids can continue doing things that they love," says Karmen, who is working in a specialised Covid-19 hospital.

"For example, I have been many years part of the medical team in competitions. Usually, I am behind the scenes with the girls, helping them to get ready to go to the ice."

Team manager for Peppermints, Sanna also attend as much we can in events organized by their club. "By being involved we feel that we can support the club and that way to support all the members of the club," she notes.

Katriina was thrilled when she was asked to get involved. "I am the team manager for Mini Sparkles and chaperone for Peppermints. I love being behind the scenes and helping all the girls, I really love working with kids. I recently stopped working and found myself busier than ever volunteering for various different events."

The dream for these synchro moms to see the sport at the Olympics. "We want that the sport continues to become more recognised as the amazing sport it is, that my girls can skate for as long as they want to, and that one day I can stand with my team on the ice and do some of the amazing things my girls do out there," adds Katriina.

At the moment, another wish is to "get the corona under control and the ice rinks stay open", continues Karmen. On Tuesday, their adult skating lessons in Helsinki have been put on hold for three weeks at least, and "it is possible all rinks in the greater Helsinki area will close, even for the kids".

The mayor of Helsinki should announce the decision on Thursday, which will obviously have consequences for all categories of synchronized skating and the competitions to come.

Synchro moms are important for sport in general and, but they have a specific role in synchronized skating. By the way, Sanna, Karmen and Katriina have created an Instagram account where they share their experiences.

As of today, note that a Facebook group has been created especially for "Synchro Moms" around the world!

You have a child who practices synchronized skating, you are yourself a former synchro skater and are now (or soon) mom (or dads!), or you are just curious... Join this group, a bubble of friendship that welcomes parents who love synchro!