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TOI : A development axis in skating and ice sports world.
he past twenty years experience confirms hopes placed by some officials on this discipline and already allows to foresee two main types of benefits for Skating Federations: finance and fame at national and international level.
Financial axis
It works by three combined actions which eventually increase the number of club members.
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Obviously, at the beginning, some clubs introduced this discipline just for keeping their high level skaters who where beyond the criteria defined by artistic and dance skating rules.
Keeping the skaters who previously used to leave their clubs, precursors found there the means to increase the number of club members and consequently of Federation members.
This phenomenon is emphasized by the coming or staying in the clubs of skaters who were not appealed by a highly individual discipline. The development of categories opened to younger skaters ( novice and junior) dissuade 7 to 12 boys and girls from leaving the clubs prematurely.
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In order to maintain the sportive and competitive predominance of this discipline, skaters have to keep and even improve their technical level. Therefore, they keep training in basic disciplines and extend their competition career, which results in an increase in membership extensions.
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The experience gained over the past years shows how fond the audience is, from connoisseurs to novices, of the visual impact of the choreographic, technical and sportive skills involved in this discipline.Theater on Ice, even though not that spread, is amongst the ice disciplines attracting the largest audience on local events, hence sparking off new vocations.
The increasing number of teams registered on national and/or international level reveals how interested clubs (and thus Federations) are.This increasing success can be seen in all countries having been developing Theater on Ice for several years : France, but also U.S.A. and Russia..
Fame axis
The progressive creation of T.O.I. teams amongst various clubs overthrew mentalities. The first years shy initiatives gave way to a genuine passion in all skating echelons – skaters, parents, clubs, administrators.
This phenomenon added to the great attendance to competitions drew local communities' attention and tightened their links with our sport and its officials.
Our sport has therefore met amongst public partners and local authorities new attention and substantial support.
The international development of this discipline will certainly enable more people to pursue an ice sport.
TOI French National Theater on Ice Committee
