HERSHEY, Pa. (WHTM) – Synchronized skating organization Team Reflections is hosting its 16th annual skating competition, Reflections Synchro Invitational, from Feb. 18 – 19 at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

“Synchronized is unique in that most people in the general public have never even heard of it,” said Becky Hilgers, President of the Central PA Figure Skating Club. “They’re fun to watch because it’s very animated, the music is fun, the costumes are fun, they make formations on the ice and skate to whatever the theme of the music is.”

This weekend the Giant Center will be buzzing with about 1,450 skaters from 118 teams including groups from California, Florida, Pennslyvania and more. Some teams representing the Keystone State include organizations from Valley Forge, Exton, Westchester, Pittsburgh and of course Team Reflections from Central Pa.

A majority of the skaters are between the ages of eight and 14, but there are skaters as young as five competing as well as 10 to 12 adult teams skating.

The teams have just one shot to prove themselves during a two-minute program. Becky’s daughter Katelyn Hilgers is the head coach of Team Reflections and is in charge of making sure the girls and women are ready to take the ice.

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“You put all this work into a very concentrated amount of time,” said Katelyn Hilgers. “You don’t have. . . say a 60-minute game to go out there and prove yourself, you got two minutes to do it.”

The training consists of a mixture of off-ice and on-ice work. The team is broken down by age and skill levels in groups called Aspire which range from Aspire 1 to Aspire 4 for beginners. Then individuals get grouped into preliminary, pre-juvenile, juvenile, intermediate, novice and collegiate teams.

For The Aspire 1 and Aspire 3 levels which Hilgers coaches many of them are new to skating, so the training focus is on how to skate with the incorporation of synchronized routines. Hilgers works on basic skills training, timing, spatial awareness and body movements.

“It’s a lot of basic skills training and really focusing on the fundamentals of your skating so that when you skate as a group and a team, you’re the strongest skater you can be and you’re kind of all growing together,” Katelyn said.

Katelyn herself grew up skating for Team Reflections, taking over as coach two seasons ago. She found that synchronized skating brought her lifelong friendships and is a unique way to combine artistic elements with an athletic and competitive sport. It also offers longevity, which individualized skating does not.

“(Skating is) very much an individual sport. . .but when you throw this team aspect into it it just makes it fun to win or lose together as a team,” Katelyn said. “It kind of takes the weight of the world off your shoulders and now you have a team around you (for) support.”

Becky echoed her daughter’s sentiment about the lifelong bonds created by synchronized skating.

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“For us as a family the benefit has been making many new friends and keeping them for a long time,” Becky said. “It teaches teamwork, support and good sportsmanship. Somebody falls, you have to shake it off. . . pat everybody on the back and keep going.”

One of the people Katelyn created a bond with through synchronized skating was her coach Amy Henderson. Henderson coached Katelyn her entire life and was the founder of the Team Reflections organization.

Henderson passed away in November and this Reflections Synchro Invitational will feature the inaugural Amy Henderson Memorial Trophy. The special trophy will be given to the team that wins the intermediate division because in 2006 Henderson coached the intermediate team, which Katelyn was on, to a silver medal at Nationals.

“Every year we’re going to add the team’s name to the base of it. . .to honor Amy because she truly impacted the sport in so many ways,” Katelyn said.

Henderson’s legacy will continue as over a thousand skaters take the ice this weekend. Spectators can expect to see creative designs on the ice, colorful costumes and more. There will also be vendors on the concourse of the Giant Center as well selling skating equipment and items, t-shirts and more.

A day pass for the event is $20.

“It’s unique and it’s fun and the building will be buzzing with skaters,” Becky said.

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