The Great Falls Figure Skating Club, chartered in 1929, is one of the oldest Figure Skating Clubs in the United States. Our club was home to skating greats including John Misha Petkevich, Scott Davis, Kathy Casey, and Avery Bandel. These skaters are National Champions, Olympic Medalists, and Olympic Coaches. Great Falls Figure Skating Club runs the Learn to Skate program, which introduces skaters of all ages and abilities to the various disciplines on the ice. The Professional Skaters Association rated and United States Figure Skating Gold Medalist coaches on staff direct an annual spring show for its participants. HISTORY:
The GFFSC's original home rink was Gibson Pond. In 1933 the GFFSC moved to the Great Falls Civic Center and then to the Four Seasons Arena in 1979. In the early years, there weren?t any professional instructors. The older and more advanced members taught the younger and newer skaters the Dutch Roll, Scissors, Grapevines, Jackson Haynes spins, and lots of Waltzes. At that time there were more male skaters than female skaters in the club. It wasn?t until 1946 that skaters were tested and advanced through the skating levels. Old timers here remember that during the war years, it was impossible to get trophies for competitions and they had to use a small medal. One of the finest aspects of the GFFSC program is the testing program that culminates in the earning of a USFSA gold medal by the skater. The program in administrated by the United States Figure Skating Association which establishes the criteria for all of the tests in the 4 main disciplines of the sport of skating --skating skills, freestyle, dance and pairs. The earning of a USFSA Gold Medal is often regarded as the equivalent of earning a college degree. The medal certifies the skater's expertise and can serve as the basis for gaining employment as a skating instructor or performer with the many skating clubs or professional ice shows in the US, Canada or elsewhere in the world. The GFFSC has produced many gold medalists in its history and there are many more to come. In a typical year, approximately 40,000 US figure skating test levels are completed by skaters; of those, about 1,300, or 3 percent, are at the gold or senior level.
