Haley Scott Overcomes Obstacles for Sunshine State Games Figure Skating Gold Medal
Haley Scott may be small in size, but she’s an extra large when it comes to character and confidence.
After a year off the ice due to the Covid-19 virus and its complications, she returned to the ice after seven months of training for the 2022 Sunshine State Games. presented by Amazon, Figure Skating Championships.
Haley Scott, from Wesley Chapel, is not just any skater among the more than 400 at the Florida Panthers IceDen in Coral Springs, this weekend. She is the 2016 Betty Stark Award Winner and the 2017 Dorothy Dodson Award Winner. The awards are presented to the Juvenile Girls and Intermediate Ladies High Scorers in the Short Program and Free Skate Events.
In the five years both awarded have been presented, Scott is the only skater to win both awards. She is one of 11 Sunshine State Games Figure Skaters to win the Dorothy Dodson Award since 2009 and she has been skating in the Sunshine State Games since 2013, as a seven-year old.
She skated in the Senior Women’s Short Program Friday afternoon and the 16-year old won the gold medal. Her score of 48.93 was the highest among all skaters in the Short Program and one of only three above 40.0.
Her performance on Friday was a testament to her determination and love of skating, according to her Champions Edge Skating Club coach of the last four years, Sylvia Fontana. The Covid-19 Virus and its complications affected her heart, brain and nervous system, from November 2020 through November 2021.
“I was sick for a year and couldn’t walk for a while,” Scott said. “I’m still trying to get back to where I used to be.”
For the Short Program, Scott skated with ease and confidence. She had a fall early in the routine during one of jumps but continued to finish her program strong. Scott admitted to being “really cold,” after waiting her turn to skate, which may have been a factor in the fall.
“She’s also used to skating in an Olympic-size rink and this is a hockey rink,” Fontana said. “It’s smaller than what she normally skates.”
Now recovered from a year of not skating, Scott is back practicing six days a week for four to five hours a day. She is completing her high school credits through Florida Virtual School and has begun taking college-level classes at Pasco-Hernando State College.
“She has a lot of natural talent and I believe in her 100 percent,” Fontana said.
Scott will continue with her skating and continue building her confidence as she works her way through a two-year college degree before many of those at her age graduate from high school.
“I plan on attending a four-year school for a degree,” she said. “But I’m going to wait and see where figure skating takes me before I make a decision on where I go.”
At this rate, Haley Scott can pick and choose wherever she wants to go.
Figure Skating continues Saturday with a full day of events at the Florida Panthers IceDen, in Coral Springs. CLICK HERE for the schedule and results from the Sunshine State Games Figure Skating Championships
The Sunshine State Games/Miami Police Athletic League (PAL) Atlantic Coast Club Championships continues Saturday morning at 8:00 a.m., after two events were run on Friday evening. Over 800 youth athletes will be in action at the Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar.
The Sunshine Summer Kickoff Lacrosse Tournament beings at the Village Park Athletic Complex, in Wellington, at 8:00 a.m., with 122 teams in action this weekend. CLICK HERE for the schedule and results from the Sunshine Summer Kickoff.
The Sunshine State Games, presented by Amazon, are an annual presentation of the Florida Sports Foundation, the official sports promotion and development organization of the State of Florida. The Games are held in conjunction with local partners that include, Central Florida’s Polk County Sports Marketing, Clay County Tourism, the Gainesville Sports Commission and Visit Lauderdale. Now in its 43rd year, the Sunshine State Games are the longest continually-running State Games in the U.S.