U.S. Figure Skating Announces Recipients of 2011-12 Hauff and Dreeland Community Development Grant

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 22, 2011) – U.S. Figure Skating announced today the recipients of the Hauff and Dreeland Community Development Grant. Twelve member clubs and Basic Skills programs have
been awarded $2,000 each for the purpose of developing community-based programs and events, designed to attract, involve and inspire new generations of figure skaters.

A five-member selection committee reviewed 66 applications and awarded the grants to those member clubs and Basic Skills programs that were most effectively able to demonstrate how they would use the monies awarded to develop these initiatives.

“The Hauff and Dreeland grant has allowed U.S. Figure Skating to assist our Basic Skills programs and clubs in ways we have not previously been able to,” said Susi Wehrli-McLaughlin, senior director, membership. “Each year these monies give our clubs the chance to create new outreach programs within their local communities to grow the sport of ice skating.”

The recipients of the grant are: AGame Skate Academy (Franklin, Tenn.); Alaska Association of Figure Skaters (Anchorage, Alaska); Alpine Edge Figure Skating Club (Grayling, Mich.); Bowling Green Skating Club (Bowling Green, Ohio); Magic City Figure Skating Club (Minot, N.D.); Pasadena Figure Skating Club (Pasadena, Calif.); Pavilion Skating Club of Cleveland Heights (Cleveland Heights, Ohio); Saranac Lake Figure Skating Academy (Saranac Lake, N.Y.); Skating Club of Southern Connecticut, (Wilton, Conn.); St. Moritz Ice Skating Club (Oakland, Calif.); Tanner Catalano Foundation (Scottsdale, Ariz.); Yellowstone Valley Figure Skating Club (Billings, Mont.).

Examples of how the grants will be used include:

• Yellowstone Valley Skating Club improving its new outdoor ice rink with a liner, which will provide more outdoor skating activities for the
  people of Billings

• Alaska Association of Figure Skaters organizing a program for beginning skaters in Anchorage that will prepare them for their first skating competition. Skaters will be guided, coached and provided the
       necessary tools to be successful in a competitive environment.
• Magic City Figure Skating Club providing free Basic Skills classes to local military families from Minot Air Force Base

U.S. Figure Skating’s Basic Skills Program is a fun, challenging and rewarding beginning ice skating program. Participation enables beginning skaters of all ages and abilities to learn fundamentals of the sport and begin
a lifetime commitment to health and wellness. The program offers 12 curriculums designed to keep skaters enthusiastic about learning from the time they begin lessons until they reach their goals. In 2010-11, U.S. Figure Skating registered more than 122,000 Basic Skills members in approximately 1,000 established programs across the country.

Renee Felton

U.S. Figure Skating Media Relations

20 First Street

Colorado Springs, CO 80906

p – 719.228.3417

c – 719.235.3241

f – 719.635.9548

– U.S. Figure Skating –

U.S. Figure Skating is the national governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States as recognized by the United States
Olympic Committee and the International Skating Union. U.S. Figure Skating is comprised of more than 680 member clubs, collegiate clubs, and school-affiliated clubs and more than 1,000 registered Basic Skills skating schools representing approximately 180,000 members. U.S. Figure Skating is charged with the development of the sport on all levels within the United States  including athletes, officials, sanctioning of events and exhibitions, and establishing
the rules and guidelines by which the sport is governed.