At 5:45 a.m., the streets are empty; the sky is still dark – it’s time to put on the skates.

This is a day in the life of Carlmont senior Samantha Shetty, a synchronized and single-figure skater for the San Francisco Tremors. While most students are struggling to crawl out of bed, Shetty is training for an hour and a half before school with her coach, Zinaida Kovalenko.

“Ice skating is a very demanding sport because it’s not just skating; it’s a lot of off-ice choreography. If you do it competitively, it’s like a full-time job,” Kovalenko said.

Shetty started her ice skating journey at age four in the East Bay when her mother enrolled her in group lessons at a local rink in Fremont. However, getting to where she is now hasn’t been a simple journey.

“Right before fifth grade, we ended up moving from the East Bay over to Belmont, and around that time, all the rinks in the area ended up closing, so I ended up taking a break from skating for about two years,” Shetty said.

For a sport that isn’t quite as mainstream as its high school counterparts, a lack of resources such as rinks is a very real problem. Unlike other sports with more resources and established youth leagues, Shetty says the key to ice skating development is finding the right people.

“It’s all about getting in contact with the right coaches. They all have different rates because they’re all private contractors, so you have to get in touch with a coach and tell them what you expect from your skating. Then, they’ll give you a rate, and you can choose to take a demo lesson with them and decide if you want to keep the coach,” Shetty said. “Usually, it takes a couple of tries to find the right coach that fits you.”

Luckily for Shetty, she found her private coach at Nazareth Ice Oasis in San Mateo, a place she was already familiar with through previous group lessons.

“Sam was one of the students in the skating school classes, and I really enjoyed working with her, so then she asked for private lessons, and I’ve been working with her for about four years now,” Kovalenko said.

Currently, Shetty is also a member of a synchronized skating team, where she skates competitively with fellow high school skater Eva Nichter, a senior at Notre Dame Belmont.

“I believe Sam brings a very positive presence to the team, she’s always very motivating, and she always has a smile on her face, which is crucial for a team environment,” Nichter said.

Shetty has also recently incorporated her passion and positive energy into coaching at Nazareth Ice Oasis, expanding the accessibility of the sport to the youth.

“I was asked if I would like to work at Ice Oasis because they’ve gotten a lot of new people who want to start skating, so the coaches needed more help to allow for more people in the classes,” Shetty said.

As both a coach and an athlete, Shetty is determined to become the best ice skater she can be.

“Ice skating is something that I really want to keep doing, especially through high school and hopefully to college,” Shetty said.

This story was originally published on Scot Scoop News on December 12, 2022.