Bracknell Ice Skating CLub

BISC - Annual Gala 2014 Skater Profiles

Hannah Hetebrij


Hannah Hetebrij

Hannah has been skating for fourteen years, working her way through the National test system initially as a free skater and then five years ago changing her focus to ice dance in which she has competed at the Solo British Championships for the last two years. This year she completed her National level 10 with her gold medal winning senior short dance Quickstep and Foxtrot routine that she will be showing for you tonight; she hopes her love for performing is evident so you can enjoy watching it as much as she loves skating it! Her programme was choreographed by her coach Natasha Hale, using Nat King-Cole’s ‘L.O.V.E’ and ‘It don’t mean a thing’ by Club de Belugas.

Like so many of the skaters you will see tonight Hannah strives to push herself to achieve more and savours the opportunity for new and exciting challenges within her skating. This year Hannah has been very fortunate to begin skating couples’ dance with her partner Edward Barker, they aim to begin competing in early 2015.

As well as actively training and competing herself, some of you will also recognise Hannah from her other role within skating. Hannah has been teaching at Bracknell for almost three years: she loves to pass on her knowledge and help young skaters to develop their skills.



Bethany Armitage


Bethany Armitage

Bethany Armitage is currently fifteen years old, she started having ice skating lessons at the age of seven, after a Christmas trip to a temporary ice-rink led to her wanting to learn how to skate properly.

She enrolled in the Learn to Skate courses at Bracknell and hasn’t stopped skating since. She is both a Dance and a Free skater; having achieved NISA Level 10 is Dance and NISA Level 8 in Free. Her Dance is coached by Christopher Hockaday and Helen Prior (Slough) and her Free by Stacey Gamble and Ant Goff.

Bethany is the current Ladies Junior British Solo Ice Dance Champion , having won the Junior division of the British Championships help in Ice Sheffield in July. This is her second consecutive British Championship Title having held the Ladies Advance Novice British title last year.

Tonight she will be performing her French-themed Free Dance, skating to two pieces of music; A La Bonheur and La Vie en Rose.





Chloe Arthur


Chloe Arthur

Chloe Arthur is 14 years old, and started skating at the age of 9. Chloe is a dance skater, and is coached by David Phillips and Lucine Chakmakjian. She is currently NISA Level 9.

Chloe has had a successful year, achieving one gold, two silver and a bronze medal at Advanced Novice level.

Tonight she will be performing her Free Dance 'Burlesque' by Christina Aguilera.















Emily Phillips


Emily Phillips

Emily Lucine Phillips is 10 years old and has been skating seriously for 19 months. In that time she has shown a great deal of determination, putting in some 12 hours on the ice each week. She has become a very dedicated member of the Bracknell club. With the support and encouragement of her parents/coaches, (Lucine Chakmakjian and David Phillips) Emily's skating skills have gone from strength to strength culminating in an unexpected bronze medal at the 2014 solo Ice Dance Championships where she put her exceptional performance skills and flair for music to good use. Her top score and personal best this season was a credible 24.21 and she won a total of 4 medals including 2 gold and is currently working towards her NISA level 6.

She is currently a member of the National Ice Skating Associations development squad along with her partner Jayin Panesar. Together they were the youngest competitors in last year's British Championships and will be competing in their first international on Emily's birthday in October. We wish them luck together for this season especially at the Championships in November. On top of all this Emily is also one of the captains of 'Fusion' Basic Novice Synchronised Skating Team, with whom she has represented Great Britain internationally, winning a gold medal.

Tonight Emily will be performing her medal winning routine from the British Championships, representing the Dance of the Wild Fearies. She hopes to bring her love of skating to you and dreams of one day becoming a Champion.

Jay Panesar


Jay Panesar

Jayin started skating when he was 7 and is now 10 years old.
He had a successful season which ended with a win at the British Championships in the Juvenile Class.

Jayin is a member of the National Ice Skating Association development team and is currently working with Emily Phillips for the couples Ice Dance British Championships due to take place in August.

When off ice Jay loves go-karting and is a licensed motorsport driver.

Jayin is coached by David Phillips and Lucine Chakmakjian who he would like to thank for all their support over the season.














Beth Madgwick and James Smith


Beth Madgwick and James Smith

Beth Madgwick is fifteen years old and James Smith is seventeen. They are both ice dancers and started training as skaters about four and a half years ago.

As solo skaters, they have both won many podium positions, and in 2013 James won the Advance Novice Men's British Solo Ice Dance Championship.

They started skating as a couple last autumn and have just started their first couples’ competitive season, being placed 4th in their first competition together at Ice Sheffield at the end of August. They are preparing for further qualifying competitions in October in the lead up to the British Championships in November.

They are coached by Lucine Chakmakjian, David Phillips and Christopher Hockaday. Tonight they are skating their free dance programme to Schubert's Ave Maria and Mozart's Lacrimosa.

Emilia Gevorkian


Emilia Gevorkian

Emilia Gevorkian is 8 years old, she started skating at the age of five. After enrolling on the 'Learn to Skate' courses she quickly progressed to individual lessons; she is now coached in Free Skating by Anthony Goff and in Dance by Natasha Hale and is currently NISA Level 1.

She competed for the first time at this years club competition when she gained 3rd place in the class 'beginners under 9 year old', she then went on to compete at Bracknell Opens again in the beginners class.

Tonight she is skating to music from Aladdin in what will be only her third public performance.







Emma Vokes


Emma Vokes

Emma Vokes is 11 years old and first stepped onto the ice on her 4th Birthday, within 5 minutes she was skating on her own like a duck to water. After many fun public sessions Emma enrolled on the Learn to Skate courses at the age of 6.

Emma is now coached by Stacey Bullock along with her younger sister Kate who is 10, Emma has now reached NISA level 2 in Free Skating and is happily throwing and pushing her self on the ice learning new spins and jumps to take her up to the next level.

The best part of being a member of Bracknell Ice Skating Club is taking part in all the group routines, as you will see in tonight’s Gala and especially the Christmas Panto , this year it will be her 5th Panto performance having so far played the part of a cow, a fairy, an octopus, a lamp and a sea monster, guess you can sense the fun!

Tonight Emma is skating her Free programme to a track from ‘How to Train your Dragon’ which also happens to be her favourite film.





Jane Nelhams


Jane Nelhams

Jane Nelhams is eleven years old and has been skating since she was five years old. She is a Free skater and is coached by Stacey Gamble. As well as competing as often as she can, Jane enjoys taking part in the Ice Pantomime each year.

She enjoys all things art related, is keen on sewing but mostly just loves to entertain. She hopes you enjoy the show. She will be skating to ‘Euphoria’ tonight which you may recognize as the winning 2012 Swedish Eurovision Song contest entry.















Declan Healey


Declan Healey

Declan is 11 years old and has been skating since he was 7. After the Bracknell Opens Declan gave up ice dance to concentrate on his free skating with coach Alex Verkovitch. Declan has been on the podium this year in all of the competitions he has entered and will take part in the Basingstoke Open at the end of the year. Declan is looking forward to this years panto (the fourth in which he has taken part!) where he will play a ghostly goul and a cook.

Declan loves the free music suggested by his coach and hopes he will land all of his double jumps for the Gala show.














Franchesca Stevens


Franchesca Stevens

Franchesca has been skating since she was 11years old. She has reached NISA Level 7 in Free and NISA Gold Bar in Ice Dance and is also a Level One ice skating coach. She has represented Bracknell in both national and international ice skating events as a soloist, couple and team member of Fusion.

Franchesca is taught by Stacey Gamble, Natasha Hale and Alex Verkovitch. Tonight she is performing an ice dance routine incorporating figure skating elements to Colbie Caillat's 'Bubbly' and 'Stupid Cupid' by Connie Francis.













Grace Boland


Grace Boland

Grace is 15 years old and has been skating since the age of 5. She has competed for Bracknell at numerous events over the years, and has taken part in many skating shows.

Her proudest moment was competing for Bracknell at the British Figure Skating Championships in November 2013.

She is skating to 'I Saw Her Standing There' by the Beatles and 'There's a Beast and We All Feed It' by Jake Bugg, choreographed by herself.

















Aliaksei Pilko


Aliaksei Pilko

Aliaksei first stepped on to the ice when he was just 10 months old! By the age of 6, his passion for ice skating grew and he started taking lessons with his coach and grandfather Alex Verkovitch, a NISA level 4 coach. By the age of 10, Aliaksei had become an accomplished and decorated skater and had passed Level 10 Field Moves, Level 8 Free and Elements. He has competed in many a club, national and international competitions; often finishing with a podium position. He trains most mornings before school and hopes to continue to improve in his skating career.

Aside from his skating interests, Aliaksei is constantly looking for ways to challenge himself; he has flown a Cessna, completed a parachute jump, scuba dived and conquered many descents in the Alps. He enjoys travelling and is passionate about aviation.









Zoe Woods - Guest Skater


Zoe Woods

In her own words Zoe describes her skating career to date …

I started skating when I was 5. I was the first person to win all 4 championships at each different level finishing with the British title in 2000 and 2001. I skated internationally from the age of 11 with my highlight competitions being Worlds and the European championships.

My biggest disappointment was qualifying for the Olympics with my best ever skate and never actually making it to the games due to injury .

I finished skating at the age of 22 and went on to coach in Canada for 10 years and have my beautiful twins girls who have just turned 7. We moved back home to Swindon where I had a third child, my little boy who's 2 , and I have now been back coaching for a year.





Zoe Woods

I decided to get back into shape last October and rather go to a gym, I started to skate not thinking about jumping or spinning although pretty quickly that's what happened. As an athlete I don't think that competitive edge ever leaves you, along with your love and passion for what you've always known. I got competitive with my self and wanted something to aim for. That's when I decided to do the Obertsdorf competition , the worlds largest adult competition there is . It was the best decision I have made. I loved being personally part of skating again , I made so many friends and had the best time made all the more special with my family by my side.

So now 12 years on, I have a fifth tittle to add to my name, the British adult tittle and two 1st places from Obertsdorf with a record breaking score for my free skate. The highest scored by a man or women ever within the event. Never for one second did I think 12 years on I'd be doing triples again and competing but it's who I am , I'll always be my most comfortable when I'm on the ice :)


Emily Wong & Sabrina Obray


Emily Wong and Sabrina Obray

Emily 14, started skating when she was nine and half years old. She is both a dance and a free skater. She has reached NISA Level 6 for free skating and is coached by Laura Lewis. In dance she gained her Advanced Novice competitive test in the last competition season giving her a NISA Level 9 free dance equivalence, she also placed 3rd at the Streatham Open for her Free Dance. In dance she is coached by Natasha Hale. Along with Sabrina, the girls took first place in the Bracknell Club Artistic groups class at the club competition held early in the year.

Sabrina 13 started skating when she was 8 she enrolled with the Learn to skate programme then 6 months later started individual lessons. She is now coached by Laura for free and Natasha for dance. She qualified for the British solo dance championships this year. She won the club L4 free and basic novice dance and with Emily the trophy for the best overall artistic having been placed 1st in the group catagory.

Her goal is to medal at next year's British dance championships.





Amy Barnes


Amy Barnes

Amy began skating at the age of 12 and has been skating ever since. She has achieved her level 5 in free skating and is currently coached at Bracknell by Wendy Day. During her teenage years, Amy competed in a number of open competitions and also took part in National Team Challenge and the annual club pantomime. After a break of a couple of years from competing, Amy took part in her first adult open competition this year, placing 5th.

Amy loves ice skating and hopes to compete in further adult opens in the next couple of years. Outside of skating, Amy enjoys her work as a nanny and spending time with friends and family.













Bracknell Fusion Synchronised Skating Mixed Age Team


Bracknell Fusion Synchronised Skating Mixed Age Team

Our current Mixed Age team have been together for just four months. The team is formed from our last season’s Mixed Age and Preliminary teams.

Last season Mixed Age achieved personal bests in a very tough category, finishing 9th out of 14 teams in the National ranking. This is an impressive result being their first season in this category. The team are hoping to become a Junior B team in the new year and have their sights set on entering an international competition in Europe. This is a result of much hard work and dedication that the skaters’ have towards their personal and team skating.

Elena bramley, Martha Bryant, Bethany Clarke, Rebecca Clifford, Lois Edmunds, Elin Griffiths. Bethan Hankin, Emma Holder, Rachel Kearsley, Beth Kranz, Rebecca Purnell, Zoe Purnell, Bethan Rees, Eloise Simmons, Anna Wortley


The Opening Number

Skating to Happy by Pharrell Williams the opening number aims to get you clapping along and joining in with our skaters in celebrating the 2013-2014 skating season. Skaters in this group are all members of Bracknell Ice Skating Club; they encompass both the dance and free-skating disciplines and range from skaters who are just starting out to others who have trained for years to reach their level of accomplishment.

Choreography by Stacey Gamble and Natasha Hale. The group features Bethany Armitage, Chloe Arthur, Isobel Bailey, Lauren Barber, Keeva Baxter, Megan Booth, Lotte Cornwall, Emma Crawford, Gemma Dawson, Felix Galla-Taylor, Francesca Galla-Taylor, Emilia Gevorkian, Daniella Giannitto, Emily Giannitto, Charlotte Hall, Lily Hall, Max Hall, Bethan Hankin, Holly Kearney, Jane Nelhams, Sabrina Obray, Jessica Patey, Emily Phillips, Sophie Phillips, Lily Ralph, Bethan Rees, Izzy Reeves, Lucie Smith, Rebecca Swadling, Lucy Talbot, Emma Vokes, Kate Vokes, Maddie Winspur and Tallulah Wray.

The Free Skating Group

Skating to 'Problem' by Ariana Grande this group is made up from free-skaters who have represented Bracknell Ice Skating Club at Open competition this season or have passed their NISA level 4 free skating tests. Please enjoy this routine by the club 'jumpers'.

Choreography by Stacey Gamble. The number features Bethany Armitage, Charlie Bennetts, Lotte Cornwall, Francesca Galla-Taylor, Felix Galla-Taylor, Emilia Gevorkian, Charlotte Hall, Max Hall, Jane Nelhams, Rebecca Swadling, Sabrina Obray, Jessica Patey, Bethan Rees, Lucy Talbot. Emma Vokes and Kate Vokes.

The Dance Skating Group

This group is made up a dance skaters who have represented Bracknell Ice Skating Club at Open competition this season or have passed their NISA level 4 dance skating tests. They are skating to Rainbow Connection by the Two of Us that has a waltz beat. The choreography uses a number of different waltz pattern dance steps along with other elements. Choreography by Natahsa Hale the group features Bethany Armitage,Chloe Arthur, Isobel Bailey, Lauren Barber, Lotte Cornwall, Daniella Giannitto, Emily Giannitto, Holly Kearney, Sabrina Obray, Jay Panesar, Jessica Patey, Emily Phillips, Sophie Phillips, Bethan Rees, Jasmine Windsor and Emily Wong.

The National Team Challenge - Show Number

Each year the club competes is the National team Challenge, an inter club event that works features solo skaters, artistics and has at its finale a fairly unique routine called the show number. Show numbers can be up to seven minutes long, feature as many as 30 skaters, have props, scenery and costume changes. This year the Bracknell team theme was 'A Medley of Musicals' and featured music from Grease, Chicago, Cats and Lion King.

This routine was choreographed by Stacey Gamble and Natasha hale and features Sophie Torrington (Captain), Bethany Armitage, Isobel Bailey, Lauren Barber, Grace Boland, Rebecca Clifford, Lauren Cornwall, Charlotte Cornwall, Emma Crawford, Lois Edmunds, Francesca Galla-Taylor, Daniella Gianitto, Emily Gianitto, Cerys Goddard, Charlotte Hall, Max Hall, Lily Hall, Holly Kearney, Jane Nelhams, Sabrina Obray, Rebecca Purnell, Bethan Rees, Isabella Seabridge, Lucy Talbot, Emma Vokes, Jasimine Windsor, Maddison Winspur, Emily Wong and James Smith.