Skating to the top
It was a comeback story straight out of a movie script.
In 2017, the Magic City Theatre on Ice’s intermediate team placed dead last at the national championships. At the end of June 2018, the overall team took home gold medals.
And lifelong Mountain Brook resident Rica Hecker was part of the champion team.
Magic City Theatre on Ice combines figure skating with choreographed theatrical performances. The team practices at the Pelham Civic Complex’s ice arena as part of the Birmingham Figure Skating Club. Coach Anita Saxena said the club hadn’t heard of Theatre on Ice before winning a bid to host the national competition in 2016.
Saxena said they created a team to compete in the 2016 season, placing eighth out of 18 in the first year. In 2017, the club’s Preliminary team placed ninth out of 10 teams and the Intermediate team placed last out of 15, while the older Open team placed in the middle of their rankings.
“This year we made the decision to combine skaters from all three 2017 teams into one big team for the 2018 season. It was a challenge, but everyone worked so hard to make our team successful,” Saxena said.
Hecker, a Mountain Brook High School graduate and freshman at UAB, is relatively new to figure skating. She began about a year and a half ago and has fallen in love with the “artistry and the athleticism,” she said. Hecker has competed in a handful of figure skating competitions and said she enjoys competing as an individual.
“My fate is in my own hands,” Hecker said. “It’s a personal goal.”
Being part of the Magic City on Ice team was a new experience for her, but Hecker said she likes working toward a team goal and improving together.
“We were able to connect and grow as a team,” Hecker said. “It’s been just the most amazing experience.”
Hecker said the hardest part was feeling like she needed to catch up with some of the more experienced skaters on the team, as well as staying in control of her nerves on a national stage.
“I want to do my very best for them,” Hecker said of her teammates.
The nationals were held June 26-30 in Geneva, Illinois. Magic City Theatre on Ice’s theme was “Wild West,” with music from “Bonanza,” “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” and the “William Tell Overture” to match.
The Magic City Theatre on Ice team competed in two segments and received the overall highest score, earning team medals and the national title. Hecker said the announcers counted down the results from last place to first. With such a step up from their 2017 performance, it took a moment for the news to sink in.
“We lost it,” Hecker said. “I’m very proud of how far we’ve come.”
Outside of the arena, Hecker said she enjoyed meeting other teams from across the U.S. and trading customized pins with them, as well as visiting Chicago with her team.
Team coaches Priscilla Fowler and Emily Sanders both lauded the work put in by the entire team to raise their performance level in the span of a year.
“Guiding these skaters through that process and seeing it pay off for them in such a big way has been one of the greatest joys of my life,” Fowler said.
Hecker said she’s interested in being part of Theatre on Ice again next year. This time, the team will have the chance to defend their title on their home turf. Saxena said the Pelham Civic Complex and Ice Arena will host the national championships in late June 2019.
Learn more about the Birmingham Figure Skating Club and Magic City Theatre on Ice at bhamfsc.org.