Having got into the sport five years ago after buying her children Skate UK lessons as a Christmas gift, ice skating, or rather figure skating and ice dance, has become fully engrained in Katrina’s family.
From 5 am starts throughout the week to traveling up and down the country for competitions and skate camps, it’s safe to say that this sport has ignited a real passion, some might even say an addiction!
So when the opportunity arose for the UK to host its first-ever ISU Grand Prix in Sheffield, also known as the MK John Wilson Trophy, it was an opportunity for this relatively new skating-crazy family to experience an event that you would typically have to travel overseas for.
As a result of Covid restrictions in China, British Ice Skating was asked to step in to host the event 11 weeks prior to it being due to take place, meaning that a lot of support from volunteers was required to bring an event of such caliber to the UK.
Taking the opportunity to use her professional expertise and elevate the profile of the sport, Wild PR MD, Katrina put herself forward to support British Ice Skating within the media team. This involved handling British Ice Skating’s social media throughout the event to create content to promote ticket sales, viewing on Eurosport and ISU’s YouTube channels along with boosting engagement to raise wider awareness of the sport within the country.
Over the course of the four-day event, Katrina created a range of content, engaging with the behind-the-scenes volunteers to put out comments from the competitors to bring the event to life for those unable to be present.
Commenting on the volunteering Katrina said “I was never really sporty as a kid and didn’t have the experience of what it’s like to be competitive in a sport. Watching my own children, and particularly my youngest have such a passion and commitment to a sport that is often overlooked and hugely underfunded, this was an opportunity for me to contribute by helping British Ice Skating promote the sport on a national and international scale. As a result of the UK hosting its first ever ISU Grand Prix, I hope this paves the way for more investment and development into the sport for our future ice skating talent”.
On the fourth and final day, Katrina’s youngest daughter Jaime, an aspiring competitive skater who has medalled at a num
ber of competitions in both figure skating and ice dance this season came along to experience her first taste of watching the sport live at such a level.
Throughout the day she got to meet Olympic legends such as Christopher Dean, along with other British Olympic talents including ice dance duo Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson and Women’s Singles skater Natasha McKay to inspire her on her own journey, and no doubt many more early starts for Katrina!
Pictured: Top Left: Christopher Dean – One half of legendary ice dance duo Torvill and Dean – British, European, Olympic, and World champions. Top Right: Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson – British Ice Dance Olympians and MK John Wilson Silver Medallists , Bottom Left: Natasha McKay – British Womens Number 1 and Olympian, Bottom Right: Scott Moir – 3x Canadian Olympic Ice Dance Champion. All are pictured with Katrina’s daughter, Jaime.