By Speaker Charlie Adams
The last time I went ice skating, all six foot six inches and two hundred and thirty five pounds of me fell when a little rug rat skater whizzed by me and knocked me off balance. I was moving at a speed of 1 mph at the time, if that, and the slightest tough by the ankle-biter skaters was enough to make me wobble. I fell like a ton of bricks, and have stuck to speaking and writing ever since my “Timber!” experience! This past Sunday, though, I was able to witness real ice skaters and have the fire within me stoked by the story of Krista Kellner. That’s her on the left in the photo. She is an autistic teen skater.
I emceed an event called “Wish Upon a Star” at the University of Notre Dame that included the figure skating of Krista. The large crowd fell in love with her, her story, and the story of her coach.
The very special evening was put on by Logan Center, a non-profit that provides resources and opportunities for people with disabilities, and Notre Dame.
The picture is of Krista hugging her coach, Elizabeth O’Donnell. Elizabeth formed an organization known as Gliding Stars. She teaches adaptive ice skating for people with physical, mental, emotional or multiple challenges.
“Krista screamed her entire first year on ice,” Elizabeth told the audience before Krista came out, “but by age seven was skating at an intermediate level and by age eight, was an advanced ice skater.”
There was a time that there was no way Krista could have skated around an arena with a large crowd watching her perform. But little by little she made progress, and now performs around the country. On December 18th Krista will perform at “Musselman’s Applesauce Presents The Music of Seal on Ice,” at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC.
I met Krista and her coach before the performance and was truly inspired by her courage and determination. She said that skating helped her to discover her competitive spirit and strengthened her confidence in learning to live with autism. This high school student is in advanced Spanish and holds a A- average in most of her other classes. She loves to play the clarinet.
“I feel you can be who you want to be when you skate,” says Krista. “I feel free on the ice. I can be who I want to be. I can do anything I want!”
Skating is what stokes the fire within her….
While introducing Krista, Coach O’Donnell said in reality we all have disabilities. It might be being impatient, or character issues, or not having realized our potential.
Another part of the evening that left lasting inspiration with me was TEAMWORK. The photo below is of the Notre Dame Figure Skating Club, young ladies from Notre Dame and St. Mary’s College that have won back to back gold medals at the Midwestern Championships of College Skating.
When they skated as a group, it was remarkable! All of them in sync, soaring around the ice, as the audience roared! When I speak, I love talking about the power of team and what can happen when everyone truly works together. These young ladies are proof of it as their performance was flawless. Holding hands, they trusted each other as they skated forward, backwards and sideways!
Whether you are a Bank, Hospital, School or what-have-you, there is no limit to what you can accomplish when you truly grasp teamwork. These young ladies made history on February 5 of 2011, taking the gold medal at the prestigious Midwestern Synchronized Skating Championships. The Irish took the title for the first time in the history of Notre Dame’s skating program, which was founded in 1997.
Later, they performed individually. I about fell backwards when Chelsey Kelso performed. A first year Law Student at Notre Dame from New York, she was amazing on ice! It didn’t come easily, as she has been skating for 14 years. Today, she makes the time to study Law and perform at a high level of figure skating.
What a fire.
Charlie Adams, Speaker
574.807.2279
Helping to Ignite People and Events
On Facebook I posted the two Scriptures that Dr. Pat Somers goes to as his Fortress when negative thoughts approach him.