By LAURA MERVOSH
Nassau County built the Long Beach Arena in 1972 as a practice facility for the New York Rangers, who used it until the early 1980s. Subsequently, it was closed down and, sans ice, used instead for other sports such as basketball, boxing and roller hockey
But in 1986, residents sought to have the bayfront arena reopened as a community ice skating rink. Today, the arena boasts of public ice-skating sessions, hockey teams for youths and adults, a home for Long Beach High School's varsity squad, as well as a great place to have a birthday party. There is even an arcade and snack bar to enjoy when the ice gets a little too cold.
However, in the early morning hours before many residents are even awake, and in the afternoons when kids are playing out in the streets with friends, the arena becomes home to a different group of skaters. For several hours a day, the talent gracing the ice belongs to children who are not merely recreational skaters, but passionate, dedicated competitors, some with sights set on careers as skating professionals or even Olympians.
Each morning and afternoon, fourteen-year-old David Philip Weintraub can be found on the ice, with workouts sandwiching his day at Long Beach Middle School. Earlier this month, Weintraub took home the gold medal in Intermediate Men's figure skating at the Empire State Games in Lake Placid, topping teens from across the state. That followed a silver medal skate in the Intermediate North Atlantic Regionals in 2000, as well as an eighth place finish in the nation at the Intermediate level in the U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships.
"Right away I knew he loved it," his mother Nancy recently said of her son's early attraction to skating.
"The jumping! That's why I started skating," David explained. "You feel like you're weightless." After the Empire Games, the young Lido native commented that one of the best feelings he has in the sport is right after giving a good performance.
"Even if you're tired, there is this rush of adrenaline," he said. "When you did a good performance, there's no feeling like it."
Weintraub can be found at the arena preparing for his next challenge, the possibility of being a Novice skater--the next level above Intermediate--at the regional championships in October.
Also facing the challenge of moving up a notch in competition is twelve-year-old Brady Chin. One of the most accomplished young athletes in Long Beach, Chin was a Juvenile level gold medal winner at the U.S. Junior Figuring Skating Championships in December, and in January took top honors before an international audience in Belgium. Chin claimed the Kempen Trophy at the Young International Figure Skating Championships.
"I didn't feel like I was the best, but I thought I had done enough to win," Chin said after returning from his victory. He now continues to diligently perfect his technique for the next competition, the North Atlantic Regionals in Lake Placid in October. This time he will be facing older competitors as an Intermediate, and he is working hard to perfect a new and challenging program for this competition.
Chin and Weintraub are a long way from being the only two young skaters lacing up each day at the Long Beach Arena, though. Nineteen-year-old Donald DiGiovani of Island Park, a silver medalist in the North Atlantic Novice Regionals, trains regularly with coach Patti Johnson, a former coach of 15-year-old international skating star Sarah Hughes. DiGiovani is once again preparing for the North Atlantic Regionals, but this time as a Junior.
The arena is not just a boys club, however. Many noteworthy young female skaters are also preparing to compete. Jessica Raddock, 13, was a finalist in the 2000 Regionals as a Juvenile, and is being encouraged by her coach Dmitri Gromov--a European and World Competitor from the former Soviet Union--to move up to the Intermediate Level. She is currently the only female in the area who was chosen to do so, and will be one of the younger girls competing at that level in the nation.
Another Long Beach native, Lauren Simon, is one step away from taking her "Gold Test," the highest test for a figure skater. And then there is little seven-year-old Alyssa Licata, who diligently trains five days a week.
"If she could be here everyday, she would be," remarked her mother Heather Kahn-Licata. Alyssa's coach, Patti Johnson of the Peter Burrows Skating Center, sees much promise in this pint-sized bundle of energy.
"I see qualities in her reminding me of Sarah Hughes," Johnson said. "She has high jumps, a personality that sparks, and grace. Alyssa has it all and is going to be very good."
Preparing for her Juvenile test in the next two months, Alyssa has aspirations to be a competitor in the upcoming North Atlantic Regionals.
There are several children from other areas on Long Island who travel great distances to utilize the Long Beach Arena. Sixteen-year-old Suzanne McDonald, ranked fifth in the Eastern third of the U.S., trains six days a week. Rising at 4:00 a.m., she endures an hour car ride to practice at the rink. Her coach, Peter Burrows--a former British Champion and founder of the Peter Burrows Skating Center--feels that McDonald should make the Nationals.
Personable 12-year-old Michael Quadrino travels from East Rockaway to practice to compete as an Intermediate in the Regionals. Quadrino expends a great deal of energy and exerts an obvious love for the sport. Sure, ice-skating is fun but in order to dedicate so much time and energy one would think there must be more to it. In search of an answer, the skaters, themselves, were asked. They were never at a lose for words.
"I like skating because it's an art and you can do what you want," Raddock said. "You can rid of stress by skating and feel a lot better."
"The endless possibilities," McDonald chimed in. "You do what you want to do, feel totally free, very creative, and it's a lot of fun."
When asked how they felt on the ice, the Olympic hopefuls were once again quick to answer.
"Excited!" Quadrino said. "Really good. It's exciting when you land all of the different jumps."
Little Alyssa Licata said with an infectious smile that she feels "happy and proud of myself" on the ice, and added that she also really likes "the spins."
Standing in the arena that may one day call itself home to a skating champion, McDonald added a last thought on the draw the kids all feel towards skating.
"When you're traveling at such a fast speed, you really feel like you're flying."
