Question: Is Figure Skating a Youth Sport or a Sport for All Ages?
Is figure skating a youth sport or a sport for all ages? This short article addresses this subject.
Answer: People of all ages participate in figure skating, but the majority of figure skaters are children and teens. The skaters that become top competitors most likely did begin to figure skate when they were very young.
Adults have always ice skated, but in recent years, the popularity of adult figure skating has increased. 400 to 600 adult skaters enter the U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships each year. That annual event began in 1995. 2008 was the 14th annual U.S. Adult Championships and 2008 was the 10th anniversary of the ISU World Adult figure skating competition in Obertsdorf, Germany.
Only twenty-one percent of the US Figure Skating's regular membership are adults. That figure shows that figure skating's registered numbers indicate that figure skating is a youth sport, but that figure should not discourage adults from participating in what really is a lifetime sport and a sport for all ages.
