02/01/2025
Our deepest condolences to the figure skating community
Creve Coeur Family,
As everyone in the skating community grapples with the shock of losing so many young athletes, their family members, and their coaches in last night’s tragic plane crash, I am haunted by the realization of who these people were. As a skating family, we do not need to have personally known any of them to know who they were, and to suffer the loss. We all knew them, because they were us.
I know these athletes were just like our kids, they worked hard for goals that I know they set very high. They had good days at the rink, not so good days at the rink, and the occasional great day at the rink, that made the bad days’ worth it! They were parents who supported their athletes, who made sacrifices for them, who struggled when they struggled, and rejoiced when they rejoiced. They were coaches who were loved, and gave love back, along with valuable lessons not only in skating, but in life.
The skating community is large, but somehow small at the same time. Paths are crossed at competitions, at camps, and in the lobbies of ice rinks all across the country every day. Whether you are personally familiar with those who were lost, or if they are familiar because of the shared life experience of skating, today we truly are a Broken Hearted Figure Skating Club.
I am sending my love to you all -
Erin Klippi
Board President
CCFSC
