Hollister’s Amanda Dobbs is nationally ranked skater and
tireless worker
Most people don’t know what they want to do for a living until
they are at least of high school age.
Hollister’s Amanda Dobbs knew at 30 months
– the age when her parents took her to her first Champions on
Ice show in Fresno.
Hollister’s Amanda Dobbs is nationally ranked skater and tireless worker
Most people don’t know what they want to do for a living until they are at least of high school age.
Hollister’s Amanda Dobbs knew at 30 months – the age when her parents took her to her first Champions on Ice show in Fresno.
Right after that her parents enrolled her in weekly skating lessons and the rest is history.
Today Dobbs is 13, and not only on the fast track to becoming a professional figure skater but also has her heart set on one day representing the United States in the Olympics.
Most recently Dobbs captured the ladies singles event in the novice division at the Central Pacific Regional Championships, which took place in Oakland earlier this month.
“I’m really excited. I’m really proud of myself,” Dobbs said. “I’m happy just to get to keep skating everyday. Whether I make the Olympics or not, just to be able to do this and have fun along the way is what’s best.”
The win at regionals not only earned her a gold medal but also automatically qualified her for the Pacific Coast Sectional Championships in Seattle, Washington next month.
Only 36 girls across the country advance on to compete at the sectional level. There are three sections in the U.S. From sectionals, only the top four skaters from each section will advance to Nationals, which hosts the top 12 girls overall.
This year the U.S. Nationals take place in January in Spokane, Washington.
“She has a shot at going all the way to nationals,” said Amanda’s mother Laura. “All the girls are really good. It really depends on who does what they need to do on the day of the competition. Nerves and other things can often filter into it and injuries can impact things as well.”
That’s what makes Dobbs’ achievements this year all the more impressive. Earlier this year she suffered her first major injury on the ice, breaking her foot, which forced her to stay off the ice for most of the month of February and all of March.
Missing any ice or workout time for Dobbs, who has had an Olympics-or-bust mentality since she first started skating, is a tough pill to swallow.
Dobbs first took up skating just a handful of months after watching that first Champions on Ice show with her parents. From the ages of 3 and 4 she was in the Alfa Division.
By the time she was 8 she was competing at the Preliminary Level before moving up to the Juvenile Division from the ages of 9 to 10.
The last few years she has competed at the Intermediate Division before moving up to the Novice Division last year.
Not long after making the move up, Dobbs experienced her greatest success to date when she teamed up with Chris Trefil and took fifth in the division at the U.S. Nationals Pairs competition.
Shortly after that Trefil opted not to compete any more and the young skater decided to refocus her grueling and hectic practice schedule to singles competitions.
In pursuing her dream Dobbs, who is home-schooled, leaves the house every morning with her mother at 5:45 a.m. and heads for the Logitech Ice Arena in San Jose.
Once there, she skates and trains with her coach for anywhere from three to four hours six days a week.
On three of those days she leaves Logitech for Rovella’s Gym in Hollister where she works out for roughly an hour of weight training. The other three days, she leaves the rink and heads for a palates class in San Jose for another hour.
In between she gets in her schoolwork, as well as other home workouts, before starting the process all over again.
Coaching, ice time, her workouts, equipment and classes all add up to a monthly bill of about $4,000.
While there’s a lot of sacrifice and commitment, no one in the Dobbs household is going to let anything stand in the way of Amanda’s dream.
“I would like to make the Olympics first and then turn pro after that,” Dobbs said.
After she stops competing at the Novice level the next level is Juniors before Seniors, which is the same level that the Olympians compete at.
“The competitions get a little more intense as I go up,” Dobbs said. “The higher up you go they (judges) expect more jump and spin elements.”
So far Dobbs’ best move is the double axle, which she performed flawlessly in both her short and long program at the regional event.
When she heads to the Sectional Championships next month Dobbs plans to have another move in her program – the triple toe.
“The triple toe is a spiral sequence where there is a leg lift and hold that shows her ability to balance on the one skate,” Laura Dobbs said.
One day Dobbs hopes to pull the maneuver off as well as her idol: 2006 Olympic Silver Medallist Sasha Cohen.
“I got to meet her last year at Nationals. I love her spiral steps and her jump element is really good,” Dobbs said. “She has a lot of energy when she skates as well.”
Dobbs has that same energy, tenacity, commitment and dedication to the sport as well, which should bode well in the years a head as she continues to beeline towards her dream and goal: To win Olympic gold.
