Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Every four years, the Winter Olympics bring about a new level of interest for certain events or activities, especially for the people of Western New York.
That's especially the case every four years for the Buffalo Skating Club when it comes to a piqued interest in figure skating.
"I know we've gotten more inquiries about lessons, about private lessons, about teaching, stuff like that. And it's kind of increased as the Olympics have come closer. I'm assuming some of that really has to do with the Olympics coming up, and people like, 'Oh, that's pretty cool! Maybe my kid wants to do it,'" said Jennifer Rosen, board member for the Buffalo Skating Club. "I do know from our learn-to-skate classes, the kids are now seeing the Olympics, they want to do it. So they're looking into more of the private lessons and getting some higher level instruction, and getting past of where they are learn-to-skate. So we do see that through the Olympics."
Fellow board member Meg Hall also has noticed an uptick in interest every four years, especially in activities like the learn-to-skate program.
"In general, getting emails from people who are like, 'Oh, my kid knows how to skate a little bit, but they'd like to get some private lessons,'" said in an interview with WBEN. "I think being in Buffalo especially, it's not just people who are interested in figure skating. We get a lot of people who are interested in hockey signing up for learn-to-skate also. And I think that's also impacted by watching that in the Olympics."
Both Hall and Rosen are also the parents of kids taking part in the Buffalo Skating Club, and compete with the club in events like the Empire State Winter Games, which took place last week in Lake Placid. Watching their kids and the other kids that get into the spirit of the Olympics every four years is something both parents love to see.
"They watch the skaters, they refer to them by first name, like they know them. And we have a couple of girls that come in after they've watched a skate and try and copy some of the choreography, or they'll grab the music and sort of do their own thing to what they've just seen somebody skating," Hall said. "Definitely I think every four years during the Olympics, it gets a little bit more hyped up than usual, for sure.
"Our skaters, while they're serious about it and competitive about it, it's a little bit more casual than that, but it definitely seems to inspire them. I know my daughter, she's 17, and every year when we see nationals and then every four years when we see the Olympics, she'll watch and she comes in, and it's almost like it energizes her. She knows she's never going to be that level, but it inspires her to try and chase excellence at the level that she is skating, and at the levels she will be skating at."
Growing up as a kid, figure skating was Rosen's favorite. Now as an adult, she is proud and excited to be back into it and sharing it with her family.
"My goal was to be in the Olympics when I was 16, that did not happen. I came back to the ice as an adult, but I've always loved watching figure skating," Rosen said with WBEN. "And it's really neat watching the skaters do stuff that, I don't want to say we know how to do on the ice, but stuff that we can approximate a very, very low quality of - lower than them - but it's really cool. And I know the kids enjoy watching it. They're talking about who's skating, what they're doing, how they're doing it, and they're critiquing all the skaters. So it's a lot of fun to watch as a skater and your kids skating too."
When it comes to the attention that figure skating is getting at the Milano Cortina 2026 games, Rosen is appreciative of people looking to learn more about the sport and what goes into it.
"There's a bunch of content creators out there that I've seen - Adam Rippon was doing some information on them, he was a figure skater a few years ago in the Olympics. They're doing a lot of information of what the judges are looking for and what the different jumps are, that type of stuff. So there's a lot out there, if people want to kind of look that up," she said. "We're looking at it, we kind of know what they're looking for. But it's nice the content creators are getting out there, some of the higher level figure skaters that used to be in the Olympics. I think Paulina Edwards was putting some stuff up too, and there's some adult figure skaters that will post on Facebook and other stuff that gives some of that information, which I think helps some people that don't understand it as much."
Meanwhile, Hall feels watching figure skating on television is much different now and easier to understand than when it was years ago.
"I think it's gotten a little bit easier to understand watching on television since they shifted to IJS [International Skating Union (ISU) Judging System], because they actually put in the corner of the screen what element they're doing, and then what the base value of it is so people have a sense of, 'Oh, this is a separate element, and this is what they're looking at in this part of the program.' And if they mess up, it turns red because it means they didn't do it. If they're under review, they're not sure it happened, it turns yellow," Hall explained. "And the commentators I know on TV do a lot of explaining of that sort of thing. It's a lot easier to understand, I think, as a viewer on TV than it was when we were young, and you just watched, and then afterwards the scores came out, and you were like, 'OK, I don't know where that came from, but alright.'"
The Buffalo Skating Club is always welcoming new members to the group and the programs it offers, and it's not just kids they are getting interest from.
"There's a lot of adult skaters that are getting out there," Rosen noted. "We have, I know, a couple of new adults that are joining in the club, and not just for somebody in their 20s. We're both on the older side, and we're out there on the ice. I didn't get back on the ice till I was 38, 39-years-old, and I'm still competing in my 40s. And there's a lot of adult skaters that are getting out there. So the kids, it's great and it's great to get them out. But we have a nice little adult community out there of skaters."
"We love - personally, the two of us - having new adults," Hall added. "We compete also, so you get to put together a program to music and put on a sparkly dress, and go out and get judged, just like the people in the Olympics do. Whether you start when you're 5-years-old, you start when you're 40-something-years-old. It's a fantastic sport, and anybody who's interested in doing it, we would welcome them."
For anyone interested in signing up for programs offered by the Buffalo Skating Club, or signing up their children, they can contact the club by visiting BuffaloSkating.com or by emailing them at buffaloskating@gmail.com.
"There's a contact form that they can fill out, and somebody from the club will get back to them as soon as humanly possible," Hall added. "We always welcome new members and new skaters. We love sharing our love of the sport with new people."