![Wayland High School Class of 2019 alum Devin Wong is the new assistant coach of Harvard University Nordic Ski Team. "I’m excited to be a part of a new team and coaching staff am motivated to learn from [head coach] Cate Brams and grow as a coach and wax tech," Wong said.](https://waylandstudentpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/09-27-24-NSKI-Wong-Announcement-1920x1080-1-e1730466291327-1200x704.jpg)
Kate Maietta: You have to learn to move and use muscles in a way you’ve never had to before
Credit: Courtesy of Kate Maietta
Pictured above is freshman Kate Maietta skating. She has been ice skating since the age of two and is now an accomplished skater. “Nothing I do in skating is like anything in any other sport,” Maietta said.
February 9, 2016
She flies through the air, landing jump after jump. She lands gracefully on one foot and glides smoothly on the ice. Freshman Kate Maietta started ice skating at the age of two, and she has loved it ever since.
Maietta started because her mom wanted her to learn how to skate. Now, she is an accomplished skater. According to Maietta, she placed first at both the 2013 State Games of America and the ISI Team World Championships.
“The last competition I skated in was the Bay State Winter Games last February where I got first and qualified to compete at the State Games of America over the summer in Nebraska,” Maietta said. “But I didn’t end up being able to compete at it because of a serious back injury.”
Maietta takes pride in the skills she has acquired as a skater since she started. Some of the tricks she is most proud of are the double salchow and the double toe loop.
“As far as skills, I would say the most difficult jump I’ve landed is a double loop, which is when you take off on one foot from a backwards edge, rotate twice in the air and land backwards on the same foot,” Maietta said.
Maietta shares that she practices over 10 hours a week when preparing for big competitions and coaches younger skaters for 3 hours a week.
“I am currently injured, so I am not able to skate as much,” Maietta said. “I was going to go to nationals for synchronized skating with my team, but because of injuries on the team we can’t go this year but plan to go in 2017.”
Even with the bad injuries that can come with skating, Maietta still loves many things about the sport.
“One of my favorite things about skating is probably my team,” Maietta said. “We are all really close, and we support each other very well through all of the hard parts of skating.”
She also enjoys how uniquely challenging the sport is.
“Nothing I do in skating is like anything in any other sport, which makes skating especially difficult because you have to learn to move and use muscles in a way you’ve never had to before to land a jump or complete a spin,” Maietta said.
