Skating rink: Beginners test the ice at Union Square
Maja and Maya Masagca, ages 5 and 9, stretched out their feet as an instructor tightened the laces on their ice skates.
“I just want to make it nice and snug for you,” one of the coaches said to the girls as Maja’s pigtails swayed slightly in the morning breeze.
Serious skaters in the Bay Area are few and far between. So several dozen people of all ages gathered at San Francisco’s Union Square Ice Rink Saturday morning in San Francisco to take advantage of the free, beginners-only lessons that will be offered every weekend until the rink closes for the season on Jan. 15.
Maja and Maya were split into different age groups and ushered out onto the freshly groomed ice. Their mother, Mary Ann Masagca, grinned on the sidelines. She took videos of her daughters on her iPhone as they wobbled trying to regain their balance.
The girls had skated just one other time, at Yerba Buena Gardens, and their other experience was limited to that of spectators, said their 39-yearold mother.
“They really wanted to learn and I can’t teach them skating,” the San Francisco woman said. “We like to watch skating competitions. It’s usually on in the background while we are eating.”
Maya skated off with the older kids while Maja stayed behind with another 5-yearold, Jacqueline Garay, the two of them hesitantly placing one foot in front of the other as they let go of the wall.
“Hands on your head. Hands on your hips, shake it,” the instructor told them. She stomped her left foot, motioning for the girls to follow her lead.
“Come on, you’ll never learn if you don’t try,” she said, prodding Jacqueline, as Maja giggled and started stomping both her feet.
Within minutes, Maja appeared to feel at ease on the ice, her stomping eventually turning into short glides.
But Jacqueline stayed glued to her instructor, reaching for the wall as her teacher eased her back on the ice. Jacqueline frowned as she stared longingly at the wall 10 feet away.
“Muy bien,” the instructor said, with a thumbs up to Jacqueline’s mother, Blanca Velazquez, 35, of San Francisco, watching from a bench nearby.
Jacqueline didn’t seem convinced, scowling as she slowly stumbled toward the wall, only to be pushed farther away by her instructor as soon as she reached it.
Robyn Marlinski, coordinator of the free-lesson program and skating director at Yerba Buena Gardens, supervised the coaches and students from afar.
“For the adults, it’s the fear of falling and getting hurt and injury. For children, it’s the fear that this is new and I have foreign objects that are on my feet,” Marlinski said of the challenges of teaching beginner skaters.
The free lessons at Union Square began last year, but were only offered for four weeks. Due to their popularity, Marlinski said, the program was extended to every weekend the rink is open, with spots reserved in advance.
“It’s something new for a lot of people in California, especially because it’s not something they do every day,” Marlinski said.
As Jacqueline continued practicing on the ice, Hunter Sandoval, 17, adjusted his pink jumpsuit and waited for his friend, Keith Jones, 17, of San Francisco, to finish lacing his skates.
Sandoval, who had just rolled out of bed in San Francisco, wasn’t a beginner, but came to the rink in moral support of Jones, who wasn’t as comfortable on the ice.
“I want to learn how to skate. The first time I went ice skating was with my auntie and I fell on my butt,” Jones said.
As the two teenagers neared the rink entrance, Sandoval took off onto the ice.
“Hey,” Jones called out as he clutched the wall with the other beginners.
But it was too late. Sandoval was already moving swiftly among the beginners, skating to the rhythm of the music that blared on the speakers.