The
Cheyenne Edition
578-5112
Page 8
by David Vickers
Jo Ann Schneider-Farris and her three young children will
make the Rocky Mountain State Games a family affair next week in Colorado
Springs.
The games, owned and operated by Colorado Springs
Sports Corp., are organized as a multi-sport festival open to athletes of all
ages and athletic abilities. The games
run July 30 through Aug. 1 at various venues in
Schneider-Farris, a figure skating coach, said her
daughters, Annabelle, 5, and Rebekah 8, will
participate in the figure skating and kid’s fun run, while her son, Joel, 10, has
chosen to participate with his sisters in the fun run. The Skyway family is already active in
numerous athletic pursuits ranging from hockey, baseball and soccer, to tennis,
basketball, and running.
Schneider-Farris and her husband, Dan Farris, also have enrolled their
daughters in dance classes, and Joel and Rebekah both
play piano and act in children’s theater.
The Rocky Mountain State Games presented the family
with another opportunity to enjoy activities together. For Joel, running is part of his training as
a young hockey player.
“I love to skate fast,” he said. “The fun run will help me.”
The games offer people a chance to participate in 21
sports, including running, archery, badminton, basketball, billiards, bowling,
field hockey, figure skating, foosball, golf, martial arts, racquetball,
soccer, softball, swimming, table tennis, track and field, triathlon,
weight-lifting and inline hockey.
Last year, the games attracted nearly 3,200
competitors from more than 85 cities and towns in
For Rebekah Farris, the
competition comes at a time when she’s just beginning to advance from
recreational skating into competitive ranks.
She will be asked to demonstrate basic figure skating elements,
including a jump and spin, when she enters the games. Little Annabelle will compete with other
tots, who will show their skills at gliding, stopping, doing a backward wiggle
and a dip among other elements.
The U.S. Figure Skating Association sponsors the event
to encourage development of basic skills, their mother said, adding, “It’s a
perfect opportunity for us.”
A figure skating coach at the Ice Arena at Chapel
Hills Mall and other venues in town, Schneider-Farris has lived in Colorado Springs
since she moved here as a young girl in 1974 to train at the Broadmoor. She and
her pairs partner were highly ranked nationally in the 1970s. She graduated from
Sports activities are the vehicles she uses to help
her children develop socialization skills that other students get by attending
public or private schools. The tightly
knit family is active enough that Schneider-Farris said her children haven’t
missed a beat when it comes to socializing with others.
For a preview of sporting events and venues at the
Rocky Mountain State Games, connect to the Sports Corporation’s Internet we
site at www.TheSportsCorp.org or
call 634-7333. The web site also
contains information on event registration and how people can volunteer to help
stage the games.