Natalie Coulters Figure Skating Career
Natalie Coulters double life
Georgia Kreischer '22
Editor-in-Chief of Design
Natalie Coulter preforming as Mary Poppins in the National Showcase
Louisville offers a wide range of sports, spanning every season of the school year, but one sport they regrettably do not offer is figure skating. Our very own senior shark, Natalie Coulter, is a competitive theater skater and has been for a good eight and a half years. Natalie started skating when she was in fourth grade, but skating was not the only sport she tried. Natalie recalled how she had played softball and soccer and eventually even tried horseback riding:
“I don’t like balls being thrown at me. . .and I got scared of the horses.”
The best example of what Natalie does is “Disney On Ice,” where skaters perform a show using everything but singing to entertain their audience. It also gives Natalie the ability to escape into the character she is performing as, not having to worry so much about crazy stunts and triple flips. That is, except for one trick that was a bit harder to master, "the axel".
A tutorial photo on how to properly complete an axel
Nat’s greatest achievement in her theater skating career was completing a perfect axel. The best explanation for this trick is it would not be something you would ever catch Mr. Wilson doing, on land or on ice. That milestone proved to Natalie that skating was a sport worth sticking to.
However, with great achievements come great failures. If one concussion is not entertaining enough, two might do it. Concussion number one was received when Mr. Coulter, Natalie’s father, attempted to give our portrait of a graduate a “speed boost” on the ice. However, Nat slipped and received that concussion. Concussion number two was earned in October of her sophomore year, when excitement got the best of her. Forgetting to take off the guards on her skates, she tripped and fell, ending up in urgent care. However, Natalie commented on how she finds common ground when watching the little prodigy skaters fall on the ice, because of the shared bond they have knowing this happens all the time to all skaters. Natalie has performed and competed in many competitions as well, most recently competing at the U.S. Figure Skating Association (USFSA) National Showcase as Mary Poppins. She has been an ISI competitor for six years, winning first in the Los Angeles Figure Skating Club (LAFSC) showcase in 2019 and ranking ninth nationally with her Mary Poppins performance.
“Theater skating taught me how to fall gracefully.”
Nat’s advice to all her LV sisters that are thinking about taking up skating is to not look down. She explained that wherever you look when ice skating is where you are going to go, so look ahead of yourself, not down at the ice. Well, unless you want to crash.