Noelle Ghoram: I Always Said Yes
September 11, 2018
The list of high-level figure skaters from South Carolina is not extensive. At last count, only two ice rinks existed in the entire humid, subtropical state - one in the capital, Columbia, and the other two hours away on the coast, in North Charleston. It was at the latter venue that Wells Fargo Energy Group Associate Noelle Ghoram began attending classes when she was eight years old. “I’m the kind of person who, when I have a commitment, I want to stick to it,” Noelle reflects. “I kept going to classes, and I kept making progress.”
By the end of high school, she had advanced into the sport’s highest echelon, passing her certification test for U.S. Figure Skating’s Olympic (or “Senior”) level of competition. On the one hand, her competition grade showed that all her years of hard work had paid off. On the other hand, it meant that going forward, she could only formally compete against the very best skaters in the sport. “Man, if I had just low-balled it...who knows?” she laughs.
Noelle spoke to The D10 recently about how training for The D10 Houston helped prepare her to re-enter the world of competitive figure skating.
Do you find that there’s a crossover between the athleticism required to be a competitive figure skater and the athleticism your D10 training draws upon?
It's a lot of similar skills: the vertical jump and the endurance, it directly translates. I can tell the difference in my skating, because my jumps were not that consistent. The D10 really helps me get the stamina and the core and upper body strength that I hadn't used in a long time. In a given week, I’m going to Terrence Wakefield’s track workout Monday, Adam Nelson’s workouts Tuesday and Thursday, and I’m skating Wednesday, Friday and on the weekend. Adam’s workouts have been really great and super-motivational. He makes you really want to try, but it’s also relaxing because we get to watch the sun rise.
Was figure skating your primary athletic outlet, growing up?
I competed seriously throughout my childhood in different things. I always said “yes.” I remember playing Powder Puff football with my best friend in high school, and she was on the track team. I wasn’t. But to compensate for missing track practice, she had to stick around after football practice and run laps, and I decided to support her by doing it also.
Sure enough, the track coach approached me and said, “You should consider running for Summerville High School.” I was sure I was going to hate it. It was too hot, running outdoors! But it provided me with something skating didn’t, which was more of the team environment. I ran track for three years - hurdles, 400, 800, 4x1 and 4x4. Ice skating translated to track very well, because I was not afraid of hurdles. I took plenty of falls, but they didn’t hurt as much as they hurt on the ice!
How much of this did you decide to bring with you when you enrolled at Duke University?
I had no ambitions of trying out for the track team, and I didn’t even bring my figure skates. I had decided I wanted to focus on school. It turned out, Duke had a figure skating club team, and collegiate figure skating merged my individual skating background with what I had gotten from track, in terms of the team component. In collegiate skating, skaters have the choice to perform an individual routine and also have the option to compete in a team event where there’s no music and no individual program. Instead, everyone on a team has to perform one element. Before I knew it, I was getting my mom to mail me my figure skates, and I was back on the ice training once or twice a week.
And so the club became a big part of your college experience?
When I arrived, I would say the club was kind of dying, because most of the active members were seniors. My friend Kerianne and I got the message very early on that we were being looked at to run the club. Our freshman year, we were nominated as President and Vice President and worked to increase club membership, while also competing at collegiate competitions on the East Coast. When I go back to visit campus, I make it a point to check in on the 30 or so active members, which includes the learn-to-skate members. The collegiate skating experience is definitely part of why I continue to make an effort to stay involved in the sport.
Now you’re competing again!
Initially, I was trial judging for U.S. Figure Skating. This is an area where having passed my Senior tests as a skater really helped, because I was familiar with the judging system and how scores are decided. I am hoping to judge at the regional, sectional and national level and am trial judging at a regional competition in Dallas next month. It’s very fulfilling, feeling that you’re able to give back to your sport. I’ve had a lot of fun with it, and the more I judged, the younger I felt, which motivated me to get back on the ice.
When I did The D10 last year for the first time, I felt like I was in such great shape, and that’s when I got back on the ice. I needed something to work toward in The D10 offseason! It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be to pick it back up. So this year, I’m finally training to do an adult figure skating competition. Over Labor Day weekend, I competed in an adult event at Skate Houston. Though not my best performance, it set a benchmark for me as I train to compete at the Adult Sectional and Adult National competition in March and April of 2019.
Noelle at Skate Houston 2018
What are you looking forward to as you gear up for your second D10 Houston?
I got married in September of last year. The D10 was my first real commitment after the wedding, so the training beforehand doubled as pre-wedding training! But I was also toeing a line as far as asking people for donations who were already flying to Charleston for the wedding and buying us a gift. I’m excited that this year I can ask my whole network to contribute with no shame!
I have a solid network through Wells Fargo, and we had a great spectator turnout last year. A lot of my coworkers saw us participate. The thing I can talk about this year is the enthusiasm. The D10 makes me a better employee and a better team member. I went and watched my [then] co-worker Claire McConnell compete in 2016, and that helped push me to sign up in 2017.
I think people sometimes feel like they have to prove they’re so focused on work that they don’t have time for other commitments, but that culture is slowly changing. Wells Fargo as a whole is very supportive and continues to make a corporate donation to our team.
Help Noelle and Team Wells Fargo smash their fundraising goal by donating to MD Anderson Cancer Center here.