Article from the Augusta Chronicle...Augusta, GA Originally created 02/19/2000 Southern migration of hockey helps restore young figure skaters' dreams By Staff Writer Imagine giving up the thing in life you love the most. Then imagine being 10 or 12 years old and having to give up the thing in life you love the most. Not too along ago for Joy Sczublewski and Robyn Francesconi, this was harsh reality. Both moved with their families from points North to the Augusta area around two years ago. Both were forced to put their promising figure skating careers on hold. Now think about something in life that you loved and lost, and imagine having it suddenly given back to you. For both young skaters, the Southern migration of hockey and ice sports have done just that. "I was afraid it would all be over for me when we moved here," said the 11-year-old Sczublewski, who now lives in Aiken after moving from Toledo, Ohio, two summers ago. "Then the IceForum opened, and I could be happy again." Thirteen months after the first skaters took to the maiden IceForum ice, Sczublewski and Francesconi -- a 15-year-old Evans resident who moved with her family from Naperville, Ill. -- headline a group of 22 skaters competing today and Sunday in the 15th annual Centennial Sportsplex ISI Invitational in Nashville, Tenn. The competition, sanctioned by the Ice Skating Institute, will feature more than 300 skaters from around the Southeast. "It took a while to get back into serious mode after not skating for a while," said Francesconi, a sophomore at Greenbrier High School. "I'm starting to feel more confident now and I'm hoping for the best in Nashville. Whatever I get there, I just hope I go out and skate well." The skaters from Augusta range in age from 5 to over 30 and will compete at beginning to advanced levels. Sczublewski and Francesconi are the IceForum's most advanced skaters, competing at the Freestyle 4 level, which includes jumps and other advanced moves. Sczublewski started taking skating lessons in Bowling Green, Ohio, when she was 5, and soon was competing in various local and regional events. "Going to Nashville is kind of scary for me because I haven't competed in a while," said Sczublewski, who spends about two hours a day on the ice, and is home schooled to allow her the flexibility to skate more often. Francesconi first took up skating when she was 9. Before coming to Augusta, she focused primarily on precision skating -- a team sport often referred to as synchronized swimming on ice. "It was weird when I first moved here because I used to skate about three times a week, but here I was doing nothing," Francesconi said. "Before we got here, my mom thought that Stardust (roller skating rink) was an ice rink. It was pretty upsetting when we realized it wasn't. Luckily, the IceForum opened. I don't know what I would have done."