Rayton’s Hadassah Alexander has her heart set on ice skating

Hadassah Alexander, a 15-year-old figure skater from Rayton, came second in the Beginner Solo Division of the Fire and Ice Artistic Figure Skating Competition held at the Grove Ice Rink on Sunday, May 29.

Hadassah began figure skating in July 2021 and this was the first competition in which she has competed.

She will be doing her first level test in June this year.

She has always had a love for dance and has been taking ballet since she was five years old, but when she saw a figure skater while passing the Grove Ice Rink one day and was mesmerised and drawn to it.

It seemed to her like a combination of ballet on ice.

The problem was that being the second eldest of 12 siblings in the Forever Family at Jabez House in Rayton, a home made up of biological, adopted and foster siblings, money for extra-mural activities is limited and with travel costs to Pretoria to be considered as well, this dream seemed unattainable.

Where there is a will, there is a way, so when she discovered that Evolution on Ice was offering figure skating lessons on a day that coincided with her brother’s tutoring in Pretoria, she seized the opportunity.

She began baking and selling rusks to friends and family in the community to cover her lesson costs and entry fees into the ice rink.

A sponsor stepped forward to cover 75% of her training costs this year.

Hadassah said this has been an amazing blessing.

She still bakes and sells buttermilk rusks to cover the other 25% of the costs.

Hadassah dreams of making it to the Olympics and recently attended a try-out for a synchronised skating team.

This will once again involve an extra cost for training, but nothing will hold her back from doing what she loves.