NEUCHÂTEL, Switzerland — For a long time, the Twin Cities area and Minnesota in general lacked a long-standing, competitive synchronized skating team.
"The team I competed with when I was younger has since folded...so I knew there was a need and a market for it," said Alana Christie, who founded the Northernettes in 2017, just one year removed from graduating college and finishing her competitive synchronized skating career at Miami University in Ohio.
Now, a short five years later, Christie has her most senior skaters, ironically called 'Juniors', ready to compete in a synchronized skating competition that pits the best in the world against one another.
"We are just honored and humbled to have the opportunity to represent Team U.S.A.," Chrisite said.
The Northernettes started with 20 skaters and one team in 2017. Now, Christie's program boasts four teams and 70 skaters.
"Alana is a great coach. She has been skating all her life and she's such an inspiration," said Ava Privratsky, who joined the Northernettes because her synchro friends told her to try out.
That's how the group has grown so fast, and become competitive so fast, combined with Christie's coaching.
"She really provides so many opportunities for us. She's really a go-getter," said Bella Golumb, who is in her first year with the Northernettes but already made the top group of skaters to compete in Switzerland this month.
"There was definitely a learning curve," said Christie. "But when I started this, I said the goal was to represent Team U.S.A."
Which they're now doing. The team will compete on Feb. 10 and 11 in Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
"This is my baby. Hopefully we can keep adding more coaches and more girls and it will just continue to grow," Christie said.