Law girl Sophie's so cool under skating pressure

Sophie Waddell shows the fine poise which has helped her to title successes on the ice rink (Submitted pic)

The 15-year-old Carluke High School pupil has progressed from Level 2 to Level 4 in the rankings after a superb 2017 which has seen her win 13 and over titles at the Bradford Open and Blackpool Open competitions.

“Sophie is doing great and she has come on leaps and bounds in recent months,” said her proud mum Laura.

“At the moment she is concentrating on doing double jumps and double loops on the ice, which shows the progress she is making.

“Sophie’s ultimate ambition is to qualify to compete at the British Championships.

“But she will need to reach Level 9 standard before that is possible.

“Hopefully she’ll be able to achieve that within a couple of years.”

Sophie is currently a member of North Lanarkshire Figure Skating Club, where she is coached at the Time Capsule in Coatbridge by Gemma Stark and Rebecca Hutchison.

“Gemma has done very well with Sophie,” Laura said.

“And, on a personal level, Sophie’s whole attitude has improved.

“My daughter just loves everything about the ice skating.

“She is really looking forward to taking part in her first Level 4 competition in Dundee this July.”

The youngster formerly represented Olympia Figure Skating Club at many competitions, before making the switch to North Lanarkshire last February.

Last year also saw Sophie finish second at the Blackpool Open before winning at the Murrayfield Open last May.

In addition to her two wins in 2017, Sophie has also finished second at the Magnum Open in March and third at this month’s Murrayfield Open where she faced a very tough group of skaters.

The 13 and over category which Sophie skates in features competitors up to the age of 17 years.

Sophie will face an added challenge next season as she’ll be sitting exams which could reduce the time she has available to practice her skating. At the moment she skates four days a week, including for 90 minutes before school on some days.

“We will see how it goes in the run up to Sophie sitting her exams,” Laura said.

“I think we will need to reduce the number of hours training that Sophie does.”

Sophie’s trophy-laden recent spell comes just six years after she took her first steps on the Time Capsule ice with her dad Graham.

“She let her dad’s hand go after about two minutes,” Laura said. “She had a few wee falls but loved it.

“She then started getting regular 15 minute lessons before joining a club two years later.”