Meet Amelia: The Beginning Matters
Updated: Sep 29
We often see the story told as “how it started versus how it’s going.”
But sometimes, we need to stop and appreciate the beginning.
The beginning is rarely polished. It can be messy, uncertain and full of mistakes. There are no standing ovations when you're learning something for the first time. No medals. No perfect performances. Sometimes, no one is even watching.
But there is something powerful about showing up anyway. That is where Amelia Holly's story begins.
Amelia started figure skating at just 4 years old in 2022, the same year Dream Detroit Skating Club began. She was little, just learning how to move across the ice and figuring out what this new sport could become for her. Today, she is still growing into her identity as a figure skater, but there is something incredibly special about watching her journey unfold. Because Amelia is not just living her own dream. In many ways she is living mine, her mother's.
When I was a little girl growing up in Detroit, I watched Nancy Kerrigan, Tonya Harding and Kristi Yamaguchi light up the ice during the Winter Olympics. I was mesmerized by the beauty, athleticism and artistry of figure skating. But I never imagined myself doing it. At the time, I did not know that figure skating could be an option for a girl like me growing up in Detroit. Amelia has a different experience. She gets to grow up seeing that she belongs on the ice. Through Dream Detroit, Amelia has had the opportunity to learn from successful Black coaches who have skated in major productions, including Disney on Ice and Ebony on Ice. She is learning from people who not only understand the sport, but can also help her see herself within it. That representation matters.
So does accessibility.
Figure skating is an expensive sport. Ice time, coaching, equipment, costumes, testing and competitions can create barriers for families who want their children to participate.
Dream Detroit was created to help change that. Through affordable programming, coaching and support with equipment and other skating expenses, the club is working to make it possible for more Detroit area youth to experience a sport that has historically felt out of reach. For Amelia, that means she gets to start. She gets to be a beginner. She gets to fall, get back up, try again and figure out who she is on the ice without needing to have it all figured out yet, and that matters.
Because we sometimes celebrate the finished product without remembering that every accomplished athlete once had a beginning that looked a lot like this.
A small girl.
A pair of skates.
A first step onto the ice.
No standing ovation yet.
Just the courage to keep showing up.
Amelia has been skating since she was 4, when Dream Detroit first launched. And honestly, I think she is living a dream. My dream.
But more importantly, she is building one of her own. Dream Detroit started this mission so children like Amelia could have access to the beginning. Now we need a community willing to help us keep that opportunity going, because every skater deserves the chance to find out where their first step can take them.
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