photo by Alex Maness

It may take a village to raise a child, but it certainly takes a big family to make that child a figure skater. Eleven-year-old Mackenzie Savoyski is living proof.

If you happen to see Mackenzie skate at this year’s Sealy/Fox 8 Holiday Concert, you should know there is a large extended family behind the scenes cheering her on. Three years ago, Mackenzie’s grandmother, Robyn Savoyski, took her to learn to ice skate. Once Mackenzie put on skates, she was a natural. Today Mackenzie skates with the Summit Figure Skating Club of Greensboro and recently won gold medals in two preliminary events at the United States Figure Skating Association’s South Atlantic Regionals.

Mackenzie says she would never have come this far without the support of her grandmother. Five years ago Robyn and her husband, Nick Savoyski, adopted Mackenzie and her siblings, Natasha and D.J. The family uprooted from California and moved to Greensboro. Now, Robyn homeschools Mackenzie, drives her to practice six days a week, and makes all her skating costumes.

Mackenzie’s mother, Chelsea, and her great-grandfather, Hal, relocated to North Carolina two years ago to be closer to the family.

“[Mackenzie] has the attitude anyone would want their kid to have toward a sport,” Robyn says. “She’s a great role model.”
For a girl who says she “can’t sit still for five minutes,” Mackenzie has an eye on her skating future. “I want to skate in the Olympics and have my family come with me. That would just be so cool,” Mackenzie explains.

“If she ever does make it to the Olympics,” Robyn says, “whether we are on walkers or wearing oxygen masks, we’ll all be there.”
         
• For more information about the Summit Figure Skating Club of Greensboro, go to summitfsc.org.

• The Sealy/Fox 8 Holiday Concert is December 14 at 7:30 p.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum.