Paul Mata, 32, an Anesthesia Technician, won the men’s silver division for skating at the Mountain Cup Adult World Championships held in France last May. This was a surprise, since he placed sixth for the same routine at the US Adult National competition held in Lake Placid the month before. The stuffy US officials gave him an outfit violation for showing too much skin.
Mata competed in and won national dance competitions throughout his teenage years and up until he was 21 years old, which is the maximum age for amateur competitors. He sat around for three years and in 1992 was inspired to start ice-skating and to compete in the adult ranks.
“The adult skaters are decent,” he said, “but they can’t go head to head with professionals like Scott Hamilton, although they may have skated against them while they were growing up. You reach an age where you either decide to go to school and get a job or to continue skating.”
He has competed in national competitions for the past five years, winning more than 60 medals, which are given for first, second, and third places. He practices 10 hours each week in the off season; during the season-October through April-he will practice 30-40 hours each week, between working hours. He does this for fun. Dancing was for blood, he said, but skating is more relaxing and easier to perform. The competition is not as bad as when he danced. At this stage, he and his competitors realize they are not going to make the Olympics, and they aren’t going to get signed for huge contracts.
“Traveling is great, I have friends all over the country. The adult skaters all have a real job. I know a skater who is a CEO of a company, another who is an employee of NASA, and another who is an anesthesiologist at St. Mary’s hospital. We are all friends, we support each other. We also get to meet professional, Olympic-caliber skaters.”
Mata works and pays his own way for skating, frequenting ice rinks in the area, in Plymouth, Flint, Kalamazoo, and Caledonia, which is located between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo. He has three coaches and teaches skating in exchange for ice time.
As for style, “I’m a big ham,” Mata said. His showmanship is aimed toward the audience, his spins and footwork performed to fast-paced music, keep his scores up. He has just started to skate with a partner and this coming season will be in both the men’s division and the pairs competitions.