Figure skating news

Skate America 2024 returns to Dallas area, home of U.S. champ Amber Glenn

Amber Glenn, figure skating, Skate America

Plano native Amber Glenn is the reining U.S. women's champion.

Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

For the second straight year, some of the world's top figure skaters and ice dancers will kick off their season in Allen, at Skate America. And it could be an even hotter ticket than it was in 2023 if Plano native and reigning U.S. women's champion Amber Glenn is in the lineup.

The first event in the six-stop ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series, Skate America 2024 will take place at Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, October 18-20. The event will encompass women's and men's singles, pairs, and ice dancing competitions. Contestants will include past Olympic medalists, as well as up-and-comers in the mix for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortino, Italy.

While the Skate America competitors typically aren't announced until mid-summer, it's hard to imagine Glenn won't be a headliner.

The 24-year-old skater, who grew up in Dallas-Fort Worth and has trained in McKinney, Frisco, and Euless, thrilled a home crowd inside the Allen arena at Skate America 2023 when she landed a triple Axel successfully for the first time. She became just the fourth American woman to land the notoriously difficult jump in international competition.

While Glenn didn't medal at Skate America, she went on to win the 2024 U.S. Championships a few months later.

Other big American headliners for Skate America could be recently crowned world champs Ilia Malinin (aka "Quad God"), ice dance world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates, and world silver medalist Isabeau Levito. All competed at 2023 Skate America.

figure skating, Ilia Malinin Will Ilia Malinin and his signature Quad Axel come to Skate America 2024? Facebook/ISU

More big events in the U.S.
U.S. Figure Skating unveiled its calendar of domestically held international events Tuesday, April 23.

The pinnacle event of the season, 2025 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championships, will take place in Wichita, Kansas, January 20-26, 2025, in what should amount to a preview of the names to watch for the American team headed to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina, Italy.

The U.S. also will host the 2025 World Championships from March 23-30 at TD Garden in Boston. The full U.S. qualifying season and domestically held international events calendar can be found here.

U.S. figure skaters topped the medal table with two golds and a bronze at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, and they could do even better at the next Winter Games. Malinin recently won his first world title with a record-setting free skate, Chock and Bates won a second straight ice dance gold, and Levito took a historic silver in the women’s event.

“U.S. Figure Skating is very excited about each of our top-tier events, both at the national and international stages, for the 2024-25 season,” U.S. Figure Skating chief executive Tracy Marek says in a release. “These events span our nation to provide amazing opportunities for skaters at all levels — from our juveniles to adults — as well as our fans and the skating community."

According to the release, tickets for 2024 Skate America and the 2025 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championships will go on sale on the following dates:

Skate America:

Thursday, June 6: All-session tickets
Thursday, Aug. 1: Single-session tickets

U.S. Championships:

Thursday, May 16: All-session tickets and hotel packages
Thursday, July 11: Weekend tickets
Thursday, Sept. 19: Championship single-session tickets
Thursday, Dec. 5: Junior single-session tickets

Skate America typically is streamed on Peacock, with highlights broadcast on NBC.

amber glenn celebrities figure skaters ice dancers isu grand prix skate america sports

Racket sports

Trendy Austin padel club Padel39 lobs first DFW location into Carrollton

Photo by Juan J Valdes

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A popular padel club from Austin is serving up its first location in Dallas-Fort Worth: Padel39 has purchased and taken over the existing Dallas Padel Club, at 3000 Belmeade Dr.

According to a release, multimillion-dollar renovations are underway and are expected to be complete by summer 2026. The revamp includes:

Seven new outdoor courts are being added to the current three indoor courts (with completion expected by March 2026).
Full food and beverage capabilities for a premium sports bar that is open to the public.
A fitness area for members that is affiliated with HYROX, recovery areas, wellness facilities (sauna, cold plunge, etc.), upscale locker rooms.
Upscale lounging and coworking space.

For those not up on their racket sports, padel is a cousin of pickleball, tennis, and racquetball. The sport has been wildly popular in Spain and Latin America for decades and is one of the fastest-growing sports in the U.S. Like pickleball, it's a doubles game played on a small court, and players hit off glass walls.

Padel was invented in Acapulco, Mexico, by Enrique Corcuera; Padel39 bears the first two numbers of all Acapulco ZIP Codes.

Padel39 co-founders Will and Naomi Boyce.Photo by Juan J Valdes

The company was founded in 2024 by husband-and-wife William Boyce and Naomi Boyce; William played tennis for the University of Texas at Austin.

Padel39 currently has two locations in Austin, with a third opening in March. They say they aim to open 12 to 15 Padel39 clubs in Austin, Dallas, and Houston by 2028. After Carrollton, a location will open in central Dallas in late 2026/early 2027, they say.

“We currently introduce 200+ new players to the sport each month, while maintaining a core group of repeat clients who return for the fitness, competition and vibrant community,” William Boyce says in the release. “Each new location fulfills our vision to put Padel39 and Texas at the epicenter of the padel community.”

In addition to offering courts to play on, Padel39 features on-court programming, tournaments, social events, and physical wellness opportunities such as courtside Pilates and morning yoga.

Padel39 Padel39 courts and lounge areas at a location in Austin. Photo by Josh Graziadei

While Padel39 offers memberships, all guests are welcome to play, they say. According to the website, each club is priced differently. At the flagship location in Austin, Padel39 memberships start at $89 per month or $890 per year, but players can also rent courts as needed for 90 minutes at $30.

“We set out to create a modern take on a country club; a place where members and guests could ‘play and stay,’” Boyce says. “We’ve built that and more. We work to improve the experience for our guests each day.”

Outdoor construction on the Carrollton club is expected to be completed by March. Indoor food and beverage, fitness and lounging renovations will be finished by summer, they say. The club will remain open during renovations.

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