DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
William Nottingham, a 13-year-old figure skater with Olympic potential, stretched yesterday at the Ice Palace. He was wearing a pair of borrowed skates because his were stolen. He came to Hawaii to compete in the Skate Aloha competition.
Teen pleads for
return of skatesThe theft in Waikele is a
heart-wrenching setback for
a talented young competitor
To a 13-year-old figure skater with Olympic potential, his skates are worth their weight in gold.
After William Nottingham's skates were stolen on Monday -- three days before Skate Aloha, the only local competition each year -- he couldn't sleep or eat.
William is from Anchorage, Alaska, but trains in Hawaii three to four months of the year. He wakes daily at 3 a.m., showers, stretches and hits the ice at 5 a.m. six days a week.
"I work really hard every day, and I was looking forward to this competition," he said. "To have my boots stolen is very disappointing because all that hard work has gone to waste if I can't do this competition."
Although he practiced in big blue borrowed skates yesterday, the teen won't compete without his own skates.
"Without his own boots, it is pretty dangerous," said Shanel Passi, his head coach in Hawaii, especially since he does triple jumps.
The black Graf boots with gold-filled Sheffield blades and two extra blades, valued at $1,970, were in a carry-on luggage bag when they were stolen between 6:20 and 7:45 p.m. Monday along with some new clothes. The items were left in the trunk of the Nottinghams' car at Waikele Premium Outlets.
"Whoever has the skates, if they will come and drop them here at the Ice Palace, there are no questions to ask," pleaded his mother, Margarete Nottingham. "I am even willing to give a reward for the return of those skates. Just bring them back, please."
She said police arrested a woman who tried to return the stolen clothes without a receipt at a Pearlridge Center clothing store, but the suspect said she knew nothing about the skates.
William has been a top intermediate-level finisher at the national championships, and has advanced to the novice men's level, performing triple toe loops, triple salchows, triple flips and triple loops.
"He's already able to land some triple jumps," Passi said. "There's very few people that can do the triples."
Skate Aloha draws competitors from Europe, Canada, the mainland and Hawaii. But it wasn't just about the competition. Passi said Nottingham was one of six skaters whose parents paid to have four mainland judges fly in to test the skaters so they may be eligible to be elevated to the next competitive level.
Margarete Nottingham said an injury last year set William back. He placed eighth in the competition, which he had won previously.
"We came here for him to heal, to work on his jumps," she said. "Now he's not able to perform because he doesn't have his equipment."
The family has also spent $4,000 for two costumes, a black Zorro outfit with rhinestone buckle and a shirt with a "Z" for the long program, and a tuxedo-style white shirt with black pants and burgundy jacket for the short program.
Even if William gets new skates his mom ordered by tomorrow, they'll be too stiff to do any big jumps and triples. "That's the sad part," she said.
"I don't know how to plead with everybody who is aware of where the boots are," she said. "It means nothing to anyone here, but means a lot to William. It is for his self-esteem. He can prove himself that he can do it. It's so important for him. This is his chance."
For William, his skates are "very, very valuable because I love to skate. To me it's the best thing in the world."
