Athlete of the Week: Baye Thomas pulls double duty on ice

PELHAM, Ala. ( WIAT ) — The glitz, glamour and grace of competitive figure skating can leave you mesmerized by its difficult, yet elegant moves on the ice.

For 10-year-old Baye Thomas, figure skating has become a welcome outlet. But more importantly, it prepared her for what’s become her “other” favorite sport.

“In figure skating, it’s really most of the time just you out there, and you have to do all these competitions,” Thomas said. “You get medals. On hockey, you get to have a whole team. You get to listen to music. It’s really fun.”

Hockey is where she finds her true happiness, competing with the guys for a team sponsored by the Birmingham Bulls.

As one of the few girls playing at the Pelham Civic Complex, Bayle is making her mark as the team’s goalie.

“She’s the only girl on her team.” said Susie Gray, director of skating at the Pelham Skate School. “We only have a handful of girls. I would say less than a dozen that play hockey right now.”

Baye has now mastered going back and forth between the two sports and makes it look pretty easy.

“It’s really not as hard as you think,” said Brooklynn Bachman, Baye’s figure skating coach. “I feel like once you strap on the skates, you take on that persona. It’s a great way to express yourself playing both.”

For anyone looking to dabble in both figure skating and hockey, Baye is serving up some sound advice.

“Always have fun, and no matter how they treat you, give it your best shot,” Baye said.

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