Jerome Scott has fond memories of gliding along the ice in front of a cheering crowd in his first Silver Skates race about 15 years ago.

Scott, 57, didn’t come out on top, but the experience stayed with him, and he’s attended the event nearly every year since, turning it into a family affair. His 11-year-old daughter, Tirzah, has skated in the competition along with him for the last four years.

“I like just racing around and being able to skate,” Tirzah said. “I also like winning.”

Tuesday night, Tirzah and her father joined a handful of other skaters at the rink at Midway Plaisance Park as the Chicago Park District kicked off this year’s Silver Skates competition. The free event has been held in Chicago for more than 100 years and is part of the city’s rich speedskating history.

The park district will hold five other Silver Skates events this month across the city. Youth skaters, ages 6 to 17, who qualify from the neighborhood races will be invited to compete at the citywide competition June 21 at McFetridge Sports Center. Adults can race in June without having to qualify in the local races.

The crowd at the park Tuesday was small, but they still cheered with enthusiasm as skaters completed laps around the rink. Scott said crowds used to be bigger and even families with no relatives in the competition would show up to watch.

“The brackets were tighter, and just to see the kids on the ice is really fun,” Scott said, adding that COVID “might have taken a bite” out of the crowds in recent years.

In its heyday the Silver Skates competition attracted thousands of spectators, back when Chicago was the center of the speedskating world.

The competition was created by the Chicago Tribune in 1917 and was the most important speedskating event in the United States. Up to 60,000 fans showed up to watch the races during its peak in the 1920s and ’30s, according to the Chicago Historical Society. The city took over sponsorship of the event in the 1970s.

Competitive speedskating began to take hold in the city in the 1890s, especially among Norwegian immigrants in Humboldt Park, who formed the Northwest Skating Club in 1890, according to the historical society.

The sport spread into the schools, and by the 1920s high schools, the Catholic Youth Organization and the Chicago Park District were running formal competitions. 

More than 600 outdoor rinks popped up around the city during the winter by 1923, which led to the development of many home-grown champion skaters. Silver Skates competitors like Shani Davis went on to skate in the Olympics.

In 2006, Davis, who grew up on the South Side, won a gold medal in the men’s 1,000-meter track speedskating event at the Winter Games in Turin, Italy. He was the first Black athlete to win an individual gold in Winter Olympics history.

The competition Tuesday at Midway Plaisance wasn’t as fierce as an Olympic heat, but Gabriel Brown, 11, still enjoyed getting to skate against other kids his age.

“I like competing and trying to win the medals,” said Gabriel, who got into skating when someone recommended it to him. He’s added it to a long list of other sports he enjoys.

Gabriel’s mom, Shannon Callahan, said they have attended the Silver Skates event every year since he was about 4 or 5 years old. “It’s a wonderful free event and generally generates a lot of community spirit,” she said. “It’s easy fun.”