Aaron-Taylor (Tate) Austin's voice echoes around RIT's cavernous Ritter Arena as he instructs the Genesee Express Synchronized Skating team. The arena's stands are empty, save for a couple parents watching their daughters practice.

It's 9 p.m. on a recent Tuesday, and the Express has been at work for about an hour. Tonight the girls are clad in assorted practice dresses; they save their formal, matching blue-and-green sequined outfits for competitions and performances.

As practice progresses, the girls work through the steps of their four-minute performance piece. At this point, many training sessions, like this one, are conducted without music, with the skaters keeping time in their heads. Austin flits around the ice as the girls on the team move together in formation, performing the routine Austin began creating months ago. The skaters join arms or hold on to each other to form lines that splay out from the center, and move in unison like spokes in a wheel, then disperse and coalesce again in another free-flowing formation.

Mary Beth Vay stands on the side of the ice, watching her daughter, Brianna, skate with her teammates. Because two of Brianna's older sisters have also competed with the Express, Mary Beth has been watching the team practice, perform, and compete for a total of 13 years. She's become so connected to the team that she currently serves as one of its managers.

Part of Vay's job is to help publicize the Express, and synchronized skating in general. Unfortunately, she says, the sport isn't as well known as it should be. But, she adds, once people understand the sport, it's hard not to like it.

"It's a very fun sport to watch," Vay says as she watches the girls practice. "It has a lot of athleticism, artistry, and speed, but it's not a sport that gets a lot of press."

That's why the Express hits the ice whenever it can. Parents and other volunteers have created a professionally produced video that explains what synchro is and what the Express does, and the team frequently performs exhibitions between periods at RIT hockey games.

"We try to get out and skate whenever there's an opportunity, so people know what we're about," Vay says.

What the Express is about, team members say, is hard work, the pursuit of perfection, and, above all, camaraderie.

"When you win, you win together, and when you lose, you lose together," says 17-year-old Jordana Gilman, a junior at Brighton High School. "We're a family. We're each other's support system."

Adds Annie Edmundson, a 16-year-old junior at Pittsford Sutherland: "I like having other people on the ice with me. We compete as a team."

Synchronized skating is, quite simply, group figure skating, with 12 to 24 skaters performing as a unit, completing a routine set to music. Routines include a variety of precision maneuvers and formations, and teams are judged based on speed, synchronization, and the difficulty and accuracy of their routine. Says Express team member Lija Zurouskis: "It's like synchronized swimming on ice."

The sport was created in 1954 by Dr. Richard Porter, who coached a team called the Hockettes in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that skated during intermissions of University of Michigan hockey games.

At first called precision skating, the sport grew exponentially in the 1970s, with the first international competition taking place in 1976 between teams from the United States and Canada. The first World Synchronized Skating Championships was held in 2000.

In America, organized synchro falls under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Figure Skating Association, with hundreds of teams of all ages and ability levels spread out across the country. The U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships have also become a major event; this year's edition was held February 20-23 in Providence, Rhode Island, and was broadcast on Ice Network.

Dann Krueger, the chairman of USFS' synchronized skating committee, says the number of synchro teams in the United States has grown by about 25 percent over the last few years, with much of that increase coming from the creation of new collegiate programs. Krueger says college and university teams offer participants a chance to continue skating after high school in an atmosphere that fits their skill levels.

Krueger says that skaters of all ages, skill levels, and genders are attracted to synchro because of the group support it offers.

"It uses figure-skating skills, but skaters aren't required to compete individually," he says. "Some athletes work better in a team atmosphere. [Synchro] allows skaters to perform much better in team competition. Skaters thrive with that camaraderie."

American skaters aren't the only athletes drawn to synchro. Today, synchronized skating has become a global sport, with teams from the States, Canada, and the Scandinavian countries making up the sport's elite.

Synchro skaters, coaches, and supporters are now pushing for synchro to become an Olympic sport. In 2009, the sport will become a full sport at the World University Games, a development Krueger says is "a good first step toward getting in the Olympics."

Locally, the Genesee Express is part of the Genesee Figure Skating Club, with the Express program broken into three teams - beginner, pre-juvenile, and open junior - based on age and ability level.

All three Rochester teams participate in competitions throughout New York and across the Northeast, and have all brought home numerous medals. In fact, the Express' open junior team took part in the winter Empire State Games in Lake Placid last month, bringing home the silver medal.

All that success isn't easy. Most of the team members have been skating individually for many years, and everyone must pass basic skills tests before joining the Express.

Once skaters join the team, they begin a grueling, year-round training program. The Express' open junior team, for example, practices two hours every Tuesday night and two hours every Saturday afternoon, in addition to weight workouts and other off-ice training.

The team drills and works out throughout the summer, with formal practices beginning each September and the competitive season running from December through April.

"It's a big time commitment," says Austin, the Express coach. "You have to love it. But those people who do get involved do love it. Most of the skaters are passionate about the team. We're borderline obsessive."

That commitment applies to the team's coach as well. Austin competed nationally as an ice dancer before taking time off for college. However, about six years ago, he was approached by the Express' last coach, Jenny Lee, about taking over the team.

She eventually persuaded him to give it a try, and once he did, he realized how much he missed skating - and how much he enjoyed working with the girls on the team. He has since become dedicated to the program, a dedication that has paid off in numerous medals and other successes at competitions.

Perhaps Austin's biggest duty is creating the program the team performs each year. He says he begins the process about a year ahead of time, starting with the selection of the music for the program (selections range from the works of Sarah Brightman to Cirque du Soleil).

After skating to the piece himself, he begins developing the choreography in his head. He then meets with the skaters' parents to introduce the program and get their input.

Throughout the process, Austin attempts to tailor the routine and accompanying music to the skaters' personalities and abilities. By the time the team first gathers for practice in September, Austin has been working on the program for months.

It then takes weeks, even months, for the team to get used to the new routine and practice it to precision before it's unveiled at a competition. "Honestly," Austin says, "I'm never done with the program. I'm always making changes."

The 2007-08 season has been a challenging one, at least at first. Austin says the Express lost about seven or eight seniors to graduation after last season, but the current team has been able to overcome their departure.

"It's a real exciting year for us," he says. "We've been focusing on our skills, and we've had a pretty good season considering that we have so many young skaters.

"Everybody's really having a great time," he adds. "It's really important to have a sense of team, and it's really strong this year. Everyone really likes each other."

The members of the team agree. Express team member Jordana Gilman says the desire to succeed brings team members together.

"We're always pushing ourselves to be more innovative, to be more in tune with each other's thinking," she says. "When we face those challenges, we face them together."

That togetherness is enriched by the diversity of backgrounds represented on the team. Express members are drawn from across the Rochester area, and each of them brings their own aptitudes and personalities.

"You can bond with the girls so quickly over something everybody enjoys," says team member Lija Zurouskis, a student at School of the Arts. "A lot of these girls are involved in a lot of different activities, and they bring so many different things to these teams."

Because so many different girls are able to come together and bond for a common goal, the hard work they put into it pays off when the team hits the ice at a competition.

"When you get off the ice, you feel that athlete's high, and you know everything came together and fell into place in that perfect skate," Gilman says. "It makes it all worth it."