Shannon Rakovsky

I have coached figure skating and hockey basics for over 12 years throughout many rinks in Arizona (Ice Den Scottsdale & Chandler, AZ Ice Arcadia and Gilbert, Oceanside Ice Arena and now Mountain America Community Iceplex), Great Park Ice in Irvine, California, Lahden Taitoluistelijat in Lahti, Finland and TSV 1846 Nurnberg, Germany. I have worked with skaters from the age of 2.5 to 65 years old with levels varying from first time beginners to elite international skaters in Finland. I am a member of the Professional Skaters Association and have a Senior Group Rating. I specialize in skating skills, edges, choreography, synchronized skating, moves in the field, show tricks, power skating and hockey skating skills. I partnered with US Figure Skating to create FitSkate, a fun and effective workout program on the ice for skaters of all ages and abilities. Most recently, I worked at Great Park Ice in Irvine, California where I was Off-Ice lead and lead many group classes and camps including Bodyworks, Stretch & Strength, Intro to Off Ice Training and various on-ice edge, show skating classes and synchronized skating classes.

My highest achievements during my competitive career were my Senior Moves in the Field, Junior level Free Skate, and Bronze Ice Dance. I was a two-time Southwest Pacific Regional competitor and two-time National Showcase competitor and medalist in 2007. I started my professional show skating career in November 2015 working for Chill Entertainment with numerous performances including a holiday show at The Herberger Theatre in Phoenix, AZ, Christmas tree lighting ceremonies & a holiday party for BNSF Railroad company in Arlington, Texas. I then went on to tour with Holiday On Ice in Europe for three seasons from 2016-2019. I worked on both HOI Believe & HOI Atlantis touring through Germany, France, Austria, England and the Netherlands.

Typically, I start out all lessons with a conversation regarding the skater's background with skating and their goals for the future. For a beginner, I start them off the ice with the understanding of where to keep their bodyweight and posture while on the ice and how to fall down and stand up. I like to review the basics and break down the technique before advancing. If skaters are already advanced, we will review what they already know and work through more difficult edges and combinations to get them moving and working on more challenging movements across the ice. I love coming up with new edge sequences incorporating the whole body.