Shannon Rakovsky

I have coached figure skating, power skating and hockey skating skills for over 12 years throughout many rinks in Arizona, California, Finland & 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 coached pre-hockey 1-3 and the hockey initiation program for many years at Ice Den Scottsdale, under the direction of Scott Gruber. I have worked with the Arizona Kachinas organization for power skating as well as Junior Pelicans teams in Lahti, Finland. I am a member of the Professional Skaters Association and have a Senior Group Rating. I specialize in skating skills and power skating. I partnered with US Figure Skating to create FitSkate, a fun and effective workout program on the ice for figure skaters and hockey players 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 other skating specific trainings.

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 local shows and other shows in California & 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 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 fine tune. Then we will work through more difficult skating skills and combinations. Session plans vary tremendously on the skater's ability and goals, so I like to customize as per the skater and head coach's requests.