Staff Coaches

	Peter Oppegard Peter is a National, World, and Olympic-level coach. He was named “Choreographer of the Year” and “Coach of the Year” by the Professional Skaters Association and US Figure Skating. Peter has coached his skaters to 10 national singles and pairs titles. He is a three time United States Pairs Champion, and 1988 Olympic Bronze Medalist. In 2004, Peter was inducted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame. He specializes in singles, pairs, and choreography.
	Alex Chang Alex has eight years of National Competition experience at the Novice, Junior, and Senior levels. He has competed in both the World Championships and the World Junior Championships. Along the way, he earned titles in Regional and Sectional Championships in Novice, Junior, and Senior Men’s events and completed the Gold Tests in Figures and Freestyle. Alex has coached national and internationally ranked skaters. He loves to choreograph and to teach jumps, spins, and moves in the field. He is also an IJS Technical Specialist. He received his B.A. degree from Harvard University.
	Derrick Delmore Derrick has been coaching for 11 years and has worked with national and international competitors. He is a former National Collegiate, Olympic Festival, and World Junior Champion. He has competed at 18 consecutive National Championships and has been a member of the U.S. International Team for 14 straight years. He also holds a B.A. degree in Psychology and Communication from Stanford University. Derrick enjoys coaching freestyle, moves in the field, and choreography for all levels.
	Amanda Falkowski Although having begun her skating career in singles, Amanda’s true passion and expertise is synchronized skating. As a national and international competitor Amanda was captain of the California Gold Synchronized Skating Team. As captain, she led the team to back-to-back National medals and their first Team USA assignment. Just as in her competitive career, Amanda has earned national and international success as a synchronized skating coach, leading the team to Sectional, U.S. National, and International medals. She has studied ice dancing and studio dance extensively. Her specialties include synchronized skating, Moves in the Field, Basic Skills, and power skating. She earned her B.A. in Communications from Concordia University in 2008.
	Marina Guterres
	Kristin Justiniano Kristin has 12 years experience in Figure Skating. She is a member of the Ice Skating Institute and was a freestyle competitor. She was a U.S. Figure Skating Novice Ladies competitor well as an Intermediate Pairs competitor. In addition, she has 8 years experience in ballet and was on various competitive dance teams. Kristin enjoys working with students of all ages and levels, specializing in the basic skills and freeskating programs, including jumps and spins.
	Chelsea Kanallakan
	Peter Kongkasem Peter is an international medalist, World Championship competitor, and two-time National Champion of Thailand. He has also competed in nine U.S. Championships, earning two medals in men’s singles and ice dance. As a professional, he has toured around the world in shows including Ice Capades and Legends on Ice. Peter has coached skaters to the national level and holds a Certified Moves in the Field rating with the Professional Skaters Association. He specializes in moves in the field, jump technique, and dance — for beginners through advanced skaters.
	Themi Leftheris Themi was the 2007 US National Pairs Bronze Medalist. He is a two-time National Medalist and an international team member. He has 6 years of teaching experience and has long been involved in the Special Olympics program. Themi specializes in pairs, freestyle, and moves in the field.
	Mingzhu Li “Coach Li” is a National, World, and Olympic coach. She coached Chinese champion Lu Chen to a gold medal at the 1995 World Championships and to two Olympic bronze medals. She teaches all competitive levels from beginner to advanced, specializing in jump technique and freestyle.
	Igor Matsipura Igor is a two-time Slovakian National Champion, and four-time World and European competitor. He is also an Olympic Team member. Igor has 20 years of figure skating experience. He specializes in all areas of freestyle skating including jump and spin technique and off-ice jump training.
	Jere Michael Jere is a ten-time U.S. National competitor, international medalist, World Junior Bronze medalist, and a former U.S. Junior National Champion. He has over 20 years of coaching experience and is a member of the Professional Skaters Association. Jere specializes in choreography and advanced jump and spin technique.
	Annie Middleton
	Naomi Nari Nam Naomi was the 1999 U.S. National Silver Medalist in ladies’ singles and was the 2007 Pairs Bronze Medalist. She has completed her gold tests in pairs, free skating, and moves in the field. With 6 years of teaching experience, Naomi teaches all levels from beginner to advanced.
	Karen Kwan-Oppegard Karen is a U.S. National competitor, an international medalist, and a Pacific Coast and Eastern Champion with over 20 years of skating experience. She is a member of the Professional Skaters Association and US Figure Skating. Karen specializes in choreography, presentation, advanced jump technique, and spins.
	Candace Peecher
	Sean Rabbitt
	Justin Schumann
	La Rhonda Scott La Rhonda has been coaching for 10 years. She is a member of US Figure Skating, the Ice Skating Institute, and the Professional Skaters Association with a Registered Freestyle rating. Through USFS, she is a technical specialist. She has considerable expertise in all aspects of a skater’s training regimen, but considers jump technique her specialty. Education is La Rhonda’s passion. In addition to coaching figure skating, she holds a Master’s Degree in Biological Education, teaches high school biology, and offers tutorial assistance for figure skaters.
	Caroline Shafer Caroline has 30 years of figure skating experience. She has silver medals in Freestyle and Free Dance, and a gold in Dance. She trained at the Olympic Training Center and medaled four times at the Pacific Coast Sectionals. She is a member of the Professional Skaters Association and holds a Registered Freestyle rating. Caroline has extensive experience developing young talent through the Regional level. She specializes in freestyle, choreography, moves in the field, and off-ice training.
	Junichi Takemura Junichi Takemura trained at Shin-Yokohama Ice Arena in Japan. Junichi is a 7 times Japanese Senior Men’s National Competitor. Junichi competed winning 1st place at Koktai National Championships in Japan. After graduating university he went on to tour the world as a professional Principle Performer for Holiday on Ice and Disney on Ice. Junichi specializes in all areas of developing competitive skaters.
	Kelly Everett-Takemura Kelly is a double gold medalist in both Ladies Freestyle and Moves in the Field. Kelly has over 7 years of professional experience touring with Bietak Productions, Holiday on Ice, and Disney on Ice. She graduated from Penn State University with a Communications degree. She is also a certified Personal Trainer, Yoga teacher, Nutritionist, and Weight Management specialist. Kelly specializes in training skaters both on and off the ice.
	Tippy Yu Tippy is a U.S. National competitor. She has placed in the top four in the Southwest Regional and Pacific Coast Sectional Championships. She specializes in beginning freestyle and the U.S. Figure Skating Basic Skills Program.
	Jean Yun Jean Yun has over 30 years of teaching experience. She is a Master Rated PSA instructor and has taught World, Olympic, and International competitors, She has coached skaters through all levels of the USFS and ISI programs. Jean was an Olympic competitor, two-time World Team member, a double U.S. Gold Medalist, and a double Korean Gold Medalist. Jean starred in Ice Capades, (East, West, and Continental Co.), guest starred in Nutcracker on Ice with Dorothy Hamill, and was a principal performer in John Curry’s Ice Ballet. She was also a three-time principal performer in Majesty on Ice with Robin Cousins and a special guest star of the Skatefest Champions on Ice tour with Dorothy Hamill.