Faculty Bios   Audrey K. Weisiger 2-Time US Olympic Team Coach Audrey Weisiger was the 1999 PSA and USFSA Coach of the Year. She has her PSA World Coach Ranking and is Master Rated in Figures and Freestyle. She has been asked to be the presenter at several PSA conferences, including the Keynote Speaker for the PSA Conferences in 2000 and 2003; and Canadian Coaches Conferences in 2005 and 2006. Weisiger has held positions on the Board of Directors of the PSA and various USFSA and USOC committees. A member of the USOC Developing Young Champions committee, she has organized and directed numerous Grassroots to Champions seminars. In 1999, the USFSA and the PSA recognized Weisiger as Coach of the Year, the highest award in our industry. Some of her former students include Michael Weiss (3 time U.S. Men's Champion, 2 time U.S. Olympic Team, 2 time World Bronze Medalist), Timothy Goebel (2002 Olympic Bronze Medalist), Lisa Kwon (National Novice and Intermediate Ladies Champion), and Christine Lee (World competitor). She is currently coaching Senior Men's competitor Tommy Steenberg (Estonia Junior Grand Prix Gold Medalist) and Anthony Dang (North American Challenge competitor). Audrey has coached at the Fairfax Ice Arena in Virginia since 1973. Before that, she herself was a USFSA Gold Medalist in Figures and Freestyle and a U.S. National Bronze Medalist at the Novice and Junior Levels. Sheila Thelen Ms. Thelen is the Executive Director of Grassroots to Champions. She holds a Professional Skaters Assocation Master Rating, and from 1998-2008 was the Skating Director at the St. Croix Valley Recreation Center located in Stillwater, Minnesota. Ms. Thelen is the Designer and President of Champion Cords (Endorsed by the Professional Skaters Association International) for teaching skaters: alignment, position, muscle memory, awareness and technique. Nick Perna Nick Perna is a PSA Master-rated coach who is a jumping pole expert. Perna is a former pairs skater who has carved out a niche in the sport with his unique training device — which has earned him the moniker, “The Fishing Pole Guy” — with two-time men’s national champion Michael Weiss and Olympic Champion Sarah Hughes among the users of his harness. "Kids that wear it say they feel like a fish, a dog or a puppet,” Perna said. “I’ve been doing it for 15 years. I used to grab the backs of little kids’ sweatshirts and pull it over their heads when they’d do their axels — holding them by the scruff of their necks, so to speak. But with that, they couldn’t really skate into jumps.” Perna stumbled onto an ad in a skating magazine for the Pro Motion Hand-Held Harness invented by a Canadian named Jan Glerup. “I was his first customer,” Perna said. “It fit exactly what I was trying to do.” Nick was a World Coach at the 2001 World Championships with Christine Lee. Caroline Silby, PhD. Caroline Silby, Ph.D., M.Ed holds a Doctorate and Master Degree of Sports Psychology from the University of Virginia. Her specialty is performance enhancement with adolescent athletes and she's worked with Olympic Champions in gymnastics and figure skating. As an elite athlete, Dr. Silby was a member of the National Figure Skating Team. She later served on the U.S. Figure Skating Association Board of Directors and Athlete Advisory Council. Dr. Silby was appointed to the US Olympic Committee Athlete Advisory Council, Collegiate Sports Council and Finance Committee. Currently, she assists the Women's Sports Foundation as a member of their Advisory Council and is a faculty member of both the USA Gymnastics and the US Figure Skating Association training camps. Dr. Silby's first book titled Games Girls Play is published by St. Martin's Press. She resides in Washington, D.C. and has an active national practice. Chris Conte Chris Conte is a PSA rated coach and choreographer based in Laurel, MD. He will demonstrate/speak on how Dartfish technology can speed the learning process. Conte is choreographer to International & National level skaters in Pairs & Freestyle, and has worked with skaters including Tim Goebel, Sasha Cohen and Emily Hughes. He was a Principal Skater with Ice Capades and Disney on Ice, and also has performed with professional ensemble companies including The Next Ice Age and Ice Theatre of New York. Conte also gave a technology presentation at the 2001 PSA World Conference on Creative Music Editing, and is a Certified Instructor of Therapeutic Pilates. Pasquale Camerlengo World and Olympic coach and choregrapher, World and Olympic competitor, available for all levels of instruction including on and off-ice training, choreography and style, and technical instruction. Camerlengo also does choreography for synchronized skating. Ross Lansel Ross Lansel is an International coach and choreographer, specializing in jump technique both on and off-ice. He is available for all levels of instruction, including on and off-ice training, Pro-Motion harness lessons, program choreography and Dartfish video analysis. He is the coach of 2005 Estonia Champion Tommy Steenberg. Ernest Porthouse CPed (C), CPed tech (C), Dipl A.A. As a Certified Canadian Pedorthist, Ernie has extensive knowledge regarding the biomechanics of the lower extremity. This clinical designation allows him to assess alignment/range of motion issues, and their effect on figure skating performance. He consults regularly with many skate & blade manufacturers, and is considered a leading expert on the interface of body and skate. Ernie was chosen as the Chair of skate technical services for the U.S. National Championships '06 in St. Louis. Darin Hosier Mr. Hosier holds a Professional Skaters Assocation Certified Rating. He is a USFSA Gold Medalist in Figures and Freestyle, and a USFSA National Medalist. Hosier was a Seattle Ice Theater Ensemble Member, and trained for ten years with Olympic Coach Audrey Weisiger, Master Rated Coach Kenneth Class, and U.S. World Competitor Juli McKinstry. Kat Arbor Kat Arbour, MS, MPT, CSCS, NASM-PES is a licensed physical therapist, exercise physiologist, certified personal trainer, and owner/operator of Ice Dynamics (www.icedynamics.net). Arbour won the 2006 "Doc" Counsilman Award for innovative sports science awarded by the US Olympic Committee. She authored the Ice Dynamics training manual, Strength Conditioning and Injury Prevention Guide. Arbour works one-on-one with many nationally and internationally ranked top level competitors specifically doing off-ice conditioning (University of Delaware Training Center). She is available for group seminars or private fitness assessments for individualized training programs. Arbour passed senior tests in Figures, Freestyle and Dance and holds PSA Senior Ratings in Moves and Freestyle and a Master Rating in Sports Medicine. She is a current member of the USFS Sports Medicine Committee and works with the Team USA Training Camps. She contributes frequently to SKATING Magazine’s Fitness column. Arbour is currently working on her PhD in Biomechanics/Movement Science at the University of Delaware. Shantell Autry Shantell Autry is a G2C technical coach and expert choreographer for over 10 years. Shantell is a double gold medallist and holds a PSA rating in Freeskating. She trained at the Broadmoor World Arena for 13 years under Carlo & Christa Fassi, Kathy Casey, Richard Callahan, Christy Krall and Diane Miller. As assistant to the Director, Shantell enjoyed doing choreography for Broadmoor Skating Club convention shows and Christmas Pops on Ice. She has also choreographed shows performed at the Rockefeller Center as well as theatrical productions at the Duke Ellington School of the Performing Arts and the British Embassy in Washington D.C. Spending 7 years in Fairfax, VA and most recently 10 years in Colorado Springs at the World Arena, Shantell has coached all levels from beginner through senior including regional, sectional and National competitors. She believes in helping each student reach their fullest potential as athletes and more importantly as human beings by incorporating life skills into daily training with an organized training plan, mental training, goal setting and a strong work ethic. Trevor Laak Trevor Laak coaches in Madison, WI and specializes in on-ice jump technique. He works almost exclusively as a consultant to other skating coaches by providing pole harness, video analysis, and regular lesson services to them and their skaters. His own research focuses on quantifying minimum athletic requirements for figure skaters. Laak has a graduate research degree from the prestigious University of Wisconsin in Madison. He holds 6 patents and he has provided technical consulting for several Fortune 500 companies. Matthew Blair Davis Matthew Blair Davis, MS, CSCS, RKC, USAW, HFI, NASM-PES/CES/CPT is the President of Functional Revolution Fitness, Inc. www.FunctionalRevolution.com and specializes in Off-Ice Training for Strength and Power, Corrective Exercise, and Hard-Style Kettlebell Training in the Washington DC metro area. Matt has a BS and MS from Florida State University and he is an IDEA Master Level Trainer, the highest distinction in the fitness industry. Matt is an NSCA Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist, USA Weightlifting Federation Sport Performance Coach, NASM Performance Enhancement Specialist, NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist, NASM Certified Personal Trainer, and ACSM Health/Fitness Instructor. He has participated in the grueling 3-day Russian Kettlebell Challenge, where he was trained by the great Russian Instructor, Pavel Tsatsouline. Matt is a subject-matter expert/author for www.PTonthenet.com, where some of the greatest fitness professionals in the world share their works. Matt has been an award-winning Fitness Director for Sport & Health Clubs (2002) and Regional Director of Personal Training for Gold's Gym in Northern Virginia (2003-2005). He has been a special guest trainer for the Washington Post On-line and authored the "Train Reaction" fitness Q&A column for the Washington Post Express from April 2006-June 2007. Matt is the off-ice strength coach of senior men, Parker Pennington and Tommy Steenberg. You may E-mail him at Matt@FunctionalRevolution.com or call him at 703-785-8414. Kori Ade Kori merges her background in skeletal biology and biomechanics with her passion for performance and dance to develop athletes with the "complete package". She holds a B.S. from Loyola University Chicago in Skeletal Biology, and as a Hip Hop Dancer/Choreographer, has worked for music industry and corporate clients including McDonalds, Sears, and Seventeen Magazine. Kori holds PSA ratings in Moves in the Field and Freestyle, is a AFFA and F.A.S.T. Certified Off-ice Trainer, and is a National and International Coach and Choreographer. She is on the coaching staff at Ice Castle International Training Center in Lake Arrowhead, CA. and is the founder of CitySkate Outreach which works with kids in need and the CitySkate Junior Staff Program designed to transition skaters into coaches. Kori is creator of TAPS (Total Athlete Performance Seminars) aimed at the development of the "whole" athlete, and host of "Inside the Skating Circle" at www.skatingcircle.com   Grassroots to Champions | www.g2c.us | Figure Skating Seminars | coach6605@cox.net | 703.338.9598 What are G2C Seminars? | Calendar of Seminars | Faculty Bios | Coaches Mentoring Service Seminar Fees | Sponsor Links | Testimonials | Retail Store | G2C in the News Site design by Taylor Interactive