Recognition in figure skating comes in many forms. Some of it is measured in medals and placements. Some of it comes from the skating community itself, when your story is included in a collection that brings together skaters from around the world. Coach Laura Lipetsky is featured in Figure Skaters’ Favorites, an international collection where her biography appears alongside the names of Olympic and World champions.
About the Collection
Figure Skaters’ Favorites was created in 2009 by Michelle Bingham Capron, then president of the Glens Falls Figure Skating Club in New York. It began as a fundraising project for the club, but it quickly grew far beyond it: the collection features roughly 270 skaters from many countries and several generations of the sport.
Contributors include Scott Hamilton, Kurt Browning, Meryl Davis, Oksana Baiul and many other well-known names. Alongside the stars, the collection includes national-level competitors, choreographers, judges and coaches, the people who keep figure skating alive from one generation to the next. Its creator set out to preserve the history of the sport through the stories of those who shaped it. U.S. Figure Skating has written about the project and its place in the skating community.
In the Company of Legends
The page that features Laura’s biography also includes:
Scott Hamilton, 1984 Olympic champion and one of the most recognized figures in the history of American figure skating.
Evan Lysacek, 2009 World champion and 2010 Olympic champion.
Oksana Grishuk, two-time Olympic champion in ice dance.
Carolina Kostner, European champion and World medalist.
A place in this company is reserved for skaters whose careers have become part of the larger story of the sport.
What the Collection Says About Laura
The collection describes Laura as a three-time competitor at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships who was ranked in the top ten; a U.S. Figure Skating Gold Medalist; a skater who trained with several World and Olympic coaches; a performer in numerous ice shows; and today, a coach and an ISI judge.
Behind each of these lines are years of work. Here is what they mean.
Three U.S. Championships and a Top-Ten Ranking
The U.S. Figure Skating Championships are the most important event of the season in American skating. Getting there is not easy: skaters advance through qualifying competitions, and only the strongest move on at each stage. Reaching the national championships once is a serious accomplishment. Doing it three times means performing at a consistently high level over several seasons. A top-ten ranking in the country shows that Laura competed among the elite of American figure skating.
For her students, this matters for a simple reason. A coach who has been through the qualifying process herself understands it from the inside: how to plan training across a season, how to perform under pressure, and how to regroup after a difficult competition.
U.S. Figure Skating Gold Medalist
American figure skating uses a testing system that skaters progress through level by level. A Gold Medal means passing tests at the highest level of that system. Only a small share of skaters ever reach it, and the standards for technique, clean execution and skating quality are the most demanding in the structure.
A coach who has passed tests at this level knows exactly what judges look for at every step, and can guide a student from their very first test all the way to the most advanced ones.
Training With World-Class Coaches
Laura trained with several World and Olympic coaches. That kind of education cannot be found in a textbook: the method behind each element, the approach to structuring training, and the attention to the small details that separate good skating from exceptional skating. Today, Laura passes that experience on to her own students.
Ice Shows
In addition to competing, Laura performed in numerous ice shows. Show skating calls for a different set of skills: artistry, the ability to hold an audience, and expression in every movement. These same qualities make a program memorable in competition as well, since the program component scores depend heavily on them. Laura’s students work not only on jumps and spins, but also on how they present themselves on the ice.
A Judge’s Perspective
Laura is an ISI (Ice Sports Industry) judge. ISI runs skating programs and competitions for skaters across the country. Judging experience gives a coach a rare advantage: the ability to see a program through the eyes of the people scoring it. Laura knows what costs skaters points, what officials notice first, and how to prepare a student so that their strengths are clearly visible.
What to Look for When Choosing a Figure Skating Coach
For parents, choosing a coach is one of the most important decisions they will make. Here is what to consider:
Competitive experience. A coach who has competed at a high level understands the pressure of competition and knows how to prepare for it.
Test level. The highest tests a coach has passed show how deeply they understand the technical requirements at every level.
Knowledge of judging. Understanding how programs are scored helps build programs that earn the marks they deserve.
Performance experience. Artistry and presentation on the ice should never be underestimated.
Background. It matters who the coach trained with and what approach they pass on to their students.
Laura’s experience covers every one of these points.
Where Laura Coaches
Today, Laura works with skaters of all ages and levels across the Bay Area, at Oakland Ice Center, Sharks Ice at Fremont and Sharks Ice at San Jose.
Being featured in Figure Skaters’ Favorites is a reminder that behind every lesson Laura teaches is a career built at the highest level of American figure skating.
Book a lesson or get in touch with Laura
