The Skate School: Leading the Way in Fox Valley Skating Instruction

We are all aware that 2020 has hit us with a unprecedented amount of insanity:  killer hornets, civil unrest and The Pandemic.  Despite this, many Fox Valley Families are trying to find the normal in the middle of this chaos.  One way families are helping their children cope with this ever changing year is by starting a new hobby.  As the months get colder, many are turning to Fox Valley Ice Arena’s Skate school to help their children learn to skate.

Every year new children come to The Skate School to learn to skate, but this year they are looking for more.  They are looking for human connections and interactions that are missing in the remote atmosphere that is permeating 2020.  Luckily, our coaches are wonderful at engaging their students and give them what they need. 

The Skate School has remodeled itself to the needs of a pandemic culture quickly and effectively by limiting class enrollment, clearly defining class space on the ice and keeping the arena sanitized.  The facility, located on kirk road in Geneva, has adapted by adding heightened cleaning protocols and hand sanitizer stations.  They require temperature checks for all who enter and allow everyone to keep distance from one another. 

With many of us working and schooling from home, we have seen more beginner students sign up for private lessons.  These 1 on 1 sessions not only enable the student to work on the skills they specifically need help with, but they also offer students a mentor.  A person to connect with outside their family and teacher.

As our students grow on the ice, their friendship grows off the ice.  it is natural that as students train together, they also form friendships and skater are no different.  During this pandemic, our students have supported one another and help each other up through good times and bad.  They are a community–one that the Skate School is proud to support. 

With restrictions in place across the country, many competitions have been canceled, leaving skaters disappointed to not show off their skills.  our Skate School directors stepped up and offered them time on the ice to show off their programs in a safe environment. 

2020 has offered many challenges, but The Skate School is not only meeting them, but exceeding them.  If you’d like to learn more about our programs, please visit www.theskateshcool.com. 

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Dance-Pairs Chicago 2018!!

 

It is that time of year again—Dance-Pairs Chicago competition is taking over the Fox Valley Ice Arena! Every August we welcome hundreds of ice skaters, their families, coaches and fans into our arena for their annual competition.  Join us as we trade our weekend hockey sticks and pucks for ballroom music and beautiful dance

From August 10-12 skaters from all over the country will fill our arena and compete at the Novice, Junior or Senior levels of Ice dancing. 

 

                                      

We are pleased to announce that FVIA has eight solo ice dancers and five pairs of ice dancers competing this weekend! 

FVIA Solo Competitors include:

Paige Denormandie

Emma Wang

Abby McGuire

Chloe Ryan

Ali Hanley

Julianna Romero

Krystina Haas

Cassandra Cowan

 

FVIA Pair Competitors include:

Layla Chinery-Karnes and Kiril Aksenov (Senior Pairs)

Givlia Foresti and Edoardo Caputo(Senior Pairs)

Laiken Lockley and Keenan Prochnow (Junior Pairs)

Isabelle Martins and Ryan Bedard (Junior Pairs)

Kiana Pan and Ilya Modrowski (Junior Pairs)

 

For those that do not know, ice dancing is a form of ice skating which takes much of its components from ballroom dancing.  The music must adhere to a specific dance style and skaters must dance to the beat of the music instead of the rhythm, as is common in other skating.   

Admission to the competition is free on Friday and $5 on Saturday and Sunday.

Competition times can be found here:  http://comp.entryeeze.com/FullSchedule.aspx

 

If you are looking for a relaxing way to spend the weekend, come out and support out skaters!!

Theatre on Ice!!!

 

Once again Fox Valley Ice Arena is opening it’s doors to an interesting skating experience:  The National Theatre on Ice Competition.

 

From June 26-June 30 we will host dozens of Theatre on Ice troops as they perform on our ice.  Tickets are available online or at the door.  Come out and visit this unique form of skating and perhaps get inspired to join Fox Valleys own Theater on ice Troop!

 

For those who don’t know, Theatre On Ice is a form of competitive figure skating.  it combines the grace of figure skating with the excitement of theater and dance.  Teams of skaters preform programs telling their unique story.  The programs are judged and awarded for presentation, costuming, artistry and musicality.

 

The Skate School Presents…

It is that time of year again! 

The 2018 Skate School Ice Show is coming to Fox Valley Ice Arena this weekend!

 

Over 75 of our most exuberant and talented skaters will take the ice this Saturday and Sunday and perform in The Skate School’s production of Once Upon a Blade.

The production features songs from Disney musicals both princess and beyond. 

 

This year Fox Valley Ice Arena will host 3 times for the production.

Saturday May 5^th at Noon

Saturday May 5^th at 6

pm

Sunday May 6^th at Noon

 

If you would like to purchase tickets please use the following link:

https://fvia.thundertix.com/events/128343/performances

$13 Bleachers

$15 Stadium

$170 Skybox (8 tickets)

Tickets are on sale now!   Come cheer on friends from skate school or come to enjoy the show for the talent. 

 

And if you can’t make it, check back here next week for photos and a recap of the production!

USA Disabled Hockey Festival

 

As many of you already know, Fox Valley Ice Arena will be hosting the 2018 USA Hockey Paralympic National Championships in early April.  We are honored to bring in these fantastic athletes to Chicagoland.

 

The tournament will be broken up into two weekends. 

April 5 – 8:        Blind/Visually Impaired, Deaf/Hard of Hearing, Special, Warrior/Standing Amputee
April 12 – 15:    Sled Hockey

 

We will not know the schedule for a few more weeks, but as you can see, the weekends are clearly divided into two categories: Sled Hockey and everything else. 

 

The following are descriptions of the hockey games you’ll see April 5-8^th.

 

Blind Hockey:

Typically, totally blind athletes play goalie, lower sighted athletes play defense and higher sighted play forwards.  The most noticeable modification for blind hockey is the puck, which is larger and slower than most and makes noise as it moves across the ice.

 

Deaf Hockey:

The game is played according to USA Hockey rules and instruction is based on the individual players ability to improve their skills in an environment that is receptive to their needs and demands. The ability to communicate with coaches and other players regardless of their method of communication is a huge focus. Whether a player utilizes sign language, lip reading, hearing aids, or cochlear implants, etc. interpreters are there to make sure they understand the instruction. Players receive instruction from a coaching staff with college, national and international experience.

 

Special:

The goal of special hockey is to give people with physical and developmental disabilities the chance to play the sport of ice hockey in an environment which is adapted to the level of ability. The athletes play upright and in most cases offsides, icing, penalties etc. are not part of gameplay. Special Hockey emphasizes players to have fun through teamwork, social interaction, and improving the quality of life through on and off ice activities.  

 

Standing/Amputee:

 Standing/Amputee Hockey has allowed a growing number of athletes with congenital or acquired amputations or other physical impairments to enjoy the great sport of hockey.  Players use prostheses to control a hockey stick or to skate, and these skills can be improved as with any other hockey skill.

 

Warrior Hockey:

USA Hockey’s Warrior Hockey Discipline is dedicated to injured and disabled US Military Veterans who have served our country and play the sport of ice hockey. As one of the Disabled Hockey Section’s newest disciplines, the Warrior Hockey Discipline is growing across the country.  While some of the participants played hockey prior to being injured, many try it for the first time for therapeutic reasons.  

 

For more information please go to:

https://cdn2.sportngin.com/attachments/document/0149/4841/2018DHFSchedule__Weekend1.pdf

 

Volunteers Needed

The Disabled Festival is looking for volunteers to assist in running the event. If interested in volunteering please contact Malisa Komalarajun, Disabled Hockey Festival Volunteer Coordinator, at malisak@gmail.com.

Rockne Brubaker II

Over the next few weeks we will be posting coach bios so their stories can be shared by our skating community.  For example—did you know some of our coaches performed professionally?  Did you know at least one of them competed at the Olympics?

 

Today, we are focusing in our very own Skate School Director: Rockne Brubaker II.

 

For Rockne Lee Brubaker II, figure skating gave him opportunities he never would have had otherwise.  He has been able to travel, represent his country in competition and is now influencing a new generation of skaters.

He started skating classes when he was 5 years old.  He started out pursuing hockey, but by the time he was 12 he was competing in both singles and pairs competitions. 

 

 

 

When he was 17 he switched to pairs skating full time and after a year of hard work he made earned a spot on Team USA.  Of that experience he says, “Being a member of Team USA allowed me to travel the world and see places that I wouldn’t have had the chance to explore.”  He stayed with Team USA from 2004-2014.

 

Being a man in the sport of figure skating gave Brubaker many unique opportunities that he might not have had in other sports. He went on to win 2 U.S. Junior Championships, became a Junior Grand Prix Final & World Junior Champion, he won 2 U.S. Senior Championships and multiple international ISU Grand Prix and ISU Championships Medals. He was also an Olympic Alternate.

 

In 2014, he retired from competitive skating and became the Skate School Director here at Fox Valley Ice Arena.   As he thinks about his time skating he hopes that parents and skaters realize that getting the correct instruction from the beginning makes progressing in the sport much easier.   He hopes is doing just that for the future generation of skaters.

All about Stefania Berton

Over the next few weeks we will be posting coach bios so their stories can be shared by our skating community.  For example—did you know some of our coaches performed professionally?  Did you know at least one of them competed at the Olympics?  Neither did I!

 

As the 2018 Olympics start continue to build momentum, we here at FVIA hope to introduce you to our skating staff and highlight the immense talent at your fingertips!

 

Starting off our staff is our very own Olympian, Stefania Berton!!!

 

Stefania Berton is The Skate School’s assistant director.  If you have taken classes here you have undoubtedly seen her dashing around the rink answering questions and helping students learn to skate on the ice.  Seeing her in that arena one might think that her passion was teaching, but you would be wrong.

 

Born in Milan, Italy, Berton started skating when she was four and a half years old.  A group of her friends were taking lessons and she wanted to join them.  Skating quickly became the focus of her life and by the time she was 5 she was competing.  But don’t think it was always smooth sailing.  She admits that during her first competition she forgot her entire routine and a coach had to come on the ice to help her though the performance.

 

Skating provided Berton with the drive to continue to better herself.  When performing there is always something to work on—a new jump to master or spin to perfect.  Skating gave her structure and allowed her start dreaming of success

 

Family is an important aspect to both Berton’s life and without her parent’s support and dedication to her dreams she would not have achieved her dreams.  Her first coach, naturally, became like a family member to her.  This coach pushed her to always better herself.  Berton says that it was those strict guidelines that gave her the lifelong discipline for work that she thrives on.

 

And the discipline worked!  Berton started competing as a single skater until she was 19, when she switched to pairs skating.  In her competition career Berton and her partner became 4 time Italian Champions, won bronze in the European Championship, became the skate Canada champ in 2013 and placed fourth in the 2014 Olympics.   That is a long way from forgetting your routine in the middle of a performance!

 

She has since retired from competing and she and her husband, Rockne Brubaker, run The Skate School here in Geneva.  She looks forward to helping other young skaters achieve their potential and fall in love with the ice as she did.  “There is nothing like gliding across the ice,” she says.  “It is like flying.”

 

Olympics 2018

 

 

The countdown begins!!!

 

The Winter Olympics are coming!!!

 

Who hasn’t gotten caught up in the excitement of the games?  For me the Winter Olympics are extra special.  I know where I was the first time I saw Kristi Yamaguchi skate and the first time I saw curling and tried to figure out the rules!

 

But every time I enjoy the Olympics, I find myself with a dozen burning questions about life behind the scenes.

 

We at Fox Valley are lucky enough to know a skater or two who have been to the Winter Olympics and may be able to answer your questions!  Drop us a message on Facebook or e-mail us at FoxValleyIceArenaStaff@gmail.com and we will post the answer sometime during the Olympic Festivities!

 

 

New Year, New You!

Happy 2018!!

 

The New Year is nearly a week and old and if you are like many people, those resolutions have dwindled from a long list of expectations to a few you hope to work toward completing.

 

We at Fox Valley Ice Arena continue to strive to help make all our customers the best athletes possible.  In a sense, in order for us to achieve our goal, we have to help you achieve yours!

 

Do you want to get in better shape?  The Fox Valley Fitness Center, located on the 2^nd floor of our building, offers a full gym, trainers and various classes to keep you motivated all year long.

Call 630-686-2270

 

Are you hoping to take up a new sport this year?  Perhaps skating?  The Skate School offers a wide array of classes for all age and ability levels!

www.Theskateschool.com

 

Already a skater and hoping to improve?  We have nearly a dozen coaches ready to help bring skaters to the next level!  Both in hockey and figure skating, we can help you hone your skills!

Call 630-262-0690 for more information

 

And, if your goal is simply to get out and have more fun, we can help with that as well!  We offer weekly Public Skate opportunities for you to get out on the ice with friends and enjoy yourself.  If hockey is more your game, check out our calendar for Stick and Puck and Rat Hockey opportunities!

 

We hope 2018 brings everyone great experiences and we hope to see you at the arena soon!

 

January 7th – January 14th

This week at

The Fox Valley Ice Arena

Sunday, January 7th

Public Skate

3:40-5:10 PM

Friday, January 12^th

Steel Game

7:05 PM

Saturday, January 13^th

Public Skate

5:30-7:00 PM

Sunday, January 14^th

Public Skate

3:40-5:10

Steel Game

3:05 PM