Group Skating - Meet the Pros
Christi Jones is returning for her 12th year at the Winter Club and 9th year as Head Pro. Along with coaching several levels of Power Skating, she also serves as the NCWC Mite Development Director. Over the course of her competitive amateur career, Christi trained in St. Louis MO, Dallas TX, Madison WI, Denver CO, and Colorado Springs at the Broadmoor. As a coach, she has worked with a range of skaters from beginners to National and International competitors. She was the Skating Director at the Ice Zone (practice home of the St. Louis Blues) in its inaugural season, and helped to develop the figure skating program at the acclaimed Shattuck-St. Mary’s School in Faribault, Minnesota. Before coming to the Winter Club, Christi helped launched the Skating school at Sono Ice House. She is a former Strength and Conditioning coach, Metabolic Typing Advisor, and Holistic Lifestyle coach. She is a USFS Gold Medalist in Figures, Freestyle, and Moves in the Field, and a Level 3 Hockey coach. Outside of teaching, Christi enjoys spending time with her husband and three children. She is a graduate of Principia College with a BA in Fine Arts.
The Winter Club has been a home skating club to Barbara for over 30 years. She is a four time USFSA Gold Medalist in Figures, Freestyle, Ice Dancing, and Moves in the Field. Along with teaching figure skating, Barbara has also worked with multiple levels of hockey players, training them in the biomechanics of strong skating. Barbara previously worked at the Coliseum Skating Club in Voorhees, NJ (home training facility of the Philadelphia Flyers) from 1985-87 where she was the Head Pro of Figure Skating. She studied Art and Art History at Villanova University, where she met her husband, and together they had four children. Recently she enjoys spending time with her grand baby. Barbara is grateful to be a part of the NCWC family, and looks forward to the coming winter season!
Laura has been coaching at the New Canaan Winter Club for over 25 years. She was a competitor from the Smithfield Figure Skating Club in Smithfield, RI where she was coached by Lori Castelli and the late Diane Brown. She later joined Walt Disney’s Snow White on Ice.
With the rise of designer dresses appearing on elite skaters, Laura co-authored a story on competitive skating attire for American Skating World Magazine in 1998. In 1997, she choreographed the finale of Champions on Ice featuring Olympic Gold Medalist, Oksana Baiul. In the spring of 2015, she was interviewed and appeared on Montreal’s sports network for a segment that highlighted former student, Max Pacioretty. The story was timed for the Montreal Canadien’s advancement into 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Laura is a graduate from Syracuse University where she earned a BA in English and minor in creative writing. She continues to work part time in public relations and currently lives with her husband and daughter in Branford, CT.
Kari is a double gold medalist in figures and freestyle and trained with Olympic and World coaches Peter Burrows and MaryLynn Gelderman. Kari taught skating for two years at Sport-o-rama in Monsey, New York and four years at St. Lawrence University. She was also the Power Skating coach for her High School hockey team.
Kari received an undergraduate degree from St. Lawrence University and an MBA in Finance from New York University. After spending 14 years working on Wall Street, Kari now enjoys coaching classes at the Winter Club and spending time with her husband and 3 children.
Barret is a third generation professional after her mother and grandmother. She is a USFS Gold Medalist in both Figures and Freestyle. Barret has been teaching at NCWC for over 20 years. Prior to that, she taught at Beaver Dam in Locust Valley, NY. She works with all levels and ages. Her focus is to give her students the proper skating fundamentals that will assist them in whichever skating discipline they choose. Barret also teaches skating for the New Canaan Country School. Barret is a graduate of Boston College and currently lives in Darien with her husband, daughter, and son.
Elizabeth joined the Winter Club coaching staff in 2021 with over 30 years of coaching experience. As an amateur skater, she competed at both the New England Regional and North Atlantic Regional Championships representing the Greenwich Skating Club and Rye Figure Skating Club Inc., respectively. She trained with Peter Burrows and then Hans Gerschwiler. She also trained with her mother, Nancy Madden Leamy, longtime Director of the Hamill Rink/Greenwich Skating School and Frances Gold Lind. Elizabeth is a USFS delegate and PSA-rated coach.
She currently works will all levels of skaters from learning to skate, developing synchro skaters, and aspiring figure skaters. Elizabeth has also worked as a media correspondent and reporter for USFS, the PSA, iceskatinginternationalonline.com and IceNetwork.com since 1995 and has covered the U.S. Championships, World Championships, and Skate America through the current season. She has served on the editorial staff of Conde Nast's Glamour and Hanson Publications' Direct business magazines and has a BA from Rosemont College where she majored in English Literature. Elizabeth resides in Cos Cob, CT.
