FIGURE SKATING IN HARLEM EXPANDS TO DETROIT
Beyond Sport Award Winner, Figure Skating in Harlem, which helps girls transform their lives and grow in confidence, leadership and academic achievement is launching in Detroit, the first city selected in the program's plan for national expansion.
Figure Skating in Detroit, will serve 300 Detroit girls ages 6-15 in its inaugural year. The after-school program will use the Campus Martius ice rink, the Jack Adams Arena in northwest Detroit, the Detroit Skating Club in Bloomfield Township and, possibly, the new Little Caesars Arena.
"You have a love of figure skating in Detroit," said Sharon Cohen, Figure Skating in Harlem founder and chief executive. "Detroit, it’s in the midst of a rebirth and a city that’s moving forward. We believe we can make a difference there. I just think it's the perfect place at the perfect time to shine a light on all that girls can do and be in Detroit. These are qualities that are already in the young ladies of Detroit. We want to bring that out."
Cohen made the announcement along with Figure Skating in Detroit Director Geneva Williams; the Detroit group's Champions Committee cochairs, Denise Ilitch, Alissandra Aronow and figure skating Olympic gold medalist Meryl Davis, and Peg Tallet, chief community engagement officer for Michigan Women’s Foundation, the group's partner in leadership and education. Olympic gold medalist Charlie White was also on hand.
Figure Skating in Detroit not only will teach girls the mechanics of the sport but also offers STEM classes, leadership and social skills training and healthy lifestyle resources through a program called I Can Excel, or ICE. The signature after-school program includes four to six afternoons weekly of skating instruction and off-ice conditioning and educational services.
Similar to the Harlem-based program, girls will also have access to special community workshops, summer camps and skating events. Williams, who is well-known across metro Detroit for her lengthy work within the philanthropic community, said she learned about the program potentially expanding to Detroit through a friend, who put her in touch with Cohen.
"I recall the first conversation vividly," Williams said. "As soon as Sharon began to describe it, I could see what a unique opportunity it was for us to get together to help Detroit girls build a foundation for lifelong success. ...I’m just so thrilled to be able to be a part of what I think is more than a program. It's an opportunity."
Cohen, who is a U.S. Figure Skating double gold medalist, said she got the idea after a chance encounter in 1990 with a group of young girls in East Harlem who wanted to learn how to figure skate.
"Skating was something I fell in love with at a young age," recalled Cohen, who, at the time, worked for CBS News. "Those girls, what I saw was so amazing. I saw them get that feeling of accomplishment step-by-step when they were on the ice."
The encounter brought Cohen back to the ice and led her to take a chance. She officially launched the nonprofit organization in 1997.
"I like to call it a bit of a happy accident that I was able to do that," she said. "It was a small group of girls at first. I think we started with a handful of skates and about 20 or 30 girls who had seen skating on TV and wanted to try it. It was really magical. Skating was the hook that brought the girls in, then we married that with this really strong educational support system."
Figure Skating in Harlem now has more than 275 girls who attend year-round. The program has gained national recognition and is supported by a growing roster of Olympic athletes, including Davis and White, private foundations, corporations and individual donors. For nearly two decades, the organization has grown and has served more than 1,000 underserved New York City girls, who come back even after they've phased out of the program.