Jill Mintz-Hodyl is the owner and founder of Lace’Em Up Skating, a privately owned, ice skating school that offers a “FUN” ice skating experience for the greater Denver area.
She has over 19 years of professional coaching experience and has taught at every level ranging from beginner to senior. Jill is PSA rated in group and freestyle and a level 1 and 2 Hockey certified instructor. She is passionate about developing confident skaters, celebrating health, and promotes skating as a lifetime sport to share with friends and family.
Jill has a reputation for outstanding customer service, teaching strong skating fundamentals, and is most popular for her contagious energy, confidence in her team, smiles for miles, and high five coaching delivering results. Jill is a well-respected United States Figure Skating coach, a proud member of the Professional Skaters Association (PSA), and an Extreme Leader for the Extreme Leadership Institute.
Jill’s motto is to “Do what you love in the service of people who love what you do,” a favorite quote from Steve Farber’s book, “The Radical Edge”.
Nicholas LaRoche is the United States Junior Men's National Champion and has a very familiar face in the sport of Figure Skating. Having grown up in Gardner, Massachusetts Nicholas trained in the Los Angeles area and was seen on figure skating television broadcasts for many years. Nicholas had a stellar career which earned him four Regional Titles, three Sectional Titles, a National Title and being ranked 10th in the World. Having been named to the United Figure Skating Team for over 10 years, Nicholas represented the United States in various International and World Competitions which included a highlight of being named to the World Figure Skating Team.
Nicholas was awarded the Massachusetts "State Award" which is handed to one athlete in the state of Massachusetts each year for their outstanding successes in his or her featured sport, and he has been featured in various magazines and publications throughout his career. Nicholas' Story has been featured in three different books highlighting the triumphs and strengths he endured while being a professional athlete.
In 2009, Nicholas became a full time coach and is known for his expertise and strong knowledge in jump technique. Having been a dominant power house on the ice, he was also brought into the Los Angeles Junior Kings Organization where he served as the edge and power specialist for the hockey players. Being able to translate his figure skating knowledge over to the hockey world took them by storm and he became one of the top sought after coaches in California.
After his competitive career Nicholas and his sister founded the US Athletic Foundation which went on to help skaters with financial assistance to continue their training needs. The US Athletic Foundation handed out assistance for over five years and also was the base for Nicholas's own prime event, An Evening On Ice. An Evening on Ice was the largest portion of raising funds for the US Athletic Foundation and was of the nations top premier Live Figure Skating shows.
Nicholas is the new addition to the Lace Em Up Coaches and is excited and looking forward to helping expand their figure skating, learn to skate, and hockey skating programs.
Viktoriya started ice skating at the age of 5 in Russia. She has many years of experience in competitive figure skating. In 2014 she began coaching technical edge skating for hockey players, providing the highest level of skating and edge work to kids from an early age.
Her goal is to both teach and extract the potential out of every skater, to improve and develop their self-awareness, self-improvement, and confidence on the ice. She trains skaters on power skating techniques including: Balance, efficiency, speed, agility, and confidence. She is both USFSA Certified and PSA Certified as well as being certified in learn to skate and learn to play hockey. From 2014 to 2016 she was the technical edge skating coach for Evolution Junior hockey team (WSHL). Since 2014 she has primarily coached figure skating for Lace'Em Up Skating.
Jo Ann Schneider Farris has participated in figure skating for most of her life as a competitor, coach, and author. Jo Ann was the Figure Skating Expert for About.com for 10 years. Jo Ann began skating as a young child. She won a silver medal in the junior dance event at the United States National Figure Skating Championships and is a US Figure Skating Double Gold Medalist. She coached figure skating and has trained skaters of all ages and levels. In addition, Jo Ann taught hockey players to skate and gave instruction in power skating. She is the author of two skating books: How to Jump and Spin on In-Line Skates, the only book of its kind on inline figure skating, and a personal memoir, My Skating Life: Fifty Plus Years of Skating. Jo Ann also has contributed articles that have been included on the US Figure Skating website and the icenetwork.com website, in SKATING Magazine, Ice Skating Institute's magazine, the Professional Skaters Association magazine, and she also wrote about ice skating for Examiner.com. She is a member of the Professional Skaters Association, The Broadmoor Skating Club, and U.S. Figure Skating. Jo Ann is a graduate of the famous Hollywood Professional School, a school that once was in southern California where many serious figure skaters attended, including Peggy Fleming. She is also a graduate of Colorado College and holds a teaching credential from California State University Long Beach. As a figure skating competitor, she trained under World Ice Dance Champion and Olympic Coach Doreen Denny and also Darlene Gilbert, who has trained international and national teams.
Joel Schneider-Farris began skating as soon as he could walk and is a US Figure Skating double gold medalist and medaled and competed in ice dance and pair skating at the national level. He has performed and traveled the world with Disney On Ice for six consecutive years and was about to begin his seventh touring season with Disney On Ice when the COVID-19 Pandemic halted live entertainment. In addition to figure skating, Joel plays ice hockey and was able to use his hockey skills as a Disney On Ice show performer when he jumped ramps in a scene from Disney On Ice Frozen. Joel comes from a family of skaters. His grandfather was a skater and figure skating judge, his aunt and uncle are skaters and coaches, and his mother is a skater, coach, and skating journalist. His sisters and cousins are also professional ice skating performers. He trained at the Broadmoor World Arena Ice Hall Olympic training center under Olympic and world figure skating coach Dalilah Sappenfield. Joel loves "all things skating" and also enjoys in-line skating, skiing, watersports, bike riding, hiking, and video games.
Need help finding skates, costumes or need your hair or makeup done for an upcoming event? Contact Maria Maldonado today! 720-296-9869
Making his debut at the 2005 Junior Nationals in Intermediate. Cody Lithco has gone on to compete in Ice Dancing from Novice to Senior levels since 2010. After competing nationally for the better part of two decades, Cody pivoted to Ballroom dance in 2015 before returning to coach skating in all disciplines. Cody loves teaching and enhancing the skills of anyone who wants to skate—no matter their age or skill level. When he’s not on the Ice, Cody can be found building with Lego and working on his degree in Industrial Design.
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