​Jill has been the Skating Director at Chilled Ponds since November, 2015.
Originally from Northern NJ, Jill started skating at age 5 and achieved her Senior Freestyle Test, 7th Figure Test and Pre-Gold Ice Dances.  She turned professional when she went to college at Penn State University (earning a B.S. and M.A.) and taught there for 8 years prior to relocating to Hampton Roads in 1996.  She was the former Skating Director at Iceland as well as ARC IceSports (now Chilled Ponds).  Her students have competed at the Regional, Junior National and Adult National Levels and have earned USFS Senior Moves-in-the-Field and Senior Freestyle testing levels.

Jill is a Master-rated coach with the Professional Skaters Association in Moves-in-the-Field, Senior Rated in Freestyle and holds a Level 3 ranking with the PSA.  Jill also served on the PSA Board of Governors for 3 years.  Jill is a member of the PSA and the USFS through the Tidewater Figure Skating Club.  Jill’s coaching specialty is in Moves-in-the-Field and on-ice and off-ice jumps.  Jill also attended the USFS Technical Panel School as an observer.

Aside from skating, Jill was a USA Swimming Official and officiates at the High School level. Her older daughter just graduated from the University of Mary Washington and swam on their Varsity Swim Team. Her younger daughter is graduating from high school and will be attending Goucher College and swimming on their Varsity Swim Team.

e-mail: jillbstewartpsu@gmail.com; skatingdirector@skatetidewater.org

• Started skating at the age of 4 and trained in Yorktown, Virginia.

• She also had the opportunity to train for one month in St. Petersburg, Russia.

• Passed senior level moves in the field at the age of 11 and subsequently passed the supplemental moves in the field and senior freestyle.

• She was a final round competitor at South Atlantic Regional Championships for Juvenile Girls in 2005.

• SA Member, USFS registered coach and ISI Professional member/Gold level judge.

• Available to teach all ISI and USFS levels.

• Specializing in choreography and artistry.

• Started skating at Iceland of Hampton Roads when she was 9 years old. 

• Was a member of the Beach Blades Synchronized Skating Team while in high school, then went on to compete at Western Michigan University on the Collegiate and Senior Synchronized Skating teams and earned her Bachelors Degree in Exercise Science.

• A gold medalist in Moves in the Field and is a national medalist in synchronized skating. -USFSA coach, an ISI professional member, as well as an ISI Bronze level judge

• Maintains CPR, AED and First Aid certification 

• Works with figure skaters and hockey players and specializes in Moves in the Field, synchronized skating, power skating, and conditioning both on and off the ice.

• ​Works full time as a Recreation Counselor/Teacher at LeafSpring School in Virginia Beach.

Originally from Marquette, Michigan, Mary Sue has been skating since the age of 4.  Her skating laurels include a Gold Medal in Ice Dancing and Junior levels in Figures and Freestyle.  She holds a BS in Business Administration from Northern Michigan University.  And, Mary Sue is also a realtor with Creed Realty in Virginia Beach.  

Prior to relocating to Virginia, Mary Sue taught skating throughout the Midwest.  She has been on the Chilled Ponds coaching staff since 2006.  She is a member of the Professional Skaters Association and United States Figure Skating.

​Her students have competed regionally and at invitational competitions.  They have passed skating tests that include Gold Ice Dances, Senior Moves and Junior Freestyle tests.  

Along with teaching figure skating, Mary Sue teaches hockey skills at Chilled Ponds.

Yana began skating at the age of five in Moscow, Russia when her father took her to a frozen playground with a pair of strap-on blades.

Her skating journey began in earnest at the Skokie Skatium in Illinois, during group lessons, which eventually led to community ice shows and competing in Ice Skating Institute events. While a member of ISI, Yana passed her Pre-Alpha, Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma and Freestyle 1-5 tests.

After college, Yana switched to the US Figure Skating (USFS) track and began testing and competing as an adult. She has passed her Pre-Bronze, Bronze, and Silver Moves-in-the Field (MIF) and Freestyle (FS) tests, as well as her Pre-Preliminary MIF. She has competed in multiple competitions and earned a Silver medal at the 2014 USFS Adult National Championships competing at the Bronze level.

Yana has skated with clubs in Illinois, Indiana, North Carolina, Virginia, and Missouri. Yana has served as a board member with the St. Louis Figure Skating Club and currently serves as the Secretary of the Tidewater Figure Skating Club. email: yana.ginburg@gmail.com

Hannah Gubanc began figure skating at the age of 9 and instantly fell in love. She trained at IceWorks in Aston, PA and The Skating Club of Wilmington (SCW) in Wilmington, DE for over 12 years with many Olympic skaters and coaches. She competed at South Atlantic Regionals at Intermediate through Junior levels, National Showcase Championship and Kempen Trophy in Belgium. USFS Testing achievements: Double Gold Medalist in Moves in the Field and Solo Dance; Junior Freestyle and Novice Pairs.

Hannah earned a degree from the Pennsylvania State University where she met her husband of 9 years. They have lived in 5 states, have 2 daughters, and have settled in the Hampton Roads area for many years to come. Her hobbies include sewing and quilting where she has 5 ongoing projects.

Prior to joining the Chilled Ponds Skating Academy coaching staff, Hannah coached private and group lessons at SCW, Penn State, and Lynnwood, WA. She is a current member of Tidewater Figure Skating Club and a USFS registered coach. As a coach she wants to share the love of skating with students of all ages, believing the skills learned in skating relate to many aspects of life. She teaches group

lessons and private lessons, focusing on skills to include jumps, choreography and musical interpretation She can be reached at HMS5075@gmail.com

Karla has recently relocated to the Hampton Roads area from Connecticut. Karla has 30 years of experience coaching children and adults of all levels, including Regional, Sectional and Junior National competitors as well as a medal-winning National Theatre on Ice team! Her teaching encompasses moves-in-the-field, spins, on and off-ice jumps, and visualization/mental preparedness. In her former role as a Skating Director, Karla ran learn to play hockey programs and was the skating coach for travel and high school teams.

She is Senior Rated in Group, and Registered Rated in Program Director, Moves-in-the-Field and Freestyle and Level 1 Ranked from the Professional Skaters Association. She is a Gold Judge and holds Certificates in Arena Management, Arena Programing and Arena Operations from the Ice Sports Industry (formerly Ice Skating Institute). Karla also sits on the board of the Laurel Ridge Skating Club.

Outside of skating, Karla is a Litigation Paralegal who loves yoga and reading. email: karladjones@gmail.com

cell: 203-260-1780

​Allison is a US Figure Skating triple gold medalist and competed at the South Atlantic Regional Championships 6 times.  She has participated in Showcase, Light Entertainment, and Interpretive events, Theatre on Ice National Competitor (5th place in Senior Level), an Urban Pic Skate Finalist and has participated in the Quest for Creativity and Young Artist Show Case.
She's been skating for 19 years and it is her number one love and passion. She started skating in Chesapeake and trained her Intermediate-Senior level, and Theater On Ice in Fairfax, VA. She loves the performance and entertainment aspect of skating and wants to share it with the world. As a professional skater, she has worked for The Russian Circus on Ice, Rosstyn Ice Shows, Ice Creative Entertainment, Roncally On Ice, Holiday on Ice, and Disney On Ice.
She specializes in choreography, jumps, and the technical side of skating. She also trained in pair skating, Picskating, and trapeze and Yoga.

• Started Skating at age 9 in Louisville, Kentucky.

• Trained in Colorado Springs at the Broadmoor Skating Center and at the University of Delaware FSC.

• PSA Certified Free Skating Instructor and PSA Coaches Honor Roll member.

• 1998 Eastern Great Lakes Juvenile Girls Champion.

• 1999 Eastern Great Lakes Intermediate Ladies silver medalist.

• 2000 Southwestern Regional Novice Ladies silver medalist.

• 2000 Midwestern Sectional Novice Ladies pewter medalist.

• 2001 Southwestern Regional Novice Ladies champion.

• 3 time National Competitor.

• USFS Gold Medalist.

     -Past Students Include:

• 2014 Eastern Great Lakes Boys silver medalist

• 2015 Eastern Great Lakes Juvenile Boys Champion and bronze medalist

• 2015 Juvenile Boys National silver medalist

• 2016 Eastern Great Lakes Juvenile Ladies Champion

• 2016 Eastern Great Lakes Intermediate men silver and pewter medalist

• 2016 Eastern Great Lakes Novice Ladies bronze medalist

• MIF Gold medalist

• Started skating at the age of 5

• Trained in Boston, Ma

• USFS Double Gold Medalist

• Canadian Gold Medalist

• USFS registered coach

• Professional Skaters Association (PSA) member

• PSA Senior Rated Coach

• past Figure Skating Director, Co-Director,       

• Group Class Director, Ice Show Director and Ice Show Choreographer

• Past students include USFS Gold Medalists in Freestyle and MIF, Regional, Sectional and National competitors 

Joelle began her skating journey over 20 years ago at Space Coast Iceplex in Rockledge, FL. There it was required that skaters complete all learn to skate group classes before starting private lessons. However, she convinced the skating director to allow her to stop classes and start private lessons early. From then on, she excelled and fell more in love with the sport. She medaled in many competitions including state and regional competitions. Two years after she started skating, her family moved back to Chesapeake, VA right when ARC IceSports (now Chilled Ponds) opened its doors. She trained under Jill Stewart, Luis Lovett, and Mary Cunningham and skated for both the Washington Figure Skating Club and the Tidewater Figure Skating Club.

Joelle is currently a member of the Professional Skaters Association, U.S. Figure Skating, and the Tidewater Figure Skating Club. She is still actively skating, working on passing her Senior Moves in the Field test and Adult Gold Freestyle. Always looking to see what more she can do for her students, she earned her personal trainer certification through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) and is currently working on her nutritional coach certification through NASM. In addition to figure skating, she specializes in building a strong skating foundation and power skating skills with house and travel league hockey players.

Joelle attended the University of Maryland and earned her B.A. in Professional Communication, an MBA degree, and also a Law degree from Regent University. After completing her education, she returned to Chilled Ponds in 2017 as a coach and fell back in love with her true passion. She is a mom to an amazing and wise beyond his years’ son, Cameron. He is always with her at the rink and this is their second home. If you haven't met him yet, you will soon!

email: joelle.cana@yahoo.com

cell: 757.559.7530

John began his competitive skating career in the Hampton Roads area, coached by Gail Thomas and culminating in a trip to the 2008 Junior National Championships at the Intermediate level. He subsequently trained in Aston, PA for four years with Olympic level coaches, including Uschi Keszler (choreographer of Brian Orser and Elvis Stojko), Gennadi Karponosov and Natalia Linichuk (1980 Olympic gold medalists in ice dance and coaches of the 1994 Olympic gold medalists in the same discipline). Additionally, he has had the pleasure of working with choreographers Robin Cousins (1980 Olympic champion) and Cindy Stuart. John toured with Disney

on Ice for three and a half years, most recently in Asia through early 2020 (and hopes to return to the road post-COVID19 pandemic). He was most recently the Men’s Line Captain for his show, regularly performing four principal understudies. He has coached in the Hampton Roads area for the past eight years.

John Stuart is a quadruple USFSA Gold medalist, having passed Senior/Gold tests in Moves in the Field, Freestyle, Pattern Dance, and Free Dance. Past students have successfully passed skating tests including Senior Moves and Pre-Gold pattern dances. He has assisted with clinics for figure skaters, hockey players and/or hockey referees in the United States (Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Colorado) and Canada. During various clinics, he provided demonstration and instruction of Hydroblading™ principles as an assistant to Uschi Keszler, the inventor of this training and performance technique for skating. An Eagle Scout and member of Phi Beta Kappa, he graduated summa cum laude from the College of William and Mary with a B.A. in Linguistics and Political Science.

Committed to collaborative coaching and maintaining open lines of communication with primary coaches, he is available for lessons as a secondary coach in the areas of freestyle, moves in the field, ice dance, choreography, and jumps in the pole harness.

Bob began skating (hockey and figure) at age 5 and has continued to skate throughout his life.

Bob has been a member of the Tidewater Figure Skating Club, completing the USFS bronze levels in Freestyle, Moves in the Field and Ice Dance. He was the Vice-President of the TFSC from 1999-2000.

Bob began coaching in 1999 and holds a certification as an ISI judge, judging local and regional competitions. Many of his students have placed in the upper half of their levels in competition. Currently, Bob’s passion is Synchronized Skating that allows skaters to work together in a team atmosphere.

Having trained with Stan Belliveau, a highly regarded boot and blade specialist in Long Island, Bob is also a professional skate mechanic and can assist with consulting, mounting blades, and sharpening.

Bob is also involved in the dramatic arts, teaching ballroom dancing and served as the dance director at Dance World, a local studio. He has appeared on local and national television programs and commercials.

Cassie has been skating at Chilled Ponds for 15 years. She started in our learn to skate program and quickly realized how much she loved to skate and began taking private lessons. Along with training at Chilled Ponds, Cassie has trained in Lake Placid, NY, and Fairfax, VA. She passed her Senior moves in the field test and the supplemental senior gold for moves in the field. She still competes in the junior level test track event during regionals.

Outside of skating, Cassie graduated from Tidewater Community College with a degree in Social Science and a certificate in personal training and fitness and is now a full time student at Old Dominion University studying exercise science. She also works part-time at the locally owned Surf Rider Restaurant.

• PSA Rated and Ranked- Level III ( coached skaters competing in Qualifying and Non-Qualifying  Regionals through Nationals)

• ISI Gold Judge

•  Over 28 years coaching experience

•  USFS trained in Figures, Freestyle, Dance and MIF

• B.A.  University of Toledo, Majors in French, German and Secondary Education

•  Competed in many USFS Competitions including Regionals

• Participates in numerous professional teaching seminars with World and Olympic coaches and choreographers

• Coaches skaters through Senior MIF, double axels and triple jumps

• Current students pre-pre through Junior MIF; No-Test through Novice FS

• Three seasons of Synchro Coaching

• Currently has a former student skating with Disney on Ice

• 3 former students coaching

• Daughter is also coaching and was a USFS competitive skater and triple Gold medalist

• One of the founding members of the Mentor FSC;  Served on the Board for 8 years

Barbara has been coaching beginners, freestyle, moves in the field, dance, and power skating for over 20 years, at all levels and all ages. 

She is a member of PSA, USFS, and Learn To Skate USA, with full compliance and green light background check.  USFS Gold medals in Dance, Free Dance, and Moves-in-the-field, Novice Freestyle, and 6th Figure tests.  Over 25 years of National and International competitive experience in dance, solo dance, and synchronized skating; including two-time National champion in dance, and still competing.  

Janice began skating at the Olympic Arena in Lake Placid, NY in 1974. Her longtime private coach, Nicole Nardini, was a student of world renowned coaches Mr. Lussi and Howard Nicholson. Janice tested through her Gold Figure, Senior Freestyle and Bronze Dance tests. She competed at the North Atlantic Regionals up through Junior Ladies, as well as various local competitions which included winning a gold medal in Novice Ladies at the 1000 Islands Interclub Competition.

She performed as a soloist and in group numbers representing the Skating Club of Lake Placid in numerous annual ice shows. She was a regular soloist in the Saturday night summer ice shows for many years and was chosen to skate in the dedication ceremony of the 1980 Olympic Arena.

During her amateur training, she skated 6 or more hours per day, as well as doing off-ice conditioning, Ballet and Modern Dance. Janice also participated in other school sports such as gymnastics, tennis and track and field and played the Alto Sax for a few years.

She turned professional at the age of 19, due to injuries, so one of her main concerns as a coach is injury prevention.

She is Professional Skater Association (PSA) Certified Rated in Figures, Freestyle and Group instruction and has over 34 years of coaching experience. She teaches all levels of singles skating from Basic to Senior competitors, Moves in the Field and Off ice conditioning and Choreography. She holds a Level 1 Ranking with PSA. She is also a professional member of the Ice Sports Industry (ISI) and has a Silver Judges certification.

She has also trained for 17 years in Tai Chi. She teaches the authentic Yeung Family Taiji Chuan 108 long form, Qigong breathing and Baduan jin exercises for relaxation, strengthening and rehabilitation from injuries.

Janice is an Army Spouse of 20 years, thankfully now retired! During two of her husband’s duty stations overseas, Janice had the opportunity to coach along side top coaches in Czech Republic and Slovakia and helped train their international competitors. She also began a skating school program for expats and their children and did fundraising for the Slovan Skating Club.

Other places she has coached include Iceland of Hampton Roads, North Carolina, Memphis and Nashville, TN and New York at Chelsea Piers and Ice House of New Jersey.

Her teaching philosophy is “To positively motivate skaters to achieve their full potential.”

Junior Coaches -- Bethany Jones

Class Assistants -- Andrew Barton, Anna Lee Barton, Corynn Moore, Carlie Morton, Megan Mueller, Michael Dunn, CC Madden, Christin Foy, Cadence Williams, Olivia Ferguson, Alexis Harnish, Caitlin Miranda