Northfield Skating School

Last week, fifty skaters representing 14 arenas in Minnesota and Wisconsin gathered at the Pleasant Arena in St. Paul for our annual Rising Stars Camp. Skaters ranged in age from 3 – 13. Rising Stars Camp is hosted by the St. Paul Figure Skating Club and directed by Northfield Skating School Founder/Director Carey Tinkelenberg.

Throughout the week, skaters participated in on-ice skills & drills, creative movement classes, off-ice jumping, strength, and stretch classes, arts and crafts, and special workshops. Special workshops included a nutrition seminar, strength and conditioning specialist, and SOMA class with choreographer Tara Stamm. All skaters also prepared solo routines that they performed at an exhibition on July 22. Thank to you skaters, coaches, parents, and volunteers for a fun and successful event. See you next year!

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Contact Carey about future camps

This May, Northfield Skating School Owner/Director Carey Tinkelenberg became the youngest program director in the  Professional Skaters Association (PSA) to earn a Master rating.

The Master rating is the highest rating attainable in the PSA. Coaches and directors become rated in their discipline by successfully completing oral exams, sport science written exams, and meeting experience and continuing education requirements. The minimum requirements for a Master program director rating include 5 years and 500 hours of coaching and management experience and “exceptional knowledge and organization” of staffing, scheduling, promotion, safety standards, education, and ethics of managing skating programs.

Tinkelenberg completed the oral exam on May 25th and was honored at the Professional Skaters Association International Conference and Trade Show in Colorado Springs (pictured above). She also holds a Senior rating in group instruction and Registered ratings in freestyle and moves-in-the-field.

Tinkelenberg founded the Northfield Skating School after graduating from Carleton College in 2005. In 2008, the school was named a “Model Program” by the editors of SKATING Magazine and Tinkelenberg was presented the June 2008 Making a Difference Award by the Northfield Healthy Community Initiative for the school’s positive impact on youth. Tinkelenberg serves as a mentor to directors as member of the U.S. Figure Skating Basic Skills Committee and presents regularly at director training events nationwide. She coaches full time in Northfield, St. Paul, and Eagan and was the silver medalist in Masters Pairs at the 2010 U.S. Adult Championships with Peter Biver.

On Sunday, June 6, Northfield Skating School skaters Emmalyn Fried, Milly Reese, and Elizabeth Penny delivered medal winning performances at the annual June Bug Jump and Spin competition held at the Pleasant Arena in St. Paul. Emmalyn moved up two levels to compete in Freeskate 2 and earned a gold medal for her performance. June Bug was Basic 6 competitor Milly Reese’s first competition, and she also earned gold. Elizabeth Penny advanced a skill level and continued her streak of winning a gold medal at every competition she has entered since she began competing in 2009. Elizabeth won gold in her compulsory program and bronze in her free skate. All skaters practice year-round and are coached by Northfield Skating School Owner/Director, Carey Tinkelenberg. Milly is co-coached by Northfield Skating School instructor Melanie Ritz.

Congratulations to our team for representing NSS so well with your skills and poise in competition!

Photos, L to R: NSS Skaters pose with Coach Tinkelenberg, skaters warm up outside the Pleasant Arena, Emmalyn Fried takes the ice.

View more and larger photos: photos page.

Four skaters coached by Northfield Skating School coaches entered a total of seven events at the Farmington Spring Festival last Saturday, March 27th. Out of seven events, there were six first placements and one second placement! All skaters showed their strength and positive sportsmanship. We are proud of you!

Emmalyn Fried: 1st place, Basic 8 Compulsory and Freeskate
Elizabeth Penny: 1st place, Freeskate 2 Compulsory and Freeskate
Maggie Kielas: 2st place, Freeskate 2 Compulsory, and 1st place, Freeskate
Jessica Arey: 1st place, Freeskate 4

Thanks to the campers, coaches, and guest presenters who participated in our second annual Spring Skating Camp! Skaters experienced workshops in off-ice training, jumping and spinning, stroking and power skating, speed skating, yoga, sport psychology, and synchronized skating, and put it all together with a final performance featuring our campers and guest skaters from the St. Paul FSC and Shattuck St. Mary Skating Academy. View more photos on the photos page under “2009-2010 Special Events.”

Kittel Evenson, Northfield Skating School Assistant Director, has accepted an invitation from U.S. Figure Skating headquarters to join the Basic Skills Sub-Committee, a governance and development group for the largest sub-section of the national governing body’s membership. Evenson joins Northfield Skating School Founder/Director Carey Tinkelenberg on the twelve-person committee. The Northfield Skating School is the only program with two representatives. Evenson’s duties will include voting on rule changes, mentoring new directors, and discussing the future direction of the nation’s 950 Basic Skills skating programs.

Evenson is a Northfield native, Carleton Junior, and former skater who was coached by Tinkelenberg through middle and high school. Evenson joined the Northfield Skating School staff in 2005 when the school was founded. She was hired as Assistant Director two years later during her freshman year at Carleton. Evenson has been an integral part of the school’s development, leadership, and growth into a U.S. Figure Skating Model Program. Her committee invitation came following a presentation she and Tinkelenberg co-delivered at a U.S. Figure Skating Workshop co-hosted by the Northfield Skating School and Shattuck St. Mary Figure Skating Academy earlier this month.

Check out the Northfield News article about Anna Sheehan and Elizabeth Penny, Northfield skaters who have made great strides in their skating recently.  Thanks to Jeff Wald, Northfield News Sports Editor, for taking the time to meet with us and recognize their story.

• Learn new skills in our fun, professional, environment!
• Enjoy specialized classes with PSA Rated and Guest instructors
• Make friends and take part in a fun performance
• $5 Discount for each additional family member

Register Online or Download Paper Registration Form.

Registration deadline EXTENDED MON MARCH 15

A big congratulations to Anna Sheehan for becoming our first Northfield skater to pass a U.S. Figure Skating test. Anna is both a skater and Skating Assistant (assistant coach) with the Northfield Skating School and has been skating with us since we formed in 2005. She is a 9th grader at the Northfield School of Arts and Technology (ARTech) and she takes private skating lessons with Carey Tinkelenberg, NSS Director, and Melanie Ritz. U.S. Figure Skating tests are the next step of the U.S. Figure Skating development path beyond the Basic Skills curriculum. These tests make a skater eligible to compete at higher levels, but skaters need not compete in order to progress. The tests themselves are an achievement. Anna impressed the judges with her strength, form, and beautiful spirals as she passed her Pre-Preliminary Moves in the Field Test in front of a panel of U.S. Figure Skating judges in Burnsville. Congratulations, Anna, we are proud to have you representing NSS!

View more photos of Anna’s test on our Photos Page

The 2010 Winter Olympics are upon us! Beginning Friday with the Opening Ceremonies and continuing over 17 days, the excitement and glory (and 200+ hours of tv coverage) of 15 Olympic sports will finally be here. Visit the Official Vancouver 2010 site and NBC’s official Winter Olympics site for highlights, tv listings, results, athlete info, and more.

Join NSS for our OLYMPICS PJ PARTY as we celebrate the ladies freeskate final in the party room at Beef O’Brady’s on Thursday, Feb 25. Bring your PJs, because it will be a late night! Coverage runs from 7:00-11:00pm. We will raffle off Beef O’Brady’s gift certificates and a FREE PRIVATE LESSON with an NSS coach of your choice. You can also participate in our Destination Vancouver coloring contest and learn about the International Judging System used for figure skating. Raffle tickets are $4 at the rink during lessons and $5 at the door.