OUR COACHES
Train with the Best
JILL KURASH
Jill began skating at age nine in Lancaster, PA. She skated with the Skating Club of Wilmington during a summer training program. In 1991, Jill started the Learn to Skate program at Vail Field in Woodstock and taught for 7 years on that freezing outdoor ice. Jill has been teaching at the Woodstock Elementary School for 13 years and is the mother of two children.
KRISTIANA PLOSS
Kristiana Ploss started coaching at Union Arena Skating Club in 2015 and has served as club Secretary 2017-2018,CoPresident in 2019 and club Presdient since 2020. Kristiana has been a competitive figure skater since 2000 with the Skating Club at Dartmouth & has trained at Lake Placid, NY during the summers. Kristiana has passed her Juvenile Moves in the Field, Preliminary Free Skate, Preliminary Dance tests as well a partnered with Drew Wilkins through her high school skating career. In college, Kristiana formed & directed the UNH Freestyle Figure Skating Club. She is Professional Skater’s Association (PSA) Category B certified and Learn to Skate USA certified. Kristiana has also coached at the Skating Club of Dartmouth, Wendell A. Barwood Arena & Lake Placid, NY as well as organized, managed & choreographed multiple skating shows. She coaches Learn to Skate, Freestyle, Moves in the Field, Dance, private & group lessons as well as off-ice.
ROSE GRENIER
Rose is new to coaching with the Union Arena Skating Club. However, she has been coaching since 1994 with the Skating Club at Dartmouth. Under the direction of J. Michael McGean, a National Champion ice dancer, she passed her preliminary dances, third figure and novice freestyle. In her adult career she has passed her Adult Gold Freestyle and Adult Gold Moves in the Field tests. Rose continues to attend conferences and seminars to further her knowledge of figure skating. She has taken her Professional Skater’s Association basic written exam. Rose enjoys sharing her passion of skating with skaters of all ages and hopes to inspire them to enjoy skating as a life-long sport or competitively.  Rose is a certified personal trainer in the upper valley and also holds several other certifications including being certified physical education teacher. She can teach all levels of skating from beginner to advanced, pre-school to adult. Rose will be coaching at the rink on Wednesdays.
SARAH JO DAMRON-BROWN
Sarah Jo has had the opportunity to work with World and Olympic coaches, including David Wilson, Rosanna Tovi, Andrew Naylor, Peter Boroughs, and Paul Duchesnay in Lake Placid, Montreal, New York City, and Florida. She became a pair skater, partnering with Themistocles Lefheris. Her accolades include being a gold medalist in Moves in the Field, Eastern Sectional Pair Champion, a 2000 National Championship medalist, and a former International Team member. In addition to competitive experience, Sarah’s training is highly influenced by the creative and conceptual performance employed in ballet and ice exhibition production, which she has studied under Kennet Oberly, formerly of the Boston Ballet. Sarah’s highest interest is partnering with a skater to help achieve his or her goals through individualized instruction that focuses on bringing out both the artists and athlete through this fusion method.
ANITA RODGERSON
Anita’s skating career began at the Skating Club of Boston, where she trained with Willie Frick. She and her partner Dudley Richards were Eastern Senior pair champions in 1954. A dance major at Bennington College, Anita earned her Masters in Education from Lesley College and for many years taught dance at an independent secondary school and in public schools in Massachusetts. When Anita and her husband moved to Vermont, she again turned to figure skating and coach for 8 years with the Skating Club at Dartmouth. She has 4 grown children and 9 grandchildren.
