Above: Figure Skating on Your Block Executive Director Dr. Ami Parekh talks with children learning to skate.
By Ed Rabinowitz
The Figure Skating on Your Block program, under the auspices of the Chicago Youth Foundation, has parlayed a 2024–25 Community Development Grant from U.S. Figure Skating into impressive growth.
Since the program’s inception in its present form in 2021, more than 5,000 children have participated in the community-based ice sports program. But the numbers for the past year have been nothing short of eye-opening.
“Because of the support we’ve successfully engaged an additional 566 underserved youth in Chicago,” Dr. Ami Parekh, executive director of the program, says. “We’ve seen people of color, poor kids, show a lot of interest in the sport. They’ve gone from being shy little kids to confident ones.”
A key element the grant helps address is the cost of ice time. Parekh says the program does not get a break on the cost, which runs approximately $400 an hour each week. This year, the programming ran across three main ice arenas and included a variety of offerings. The program also held two free U.S. Figure Skating-sanctioned ice shows held at Millennium Park, open to the public.
When funding is available coaches can be paid for their time. But since funding fluctuates, Parekh must rely on the willingness and ability of volunteers. That’s where recruiting high school students who are looking to fulfill their community service requirement comes into play. And once they get involved, they’re hooked.
“I started volunteering to get the community service hours, and I thought it would be an amazing way to give back to my community,” Robyn Tantleff, who’s been with the program for four years, says. “But when you see these kids who maybe never stepped on the ice before, and you see their love for skating grow, it’s amazing to nurture these kids who wouldn’t other have had an opportunity. We were all once that little kid who stepped on the ice for the first time.”
Brianna Chang is a seasoned veteran volunteer. The 18-year-old began volunteering 10 years ago when Parekh and Ray Lilja, who founded the Chicago Youth Foundation and subsequent Hockey on Your Block program, began building the Learn to Skate Chicago program. She says the longer she’s been with the program the more she recognizes the impact volunteer coaches have on the children.
“It’s great to see them keep coming back, or to tell us [the skating] is their favorite part of the week,” Chang says. “Then you really get to understand how much you impact a person’s life.”
That impact is felt both on and off the ice. The grant has enabled Parekh and her team to grow the Pathfinders program, which provides young people with social-emotional and health-fitness education through interactive off-ice workshops. Outcomes data collection has shown an increase in classroom test scores and improved behavior at home and at school.
Parents also offer up glowing testimonials.
“My child has ADHD, and we’re seeing so much improvement there,” Parekh says one parent told her. “They’re able to focus at school and home because of your program.”
Darcy Rachel, a senior at Francis Parker High School who’s been a program volunteer for three years, has coached prior skating lessons at Millennium Park.
“The participants ranged in age from around 5 up to their mid-60s,” she says. “It was so gratifying seeing them grow and return.”
Beyond the improved skating prowess, Parekh says it has been heartwarming to see the relationships that bloom between students and volunteer coaches. She also acknowledges seeing growth among the coaches as well.
“Many of them are in a shell in high school,” Parekh says. “They come out and start coaching these kids, and they get teaching experience, a valuable skill to know into adulthood. Now they’re going off to college, getting into some good schools, and it’s because of that growth I’ve been seeing.”
Moving forward, Parekh says a new partnership with the Chicago Blackhawks, who sponsor a Monday community learn to skate program at the Fifth Avenue Arena, will enable the program to expand its reach into Humboldt Park and Austin neighborhoods.
“We’re confident that this season’s momentum will continue to push our mission forward,” she says. “Breaking down access barriers, lifting youth potential and building a skating community.”
