By Lois Elfman
Cohen Duncan, 1994 U.S. novice ladies champion, calls upon her experiences as a competitive figure skater and skating coach in her career as a behavioral health specialist and her volunteer work as a mental well-being lead and mentor for athletes making the transition away from competition.
“For all the jobs that I’ve had, my experiences in skating have helped me navigate new spaces and be confident,” she said.
Duncan grew up in the Los Angeles area. Her older brother played ice hockey and she wanted to do anything he did. Her mother said hockey wasn’t going to happen, but she could start figure skating. Both she and her brother trained at Pickwick Ice in Burbank, where she quickly excelled.
“I loved the challenge,” she said. “I always loved dance, so I loved dancing on ice, and then I got to jump. It was a perfect combination of all the things I enjoyed.”
She was disqualified from her first ISI competition for doing a lunge, which wasn’t permitted because it was from a higher level. In time, she switched to U.S. Figure Skating competitions, representing the Los Angeles Figure Skating Club for most of her competitive career and working with renowned names in the sport.
Being a Black girl in an overwhelmingly white sport, Duncan noticed she was different than most of her fellow skaters. A simple thing like finding tights was challenging, and she settled for pantyhose that matched her skin tone when competing.
“There was always an awareness that there were few of us and that it was an honor to be around other skaters of color who had accomplished things,” she said.
At age 13, she became the U.S. novice champion. Given her young age and relative inexperience, she didn’t realize how big an accomplishment it was, although people did point out to her that she was one of very few Black skaters to win a national title. Performing in the exhibition of champions was her “wow moment” at the 1994 U.S. Championships, and she knew she wanted to have that experience again.
“I thought, ‘This is really cool that people want my autograph,’” she said. “As I came to understand what it meant to compete at the national level, that’s when I started getting more nervous.”
At 18, Duncan moved to Northern California to attend Santa Clara University and remained there until moving to Atlanta in 2019, although she said she’s still a Southern California girl at heart.
In the mid-2000s, one of her skating students passed away in a terrible car accident along with other members of her family. One sister, also one of Duncan’s skaters, survived the accident.
“Watching that family and my student use her skating as a mechanism to overcome grief, and watching that family go through the process of healing, was very powerful for me,” Duncan said. “I didn’t immediately go back to school to get my master’s in counseling. It took me some time to realize that’s what I wanted to do, but I was really fascinated by people discovering their sources of resilience when they’re faced with impossible situations. I wanted to figure out how to help them in a way outside of sports.”
Entering a school environment was not difficult for her as either an undergraduate or graduate student. Duncan said even as a competitive skater, education was never negotiable.
“In order for me to be able to skate, I had to have good grades,” she said. “I went to a French immersion school throughout my entire education. All my classes were taught in French, so I had to do a lot in order to be able to get good grades and skate.
“Going back for my master’s degree was hard work, but it wasn’t anything I was unfamiliar with.”
Her graduate studies involved a lot of personal introspection. After completing the program, there were 3,000 hours of interning before she got her license. Duncan did that in a variety of different settings, which provided exposure to people dealing with diverse challenges. Her training included working as a marriage and family therapist and a school counselor.
“It was a very enlightening experience in terms of really being able to see how you can make a difference in people’s lives just by showing up and listening,” she said.
The training even informed the way she coached skating and the attention she puts towards the emotional well-being of her students. After earning a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy/counseling, Duncan became a licensed therapist in California in 2017 and in Georgia in 2019.
She currently works as a behavioral wealth specialist with Wealth Enhancement Group, an independent financial planning firm with a team approach to comprehensive planning and a commitment to long-term client relationships. She helps clients with the emotional side of financial decision-making.
“Money is emotional and attaches to our emotional centers,” Duncan said. “The wealth management firm that I work for wanted to bring the emotions into the conversation because otherwise, we’re not supporting clients holistically.
“It’s a steep learning curve in terms of figuring out how to navigate the financial services industry, but it has been a wonderful opportunity to work in a new sector.”
In addition, she works as a volunteer with Extra-Ordinaire, a nonprofit organization that empowers elite athletes to champion life after sports. After gymnast Simone Biles withdrew from the all-around competition at the Tokyo Olympics, discussions about athletes’ mental health significantly increased, and Duncan was looking for an opportunity to help.
“We’re supporting athletes in their transition away from competitive sports,” she said. “What that means is connecting them to a community where there are other athletes who have successfully transitioned or are undergoing their own transitions. We let them know there are mental health resources and helping them bridge that gap from where they are to where they want to be. There is a mentorship program. We’re focusing on providing a framework overall for maintaining wellbeing and championing emotional health throughout their transition.”
Even after graduating college and graduate school and becoming a licensed therapist, Duncan continued to coach skating in Northern California. That stopped after she and husband, Darius Taylor, moved to Atlanta in the summer of 2019. Before she could get connected with a rink, the pandemic hit and then she had a baby.
“I’m still in touch with my old students, so I hear what’s going on for them,” she said. “I would say I’ll be getting back into it in some capacity in not too long.”
Reflecting on it 29 years later, she understands the importance of her national title and appreciates the impact being recognized. Although she’s not been a regular presence at ice rinks since giving birth to son Xavier, 2, Duncan still stays connected to the sport. She was pleased to see two Black women competing in senior ladies at the 2023 U.S. Championships — the first time for that since she and Andrea Gardiner competed at the 2000 U.S. Championships — but also sad at such an extended gap.
“It speaks to the fact that access to the sport is not easily available to everyone,” Duncan said. “Skating is a very expensive sport. I’m encouraged and I know there are more people of color getting involved in skating.”
