I began my competitive skating career at the age of 7 in roller speed skating. As the sport evolved, I switched to inline and ice speed skating and later ice hockey, founding and playing for the University of Denver Women’s Club Hockey team and beginning a 15-year hockey career.
I eventually returned to competitive speed skating landing a professional sponsorship with Tru-Rev and competed throughout North America and in Europe. I successfully competed in all disciplines, including short-track, banked track, road and marathon skating. In two years I was fortunate to achieve 14 national titles and 2 national records. .
Eventually, I turned my attention to coaching, assisting with developmental speed skating clinics at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, and becoming a Certified Strength and Conditioning coach (C.S.C.S.). For the next 10 years, I did part-time strength and conditioning part-time for skaters and served as an assistant coach for the University of Denver Women’s Club hockey team. I found myself being asked more and more by hockey players to help improve their speed on the ice and quickly found my calling. I began training high level hockey players, focusing primarily on college, junior and professional hockey players, including a Stanley Cup champion.
In 2020, I quit my job in the IT world to become a full-time skating coach for high-level hockey players, expanding my client group to include AAA, AA and high school players.
When I’m not coaching and watching my clients play, I can be found doing freelance photography for the University of Denver varsity hockey team and other local and minor league teams.
Assistant coaches, cats Luna and Karly, can usually be seen helping out during virtual workout sessions and strength workouts done at the coach’s residence
“Shannon is a top notch skating coach and we are so grateful for her dedication to her skaters. While working with Shannon our player has shown rapid and transformative improvement. Shannon is a Pro! Her communication is excellent and she is always quick to reply to an email or open to having a chat off-ice. Her super-power is connecting with her skaters and it’s her EQ that separates Shannon from other coaches we have worked with. She takes time to get to know the kids and I’ve seen her ability to adapt her style to how each skater learns. Her feedback is always given from a player development perspective. Her skates are demanding and she pushes the skaters out of their comfort zone. The kindness and compassion she shows the kids is amazing and we are so grateful to have her as our players coach.”
– Patrick Z.
