Pamela Gregory named top skating developmental coach

Pamela Gregory (left) has been named national figure skating Developmental Coach of the Year for her work with Kimmie Meissner (right), the 2004 U.S. junior champion and World Junior silver medalist.

9:35 a.m., June 24, 2004--Pamela Gregory of the University of Delaware has been selected the national figure skating Developmental Coach of the Year for her work with Kimmie Meissner, the 2004 U.S. junior champion and World Junior silver medalist.

Gregory is a member of the world-class coaching staff at UD’s Ice Skating Science Development Center, and she previously won the award in 1999 and again in 2001.

“It feels good,” Gregory said of the honor. “I try to put a lot of thought into what I do, and it is nice to be recognized for hard work.”

Gregory said she owes a special debt of gratitude to Ron Ludington, director of UD’s Ice Skating Science Development Center, for “giving me an opportunity here at the University of Delaware to work with all the young skaters.”

The Developmental Coach of the Year award is presented annually to the individual or team of coaches who have made a significant impact on an athlete or athletes competing nationally at the developmental levels of juvenile, intermediate, novice and junior.

The winner is selected by the U.S. Figure Skating Coaches Committee and the Professional Skaters Association Board of Directors and must exemplify the best behavior within the U.S. Olympic Committee, U.S. Figure Skating and Professional Skaters Association coaching standards, serving as a role model to both skaters and other coaches.

Meissner, 14, a member of the UD Figure Skating Club, won the U.S. junior championship in January in Atlanta. Two months later, she won the silver medal at the World Junior Championships at The Hague, Netherlands.

Meissner’s stellar season builds on 2003, when she finished second in the Junior Grand Prix in Sofia and later took the gold at the Junior Grand Prix in Slovenia. She also won the U.S. novice championship in 2003.

Gregory has been coaching at the Ice Skating Science Development Center for more than a decade.

Article by Neil Thomas
Photo by Kathy Atkinson

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