Our Coaches
Sharon Nixon - Head Coach
Sharon began coaching in the Kingston are over 20 years ago. Sharon is a Level 4 NCCP National High Performance Coach and enjoys working with local hockey players as a skating skills specialist.
In September of 2018 Sharon opened the Kingston Skating Academy (KSA). In addition to coaching, Sharon assists Skate Canada as a Regional Coach Developer/Evaluator and acts as a Club Resource Member and CanSkate Specialist for Skate Ontario. Sharon is also the Head Coach of the Queen’s Varsity Figure Skating Team.
Trina Dykstra-MacPherson - Provincial Level Coach & Choreographer
Trina is a Provincial Trainer Coach and Choreographer, who also has her Star 6 - GOLD Skills Coach Assessor Training. Trina has been coaching since 2017 and has a very diverse skating background with experiences in competitive skating (up to Novice Women), varsity skating (2019-2023), volunteering as a Base Level Technical Official and Star 1-4 Event Assessor, and now adult skating.
Zach Freedman - Regional Level Coach & Harness Coach
Zach is a Regional Certified Coach who you can normally find holding his jumping fishing pole in lessons. Zach’s background in skating is primarily as a pairs skater, but he has competed in singles and ice dance as well. When Zach isn’t in the rink, you can normally find him working at Crave Coffee House & Bakery. Aside from coaching at Gananoque, Zach also coaches at Skate Kingston, Brockville Figure Skating Club, and Kingston Skating Academy.
Amanda Mathieu - CanSkate Coach
Amanda has been Gananoque’s CanSkate Director for multiple seasons. She recently became a Regional Coach In-Training, and we are excited to continue to have her onboard this season. Amanda is very loved by our Advanced CanSkaters and has played such an integral role in the Advanced CanSkate programming. We look forward to seeing Amanda coach some STARSkate this season with us.
George Waddell - Dance Partner
Although George is not a coach, he is the dance partner for all of our Gananoque Skaters, and for that we are extremely grateful to him for helping our skaters progress in assessing ice dance. George does partnering at other local clubs, and when he isn’t in the rink, he is studying as a BCom/JD student at Queen’s University. George also helps the Queen’s Varsity Figure Skating Team.
Keirstan McFie - Synchro & CanSkate Coach
Keirsten has been coaching CanSkate at Gananoque Skating Club for the past 2 seasons and has recently become a regional coach in-training. Keirsten also coaches synchronized skating at Kingston Illusion, as well as skates on the adult team.
Kate Walsh - Synchro & CanSkate Coach
Kate has been coaching CanSkate in Gananoque for 2 seasons, and we are very grateful for her help in coaching the Learn-to-Skate programming. Kate recently became a regional coach in-training and will be assisting with Synchro this season.
Emily Clark - Regional Coach & Synchro Coach
Emily is a Regional Certified Coach and is this year’s Star 4 U13 Synchro Coach here at Gananoque Skating Club. Emily is also the Assistant Synchro Coach for Queen’s Varsity Figure Skating. Aside from coaching in Gananoque, Emily coaches at Fort Henry Heights Skating Club. When Emily isn’t at the rink, she is studying to become a teacher at Queen’s University! During the off-season, Emily works at Fort Henry National Historic Site. We are very happy to have Emily on-board for her second season at Gananoque!