When Ellie Kolb moved to Traverse City nearly six years ago, most of Northern Michigan was reeling from the pandemic. When she took on the Traverse City Figure Skating Club's role of executive director three months later, she knew she had her work cut out for her.
 
"When I moved in November-December, they had shut everything down again," Kolb recalled. "Then I was put in this position in March, and I had my first Cherry Classic competition two months later. There was so much unknown during that time. We didn't know if we'd even be able to have a competition, and I had never run a U.S. Figure Skating competition before."
 
That year, 150 skaters competed. Last year, there were 560.

 
Over the last five years, Kolb has worked to reshape the TCFSC into a thriving community —one that saw a membership increase of more than 50% last year. Learn to Skate USA participants have grown from 70 to 187. Its annual ice show has grown to feature 125 Learn to Skate and club skaters, and, being one of the only local arts and entertainment events in a popular tourist destination, consistently boasts four entirely sold-out performances.
 
"My goal was to change the culture," Kolb said. "I wanted everyone to work together for a common goal. … I wanted to make sure that was being promoted on all levels, and that every kid felt like, no matter what their goal was, that they had a place and a way to achieve it. There's no mindset of, 'These are my skaters,' or 'I can only work with these kids.' I encourage everyone to work together. I think that was a huge part of the culture shift. We're all in this together from the top down."
 
Hiring seven new additions to a now 10-person coaching staff, Kolb started by recruiting leaders with diverse skillsets in order to meet the needs of each skater.
 
"Because the culture was so important to me, I was picky with who we brought in," Kolb said. "We're hiring to thrive in a team environment. That's something I'm straight-forward with right off the bat. And what works well with that perspective is we all have our thing. We all have different things we love and love to do with skating, and we're tapping into that. If a coach really loves Showcase, let's get those kids under that coach. If someone is a great jump technician, let's get kids with those goals under that coach."
 
From there, the TCFSC began building initiatives into existing annual programs, capitalizing on its own solid foundation to turn events into opportunities. The annual Cherry Classic competition now includes U.S. Figure Skating's Excel and Solo Dance Series. The annual ice show includes a special performance for 600 to 700 local first- and second-grade students, each of whom leaves with a goodie bag of merchandise and QR codes for skating registration. U.S. Figure Skating's Aspire Program helps LTS participants bridge to full club membership, with an impressive 25 joining the TCFSC last year.
 
"I'm so grateful to U.S. Figure Skating for having these avenues that weren't around when I was a skater," Kolb said. "Traditionally kids would fall off if they didn't get their Axel or in their high school years. Now there's so many outlets for those skaters. They're not as discouraged because they can change their mind as they grow up. It's not traditional anymore. If skaters feel like they've hit a roadblock, then as a club we say, 'OK, let's reevaluate. What is it that we can prioritize instead to keep you in the sport and loving it?'"
 
That mindset, Kolb says, has led to both increased membership and higher retention rates across the board.
 
"We never really say 'No,'" she explained. "If I have a kid who comes to our club and says, 'I have a goal.' Then OK! Let's all band together and make that happen for them. Let's get them with the right coach — the one who wants to take kids to Showcase, or do Excel, or synchro. Let's jump in and educate ourselves so we're able to provide what they need. We have a great team of coaches who are willing to do that, even if it's something they've never done before. Instead of saying 'No,' we say 'Let's figure it out.' 'Let's learn the rules.' 'Let's jump in so we can support our skaters.'"

 
Now in its 51st year of operation, and in Kolb's sixth year as executive director, the TCFSC's future is bright. In addition to continuing its existing programs, production ensemble, synchronized skating and high school skating teams, they hope to host more events in the future, including putting in bids for higher-level competitions.
 
"I actually wish we had three sheets of ice," Kolb said. "That would be a big goal because we could do so much more. But my main goal is to stay on this path. We've found what works —what works for our community and for our area. I believe wholeheartedly in our club. It's the volunteers and it's the families who show up. We all have this all-in mentality. I think it's important from leadership and from a board perspective to have that passion and positivity. To say, 'This is a need in our skating community,' and 'We want to support these kids and their goals.' It's going to be a lot of work, but at the end of the day, it's going to pay off for the kids, and that's what's important."