BASIC SKILLS by ERIN M. SCHOPF S


eldom do you feel as if your life has come full circle, but that’s exactly how I felt a couple of months ago. In 2003, when I was the skating


director for the City of Shaker Heights in Ohio, I decided to host my fi rst in-house Basic Skills competition. A daunting task for any rookie di- rector, but with the assistance of U.S. Figure Skat- ing, the Chuck Rossbach Basic Skills competition was born.


Chuck or “Mr. Rossbach,” as most of us call him, was the skating director for the City of Shak- er Heights from 1973 through 1993. He has been teaching full time for more than 50 years and is recognized by the Professional Skaters Association (PSA) as a master-rated coach. T e goal for the competition was to reward


our Basic Skills skaters with a medal for their skill demonstration and a pizza party on the last day of the session before the winter break. T is tradition has continued for the past 11 years, and this past December, the City of Shaker Heights recognized the longtime skating director by renaming the rink’s atrium after him. It is a well-deserved honor, one that recog-


nizes Mr. Rossbach and his never-ending contri- butions to fi gure skating and hockey in the City of Shaker Heights. Here’s a little background on this benevolent


man and the fi gure skating legacy he’s imparted to his own family and students. As a child, Chuck took part in singles, dance


and pairs roller skating competitions. While sta- tioned in Japan with the U.S. Air Force from 1952 to 1955, he competed in the 1954 Japanese Figure Skating Championships, where he was the fi rst American to vie in the national junior event. In 1956 he and his pairs partner and future


wife Claire began skating together. T ey won silver medals at the 1959 and 1960 Midwestern Figure Skating Championships, placing second to Vivian and Ronald Joseph, who went on to win the bronze medal at the 1964 Olympic Winter Games.


Claire and Chuck married in 1957 and be-


gan their family one year later. T ey have three children: Kelly, Chip and Robbie. Kelly, who holds a master’s degree in child


psychology, coaches skating in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, and Gurnee, Illinois. She achieved her gold medal in freestyle and completed her 7th fi g- ure test. She was a Midwestern sectional compet- itor and skated with Ice Follies. Chuck inspired her to pursue skating and coached her for several years.


Chip is a triple gold medalist in moves in the


fi eld, free dance and dance and holds two master ratings with the PSA. He began coaching in 1987 and has been instrumental in many ice dance teams qualifying for the U.S. Championships. In 1989 he and his partner, Kristan Lowery, won the World Professional Skating Championships. Chip skated with the Ice Capades and was also a key player in the introduction of moves in the fi eld, helping create a national standard that is fol- lowed today.


“There is no one with more enthusiasm for the sport of fi gure skating or more kind- ness and patience for his students than Mr. Charles Rossbach Sr. It has been 22 years since my last lesson, but Mr. R is still my coach, my hero and my dearest friend.”


- FORMER STUDENT AND NOW SHAKER FIGURE SKATING COACH RYAN ZELTNER KEEGAN


Rossbach teaches a beginner’s class. Robbie also took to the ice but chose the


hockey route, playing at the triple-A level with the Cleveland Americans. He played high school hockey for Cleveland Heights in 1986 and con- tinues to compete in adult leagues. Chuck still comes to his son’s games, even if they begin at midnight. Robbie is a successful business owner and avid supporter of Cleveland youth hockey. T e skating tradition continues even past


Chuck’s children. His grandchildren also found a love for the ice. Tyler and Austin skate recreation- ally in Illinois, Beau plays junior hockey in Bos- ton for the Bay State Breakers, Trey plays for the Junior Lumberjacks in Cleveland and Skylar plays for West Geauga High School in Chesterland, Ohio. T eir parents and grandparents are their biggest fans and attend as many hockey games as they can.


When I asked Chuck how he felt about the


renaming of the atrium, he replied, “I’m hum- bled.”


Regarding his greatest coaching accomplish-


ment, he responded, “Coaching Kelly and watch- ing so many of my skaters pursue coaching as their profession.” I then asked Kelly, Chip and Robbie how they would describe their father and how they felt about his coaching. In response they said, “He is a gentle man who has loved the sport and has de- voted his entire life to skating and his students.” T ey mentioned that Chuck has compiled


more than 40 years of quotes from his students in lesson books that he still cherishes and chuckles at when he looks back to read them. On the day of the atrium dedication, he stood center ice to accept his recognition. Tears fi lled my eyes as I remembered introducing the community to the fi rst Chuck Rossbach compe- tition exactly where he was standing 11 years ago. Now 82, Chuck looked larger than life, and I was


Having fun is the name of the game with Rossbach and his students.


humbled to live in that moment and realized that our lives together have been intertwined and have come full circle. T e lobby or atrium is the fi rst place where


we sell the skating experience. We want our be- ginning skaters to feel confi dent, nurtured and excited to begin their skating journey. In Shak- er Heights, new skaters will now walk into the Chuck Rossbach Atrium to fall in love with skat- ing.


Initially, I was just going to write this sto-


ry about the renaming of the atrium in Shaker Heights. What I realized is that the Basic Skills competition held annually and the renaming of the atrium is a small part of Chuck’s legacy. His true legacy is the love he has for Claire, his family, his colleagues, his students and this sport of fi gure skating.


When I asked him when he planned to re-


tire, I received an expected response. “T ere is no end in sight.” And that’s great news for everyone!


Erin Schopf is the Basic Skills Program manager at U.S. Figure Skating.


SKATING 31


PHOTOS COURTESY OF CHUCK ROSSBACH


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