Houston \u2013 Tucked inside a city better known for warmth and humidity is something cold as ice.<\/p>\n
There are a number of ice rinks in Houston with top figure skaters who have seen success at national competitions.<\/p>\n
At Bellerive Ice Center in Sharpstown, you\u2019ll meet some of Houston\u2019s most promising young figure skaters.<\/p>\n
One of those skaters is Mikey Chen, a rising competitor who recently captured first place at the Midwestern Sectional Finals in the Novice men\u2019s division, earning him a spot at the U.S. National Championships.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a really big achievement for me,\u201d Chen said. \u201cBefore that, I was a really bad competitor. I could do the jumps, the spins, the skating skills \u2014 but in competition, I would just bomb every time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chen said for years, competition nerves held him back, even when his practice performances suggested he could place near the top. That changed last season, when something finally clicked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not exactly sure what happened,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I started competing a lot better. It was really refreshing to finally show what my skating actually looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chen trains about 15 hours a week and recently moved into new boots \u2014 a difficult transition for any skater \u2014 just ahead of nationals. Despite the challenges, he said he\u2019s proud of how he performed on the sport\u2019s biggest stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cI realized it\u2019s just like practice,\u201d Chen said. \u201cI just have to go out there and jump.\u201d<\/p>\n
Behind Chen and many of the skaters at Bellerive are longtime coaches Val and Elena Prudsky, who say their role extends far beyond teaching jumps and spins.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need to give them trust,\u201d Val Prudsky said. \u201cThey know how to do it. It\u2019s scary to do difficult jumps, but they have to trust you \u2014 and themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
That trust often turns coaches into second parents.<\/p>\n
\u201cI deal with their school, their schedule, what time they need to sleep,\u201d Prudsky said. \u201cThey come to the rink more than they go to school sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The commitment is intense. Many skaters train 15 to 20 hours a week while balancing school through specialized programs like off-campus physical education to make practice possible.<\/p>\n
year-round<\/p>\n
Still, the skaters say the lessons they learn go far beyond the ice.<\/p>\n
Figure skating in Houston has grown significantly over the past two decades, according to local rink managers and coaches. The city now has multiple facilities offering Learn-to -Skate programs and elite training.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have great coaches, great facilities, and very dedicated families,\u201d said Mark Poole, the skating director at Bellerive Ic Center and Aerodrome Ice Skating Complex. \u201cIt takes everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
That growth has led to increased success at sectional and national competitions \u2014 and sparked bigger dreams among the skaters.<\/p>\n
When asked if the Olympics are a possibility one day, the coaches say it\u2019s not out of the picture.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy not?\u201d Val Prudsky said. \u201cI don\u2019t see why not.\u201d<\/p>\n
For now, coaches hope more Houstonians give skating a try \u2014 especially during the city\u2019s hottest months.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the perfect summer sport,\u201d Elena Prudsky said. \u201cIt\u2019s cool inside, and it\u2019s fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Bellerive Ice Center currently does not offer Learn-to-Skate group lessons, many area ice rinks offer programs year-round.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Houston \u2013 Tucked inside a city better known for warmth and humidity is something cold as ice. There…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":157373,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[50630,56,58,57,64780,37810,64781,62737,64779],"class_list":{"0":"post-157372","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-figure-skating","9":"tag-houston","10":"tag-houston-headlines","11":"tag-houston-news","12":"tag-learn-to-skate-programs","13":"tag-olympics","14":"tag-texas-figure-skating","15":"tag-winter-olympics","16":"tag-youth-figure-skating"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}