After a successful three-day pilot in 2026, Skate Like a Champ is growing into a six-day, five-night figure skating summer camp at PSM Icehouse in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
What began with a visit to the Purdue University Fort Wayne campus and an idea has quickly grown into something much bigger.
For PSM Icehouse Skating Director and longtime figure skating coach Alena Lunin, the vision behind Skate Like a Champ was to create an experience where skaters could immerse themselves in the sport, train with accomplished coaches, learn from technical specialists and officials, and spend a week surrounded by other athletes who share their passion for figure skating.
After testing that vision with a three-day overnight camp in 2026, Lunin knew it was an experience worth growing.
“It made me think further and bigger,” Lunin said.
In 2027, Skate Like a Champ Summer Camp returns to PSM Icehouse June 14–19 as an expanded six-day, five-night figure skating camp, combining intensive training at PSM Icehouse with an optional residential experience at Purdue Fort Wayne.
An Idea That Started With the Full Camp Experience
The idea for Skate Like a Champ began taking shape in May 2026, when Lunin visited the Purdue Fort Wayne campus and saw an opportunity to pair its accommodations with the training facilities available at PSM Icehouse.
With three ice sheets and on-site restaurant service at PSM Icehouse, along with university housing nearby, Lunin began envisioning something beyond a traditional day camp.
“I immediately envisioned an opportunity and was confident that I could execute an all-around experience to train like a champ for every skater,” she said.
Rather than immediately launching a full week, Lunin started with a three-day pilot in July 2026.
Twenty-three skaters from Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Ohio and Michigan participated. Twenty-two chose the overnight experience at Purdue Fort Wayne.
For Lunin, one of the highlights was seeing skaters of different ages and abilities not only train together, but also interact, build friendships and work together during activities away from the ice.
What the Skaters Said Changed the Plan for 2027
At the end of the inaugural camp, Lunin asked every participant a simple question: What did you like, and what didn’t you like?
The response helped confirm what Skate Like a Champ could become.
Skaters shared overwhelmingly positive feedback, with one describing it as “the best skating experience of my life.”
For Lunin, that response was particularly meaningful because figure skating asks athletes to develop an unusually broad range of abilities.
“Figure skating is one of the most difficult sports in the world,” she said, pointing to the combination of jumping ability, flexibility, strength, artistry and musicality the sport requires.
Three days gave skaters an opportunity to work on those areas, learn new exercises and drills, and spend focused time developing skills. But it also showed Lunin that three days simply weren’t enough to accomplish everything she envisioned.
For 2027, she decided to more than double the experience.
Six Days to Train Like a Champ
The expanded 2027 camp will give skaters six days and five nights to immerse themselves in their training.
Each day is designed to address different aspects of a complete figure skater, with three hours of on-ice training and two hours of off-ice training daily.
Skaters will be exposed to different techniques and coaching perspectives while working on areas including jumps, skating skills, spins, choreography, artistry, performance, strength, conditioning, balance and body awareness.
Lunin’s goal is not for every coach to teach the same way.
Instead, she deliberately assembled coaches with experience at the Olympic, World, European and national levels who can bring their individual strengths to the camp.
“My vision is collaborating, sharing knowledge and experience,” Lunin said. “Every Olympic, World and European coach will bring their strongest links, so athletes will experience and learn from each coach.”
That variety is central to what Lunin wants skaters to take home with them: new skills and exercises, different technical approaches, greater artistry and creativity, and new ways of thinking about their skating.
Learning From the Other Side of the Judging Panel
The 2027 camp also goes beyond traditional coaching by bringing technical specialists and officials directly into the learning experience.
A dedicated Officials Day will give skaters opportunities to receive feedback and better understand how their skating is evaluated in competition.
“Technical specialists and officials are a very important part of the figure skating world,” Lunin said. “Understanding their vision and expectations is extremely valuable and important for athletes, parents and coaches.”
Through educational sessions, visual examples and direct interaction with International Skating Union and U.S. Figure Skating technical specialists and officials, skaters will explore technical element execution, Grade of Execution (GOE), component requirements, levels, spins and jumps.
The goal is to help athletes understand not only how to perform an element, but also how that performance is seen and evaluated by the people on the other side of the boards.
More Than Training at the Rink
The other half of Lunin’s vision happens after skaters leave the ice.
Overnight campers will stay at Purdue University Fort Wayne, where the camp will have a dedicated campus building. Accommodations include four-bedroom apartments with individual bedrooms, queen beds, a full kitchen, living area and access to laundry facilities.
The campus also provides outdoor spaces, including walking trails, volleyball and barbecue areas.
SafeSport-compliant counselors will supervise camp participants, while planned transportation will move skaters between campus and PSM Icehouse. Meals, downtime and evening activities are built into the experience as well.
For families traveling to Fort Wayne, the idea is to bring the pieces of a traditional skating trip together into one experience.
But Lunin sees another benefit that has little to do with logistics.
Figure skating is largely an individual sport. Camp gives athletes the opportunity to experience it as a community.
“Working together, interacting and communicating is a main goal for Skate Like a Champ,” she said.
Skaters train alongside one another during the day, then have opportunities to relax, participate in activities and build friendships at night.
Building Something Bigger for Figure Skaters
By the time skaters leave Fort Wayne on June 19, Lunin hopes their experience will extend far beyond mastering a new element.
She wants them to leave with new techniques, exercises and skills; greater artistry and performance ability; more creativity on and off the ice; a better understanding of an official’s perspective; new skating friends; and, ultimately, an experience they will remember.
Interest in that vision is already extending well beyond Fort Wayne. In the early stages of promoting the 2027 camp, PSM Icehouse has received inquiries from families in California, Florida, Colorado, Washington, Kentucky and Massachusetts, among other locations.
For a camp that began as a three-day pilot with 23 skaters, that early interest is another indication of how much the idea has grown.
And for Lunin, that is exactly the point.
Skate Like a Champ isn’t simply becoming a longer camp in 2027. It is becoming the complete figure skating experience she envisioned from the beginning.
Skate Like a Champ Summer Camp 2027
June 14–19, 2027 | PSM Icehouse | Fort Wayne, Indiana
The detailed daily schedule and pricing will be released December 1, 2026. Registration begins March 1, 2027, with registration periods based on skating level and jumping ability.
