Putting the ‘Community’ in KCI

Seattle isn’t Chad Goodwin’s first stop as a skating director, coach and supreme advocate for taking to the ice. But in his five years at Kraken Community Iceplex, the former elite figure skating competitor admits to being surprised in one of the most pleasing and personal ways.  

“A great thing here is the amount of adults who want to skate in the adult community at large,” said Goodwin. “People have really taken an interest in our facility and are taking advantage of it. The pattern is they start in our learn-to-skate classes. Then they go to a few public skate sessions. Then you see them here two, three days a week skating in our public skates consistently over the years, just skating and having fun. They come for the sense of community and the fitness.” 

That’s starting from Day 1 back in 2021, said Goodwin, who was skating director for the Vegas NHL franchise’s training center for four years and founded a similar skating program in Whitefish, Montana, before that. Goodwin and the Kraken Sleakating Academy have welcomed thousands of adult and youth attendees to Learn-to-Skate programs in Northgate over five years.  

From the Learn-to-Skate program, participants have a pathway to Learn-to-Figure Skate classes as part of the “Emerald Edge” progression for figure skaters. The other pathway is Learn-to-Play Hockey.

Learn-to-Skate classes run 30 minutes each over an eight-week series. Age divisions include seaworthy youngster classifications: Cuttlefish (3 to 6 years), BigFin (7 to 17) and Adults (18-plus).  

“We hit 2,400 each year during the first couple of years between youth and adults in Learn-to-Skate and Emerald Edge between those two programs,” said Goodwin. “That first year we were running Learn-to Skate classes six days a week. Even now, we still hit close to 2,000 kids and adults every year between Learn-to-Skate and Emerald Edge.”  

Make no mistake. While Kraken youth and adult hockey numbers stand strong alongside hockey training centers across the U.S., KCI activities expand significantly beyond that sport. That’s by design. The Kraken brain trust always wanted the training center to be a hub for ice sports and more in the region (hence the “Community” in the KCI name).  

That’s a major reason the Starbucks coffeehouse at KCI supports outreach to the One Roof Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena. No day at KCI goes by without visitors grabbing a favorite beverage and maybe a bite to eat, plus customers seated at counter-tables along the windows to Rink 2, working on laptops, talking to friends and watching loved ones on the ice below.  

“KCI is a great example of what has always set Starbucks apart – a welcoming coffeehouse where people gather to connect over coffee handcrafted by our skilled Green Apron baristas,” said Julissa McWashington, Starbucks senior manager for global social impact. “From ceramic cups available for those who want to relax and stay awhile to cups that can be returned for reuse to ensuring the space is intentionally designed, we are making it a place for our customers to enjoy and feel comfortable.” 

Rounding out the community vibe is the popular 32 Bar & Grill, which provides inviting opportunities to gather socially along with an appetizing menu of food and drinks. Plus, the spacious KCI main lobby serves as a routine gathering space for parents and their figure skating children, who can be seen warming up with foam rollers and stretch equipment, say, next to a gaggle of friends coming off the ice from a public skate.

The same goes for Kraken fans who arrive to watch training camp this fall and practices throughout the season. They can grab a Starbucks order or get snacks at the main lobby front desk, including freshly popped popcorn that somehow fits perfectly into the comings and goings at KCI.  

Many Options for Visitors, On and Off the Ice 

A typical day at KCI varies, since so many options and a variety of activities fill up time slots at the Iceplex’s three rinks from 6 a.m. until well past midnight, with dressing rooms available starting at 5:30 in the morning. Depending on the day or time of year, rink schedules feature public skates, “freestyle” figure skating for those beyond novice status, development camps for figure skating and hockey, curling, broomball and adaptive hockey (players can store their sleds at KCI, and the proximity to light rail is a huge plus for travel). There are also birthday parties (complete with pizza pre-gaming), “lacrockey” (a game on skates with lacrosse sticks and ball introduced this summer) and “tot play hour” (toddlers and parents allowed on ice with or without skates while the Zamboni driver leaves a pile of snow at center ice for creative-kid use). What’s more, KCI planners make time for monthly sensory-friendly skates among the daily allotment of stick-and-puck sessions, youth hockey practices, adult hockey league play and tournaments. Also ongoing: Rented ice time for private social and corporate events. 

Not to be overlooked, Goodwin and his team, intending to be on the cutting edge of skating sports, now offer synchronized skating for adults and kids. Synchronized skating is already recognized as a competitive sport in figure skating circles and primed for full liftoff as an official sport at the 2030 Olympics in the French Alps, where a debut “Synchro9” event will feature nine skaters syncing to music and choreography.  

Thanks to One Roof Foundation funding, the monthly and yearly rink dockets include a 36-week program for kids ages three to five as part of the Refugee Women’s Alliance (ReWa), plus additional field trips to introduce underrepresented students to the joys and physical benefits of skating.

Looking Back, Thinking Ahead 

Krista Leesment, KCI vice president of business operations, began her role during the Iceplex’s later stages of construction, nine months before the grand opening. As the Iceplex prepares for Year 6, Leesment recently reflected on the early days. 

“What’s most interesting for me has been taking it from a great construction site and a visionary concept to actually running it on a daily basis,” said Leesment, who wears the No. 40 jersey for the RedHots team in the women’s division of the adult Kraken Hockey League. “We needed everything. We needed point-of-sale systems. We needed an org chart. We needed signage inside the building; we needed telephone lines. We were working with everyone to open the doors.”  

Then the learning started in earnest for Leesment and colleagues: “The first year was us discovering, ’What's it going to be like in the fall and winter season? What's it going to be like in the spring? What's it going to be like in the summer?’ We got a sense of that after a full cycle of year 1 and looked for ways to optimize the experience in year 2 for each person coming to KCI, focusing on continual improvement in our systems and processes.  Every year we learn a little bit more.” 

Leesment and Goodwin both said they “can’t believe we’re hitting five years,” and each offered perspective and a look ahead. 

“What’s neat to see is there's an opportunity for people to have some sort of a Kraken experience, even if they haven’t actually gone to a game yet, right?” said Leesment. “Figure skaters come here, and they skate in the Kraken Skating Academy. They're having their own Kraken experience. It’s really cool that everyone can connect with the Kraken.  

“There are so many different ways of being hockey fans. When you go to a game, and you talk to people about why they are there, you might hear some 17 different reasons why people love watching Kraken hockey. At KCI, I think I could come up with double that. Like 35 different reasons why people love participating here, having their own Kraken personal connection.” 

Go Figure (Skate) It  

For his part, Goodwin is thrilled with the progress of figure skaters in the Emerald Edge pipeline, especially since the KCI program is five years old while other figure skating clubs across the U.S. have operated for several decades, some even upwards of 80 years. The figure skaters’ rising development parallels the success of Kraken Youth Hockey Association teams, which have impressed in regional and national competitions.

“A lot of our figure skaters now have really grown organically through our program,” said Goodwin. “Five years later, we have skaters doing their double jumps. They're going to compete at the national qualifying series. They're just getting started at those early levels. It's going to be fun to see where we are able to take them over the next few years.”

Fittingly, Goodwin and his coaching staff align with KCI's overall mission to build community. Many advanced figure skaters begin working with individual coaches, yet Goodwin encourages interaction among all skaters.  

“We’re developing at the competitive level of figure skating, and we have a great group of coaches, some very experienced, educated international-level coaches on our team,” said Goodwin. “What’s really great is these coaches are very open to working with everybody. We can grow something together, rather than in situations where separate individuals coach teams and nobody talks to each other. 

“We want Olympic-level skaters coming out of KCI, just like we want the NHL development in our youth hockey association. That's a goal. But we also come together as a community. Every Tuesday, our figure skaters have group ballet. Wednesdays, we have group stretch class. All are led by our own coaches... we want to grow and develop the skaters to a high level and make it fun too.”