Get in Touch.

Jessica coaches skaters from approximately age 6 through professional level. Most clients are competitive hockey players ages 8–18, but she regularly works with college and adult professional athletes seeking elite skating refinement.

Not at all. The vast majority of Jessica's clients are hockey players who have never done figure skating. Her job is to translate figure skating mechanics into hockey-specific outcomes — your player will skate in hockey skates, work on hockey movements, and train for hockey results.

Sessions are based in the Greater Toronto Area. Specific rink locations are confirmed at booking based on ice availability and session format. Visiting athletes from out of town are welcome — Jessica regularly hosts traveling skaters and can help coordinate intensive training blocks.

The easiest path is to share your player's age, current level, and goals via the contact form — Jessica will recommend the best starting format. Generally, players preparing for tryouts or with specific weaknesses benefit most from private sessions, while developmental players thrive in semi-private or group formats.

Standard hockey gear — properly fitted hockey skates, helmet with cage, and gloves at minimum. Full equipment is recommended for any drills involving contact or game-situation work. Sharp blades matter — please have skates sharpened before session day.

Jessica's calendar fills quickly, especially in the pre-tryout months of late summer and early fall. Two to three weeks of advance notice is typical for private bookings; group sessions and seasonal programs run on set schedules announced ahead of each cycle. Reach out as early as possible to lock in your preferred times.

No, and that is deliberate. Coaching packages include instruction only; ice rental is billed separately at $226 per hour and shared among the skaters in each session, so nobody subsidises anybody else. That works out to approximately $75 per skater with three on the ice, $57 with four, and $45 with five. Your ice fee is confirmed once session enrollment is finalized.

Skating is the skill every other skill sits on top of. A player who cannot get to the puck first, hold an edge through a corner battle, or recover after a pivot is limited in every zone no matter how good their hands are. Power skating earns its cost when it is technical correction rather than more laps — a coach watching one skater's mechanics and fixing them rep by rep. That is what a Sawkins Elite session is built to be.

Mechanical changes — a deeper knee bend, a cleaner outside edge, a quieter stride — are the first things a coach can correct directly and a player can feel. Speed and game application take longer, which is why the seasonal blocks run seven to ten weeks rather than as one-offs. Progress varies with age, starting point and how much of the correction carries over to team ice, so Jessica sets expectations at the start rather than promising a timeline.

A skills coach works on what a player does with the puck — handling, shooting, deception, small-area play. Power skating works on how the player moves underneath all of that: edges, stride mechanics, transitions, balance and body control. The two are complementary, and most competitive players eventually need both. Sawkins Elite is a skating program first — every drill is chosen to change how a player moves, then applied to a game situation so the technique transfers.

Figure skating is judged on edge quality, weight transfer and blade control, so those mechanics are taught explicitly rather than picked up by feel — and they are the same mechanics that decide who wins a corner battle or a race to a loose puck. Jessica's work is translating that technical depth into hockey movement, in hockey skates. Your player trains in their own hockey gear, on hockey movements, for hockey outcomes. Read the full article on figure skating for hockey players.

Never. Your player trains in their own hockey skates, on hockey movements, for hockey outcomes. The figure skating input is the technical standard behind the coaching — the edge mechanics, the weight transfer, the blade control — not the equipment. Sharp blades matter, so please have skates sharpened before session day.

The Sawkins Hybrid Method is the skating development system Jessica built to apply competitive figure skating technique to the demands of hockey. It is trained across four pillars, and every session reinforces all four: edges and balance, explosive power, agility and footwork, and body control. Every drill is grounded in figure-skating precision and then translated into a game situation a player will actually face — a race to the puck, a battle in the corner, gap control on the rush.

Skating is one of the first things evaluators see — who separates, who recovers cleanly after a pivot, who still looks composed on the last shift of a long skate. Pre-tryout preparation is work Jessica does regularly, and her calendar fills quickly in the pre-tryout months of late summer and early fall. Private sessions are usually the best fit when there is a specific weakness to work on against a deadline.

The seasonal packages run one session a week across a seven to ten week block, a cadence most competitive players can sustain alongside team practices and games. Players preparing for tryouts or working on a specific weakness can add private sessions alongside a package — email Jessica to arrange one. The full guide covers how to fit skating work into a season that is already busy.

No. What changes with age is that habits are more established, so the work is genuine re-training rather than first-time learning, and it takes consistent weekly repetition rather than one session. Jessica has coached skaters from house league to elite for more than 20 years, at every point on that curve.

Yes. Sawkins Elite coaches female and male players at every level, from house league through AAA, Junior, college and professional. Jessica competed internationally in figure skating and played university-level hockey herself, so the standard she coaches to is the one she was held to. Share your player's age, level and goals through the contact form and she will recommend a starting format.

Yes. Jessica works with skaters from approximately age 6 through professional level, including college and adult professional athletes seeking elite skating refinement. At that level the work is refinement rather than foundation — edge quality, efficiency, and speed that has quietly eroded under a heavy schedule. Private sessions are the usual format; email sawkinseliteskating@gmail.com to arrange one.

The 2026-27 season runs in blocks: Fall (Sept 7 – Nov 1, 8 weeks), Winter 1 (Nov 2 – Dec 20, 7 weeks), Winter 2 (Jan 4 – Mar 14, 10 weeks), a March Break program (Mar 15 – 19) and a Spring Training program. There is a holiday break from Dec 20 to Jan 3 with no sessions. Packages cover group sessions only — private sessions are arranged directly by email — and 48 hours' notice is required for a missed session, which is then credited as a makeup date. Sessions missed without notice are forfeited.

Ice is $226 per hour, split evenly among the skaters in the session, and the coaching fee is quoted separately when you enquire. With three skaters the ice works out to roughly $75 each, four about $57, and five about $45; a 1:1 session is not split, so the full hourly ice fee applies. Coaching fees for private and semi-private sessions are not published here, because those sessions are arranged directly and the current rate is confirmed when you get in touch. Group programs are booked as seasonal packages rather than by the session. Email sawkinseliteskating@gmail.com with your child's age, level, and what you want to work on, and we will come back with current availability and rates.

Power skating is technical coaching of how a hockey player skates: edge control, stride mechanics, balance, and how efficiently effort turns into speed. It is not conditioning, and it is not a skills session built around pucks. The work is on the mechanics underneath everything else a player does on the ice. In our sessions that breaks into four areas — edges and balance, explosive power, agility and footwork, and body control — and players train in their own hockey skates and hockey gear, so the corrections carry over to how they actually play. Read the full guide to what power skating is and who it suits.

Your child likely needs power skating if skating is what is limiting them rather than their hands or their hockey sense: they get beaten to loose pucks, fade late in shifts, or their stride looks much the same as it did two seasons ago. It also helps players moving up a level, where the pace jumps and inefficient mechanics start to show. A young or brand-new skater who is still finding their balance usually gains more from general ice time first, because power skating refines a base rather than replacing one. The full guide walks through the signs that skating is what is holding a player back.

There is no fixed starting age. Jessica coaches skaters from approximately age six through professional, and readiness matters more than the birthday: a child is ready for power skating when they can skate the length of the ice under control, stop, and take a correction from a coach and try it again. If your child is still unsteady on their feet or brand new to the ice, general skating time will serve them better for now, since there is no advantage in starting technical work before there is something to refine. Younger or newer skaters who are ready often do best in a private or semi-private session, where the instruction is direct and there is no waiting in line behind a group. Read the full guide on what age to start and how to tell whether your player is ready.

Start technical skating work well before the tryout date, because your child is skating on every shift of every drill and scrimmage, and it is one of the most constantly visible parts of their game. Preparation is broader than skating alone: gear that fits and allows knee bend, familiar routines rather than new ones during tryout week, and one or two concrete focus points per session all matter. On the skating itself, give any correction time to become automatic instead of adding something new in the final week. Match the format to the goal: a private or semi-private session for a specific technical fix, a group session for skating at competitive pace alongside other players. The full tryout guide on this site sets out a twelve-week plan in more detail. Read the full tryout preparation guide.