The place has helped produce Olympians and world champions and a growing number of stars who have represented America and beyond.
Great Park Ice can motivate so dramatically, in fact, that a person might feel lifted even before they put on skates.
“When you come here to train, you’re elevated because of the quality of the facility and the coaching,” choreographer Shae-Lynn Bourne says. “When you walk in – because it’s really lovely and has everything you need – you walk taller.”
Since opening in 2019, the building has become a hub of the elite figure skating world while also serving as the practice home of the Anaheim Ducks.
Its training alumni include Nathan Chen, the 2022 Olympic gold medalist, and Ilia Malinin and Andrew Torgashev, America’s top two finishers in men’s singles at the Winter Games last month in Italy.
‘Legacy of skating excellence’
“This is the mecca of skating for the West Coast, certainly,” says Alex Chang, the facility’s director of skating. “We had high hopes when we first opened, but nobody really could have predicted that all this would happen.”
Chang credits coaches like Rafael Arutyunyan and Bourne, a former ice dance world champion and one of the sport’s most sought-after choreographers.
Arutyunyan, 68, is in his 50th year of coaching. His pupils include Michelle Kwan, Adam Rippon and Sasha Cohen, each an Olympian. He worked most recently with both Malinin and Torgashev.
“There’s a legacy of skating excellence throughout the company and throughout the coaching staff, and it starts with Rafael,” Chang says. “He’s ever-present in all that we do. His impact can’t be denied anywhere around here.”
Golden ties
Arutyunyan is the main reason Kirk Haugeto moved to Orange County with his mother, Wendy, from New Jersey a year ago. Now 17, Haugeto says he kept noticing how many elite skaters had ties to Arutyunyan and Great Park Ice.
Haugeto calls the facility’s environment incredible, noting that it can feel intimidating at times but is more so motivating. He says his experience with Arutyunyan has been exactly what he needed.
“Sometimes Raf can be a little strict,” Haugeto says. “But you have to know that he’s trying to help you, and if you listen to him, you’ll get better.”
The opportunity to train next to accomplished skaters like Malinin and Torgashev has been an inspiration, says Haugeto, this kid from the East Coast now able to dream well beyond the borders of his home country.
“When you come here to train, you’re elevated because of the quality of the facility and the coaching.”
Shae-Lynn Bourne, choreographer
Exceeding expectations
In February, he gathered with others at Great Park Ice to watch Malinin and Torgashev compete in Italy, the party a celebration of Irvine’s latest contribution to figure skating’s brightest moment.
“It’s really crazy to see somebody you train with skating on a big stage like the Olympics,” Haugeto says.
“It also means you can think about how someday that could be you. That’s the motivation. I could see myself one day on that stage. I hope to be there, at least.”
Great Park Ice occupies nearly 300,000 square feet, holds four sheets of ice – three built to NHL specifications and one to Olympic standards – and stretches two stories high to accommodate all that’s happening inside.
Already massive, its footprint in the sport grew even larger in January when both Arutyunyan and Chen were inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame.
“The backbone of the company is so strong that applying the strategic development across the board has been instrumental in executing what was possible,” Chang says. “But, to be honest with you, yeah, this has definitely exceeded my expectations.”
