About Mountain View Skating Academy

The Mission of the MVSA:  

     The MVSA provides a fun and safe experience for Southwest Washington and the greater Portland metro area ice skaters of all ages and abilities. The academy's goal is to develop athleticism and a solid foundation of skills for the aspiring hockey player, the competitive figure skater, or the life-long recreational skater. As an MVSA member, skaters are offered opportunities at all levels of ice skating. These opportunities include group skill development classes, such as the Learn to Skate Program, the Learn to Play Hockey Program, the Learn to Compete Figure Skating Program, and the Jr. Academy for the intermediate to advanced as well as the Sr. Academy for the adult skater. The academy runs year-round at various times of day to fit a skater's schedule.      

    The MVSA is located at the Mountain View Ice Arena in Vancouver, WA. The MVSA Skating Director is Leslie Brooks-Foppe. The MVSA is directly aligned with its home rink, Mountain View Ice Arena, in Vancouver, WA. In addition, many MVSA skaters are members of the US Figure Skating Club, Portland Ice Skating Club (PISC), which holds its annual Fall competition, the Ice Crystal Classic, at the MVIA. 

The History of the MVSA:  

    In early 2020, Mountain View Ice Arena was on a clear and defined path to meet and exceed its goal to bring superior, comprehensive, and robust ice skating to the Southwest Washington market. Unfortunately, as with many businesses in and around the Southwest Washington community, the evolvement of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020 caused extensive damage to the rink's ability to reach those goals as it was shuttered for nearly eight months. As a result, there was a significant concern as to whether the rink could recover from the pressure of the mandated closures and then the minimal on-ice capacity rules presented by the pandemic.      

    To address these concerns, MVIA management partnered with a select group of community members to ensure the rink continued to thrive in the local market. This team completely revamped the traditional ice-skating programs provided by the rink as the conventional model could no longer accommodate the ever-changing landscape of business due to the pandemic. The 2020 challenge ultimately enabled MVIA rink management to relaunch its brand and roll out enhanced programs to directly connect to the local ice skater market.      

    The result of this revamp was the January 2021 launch of the Mountain View Skating Academy and the USFS Aspire Program, which naturally lent to small group formats, thus allowing skaters back on the ice safely. Once restrictions began to lift, MVSA relaunched the Learn-to-Skate program allowing an additional number of skaters safely back on the ice. Finally, in the Summer of 2022, the MVSA launched the Learn-to-Play hockey and the Learn-to-Compete figure skating programs for skaters advancing from Learn-to-Skate and wanting to take the next steps in their ice skating careers. 

     As of 2023, the academy has successfully grown its enrollment to over 700 skaters within the various MVSA programs. We look forward to growing our team and expanding our programs to broaden our reach into the community. 

Thank you, Leslie Brooks-Foppe, MVIA & MVSA Skating Director