Coaches
Our coaches are unpaid volunteers devoted to sharing their skating knowledge and skills with all enthusiasts. They all have been checked by the Child Protection Unit. They coach and respect each skater as an individual, whatever their ability, from nervous beginners having some fun or competent skaters with an ambition to enter national / international competitions or progress professionally.
Lewis Clarke—I have been skating for 30 years and teaching for at least 15. I started skating in the early 70s at the local club in Swindon and started competing in the late 70s in couples dance and solo skating. Later on, taking up free skating, one of the events I competed in was the Welsh National Championships in which I qualified for the finals and achieved 6th place. I became a Bronze medallist in 1980 in free skating, and bronze medallist in dance in 1982. In the same year, I joined the Roller Skating Coaching Federation of Great Britain and attained a teaching diploma Grades 1- 6. I continued coaching until I had to leave the sport due to changing circumstances in my life at that time.
I joined the Stratford Park Skating Club in 2001, competing at senior and veteran levels, achieving second place at the British championships in the couple dance. Having also attained a teaching diploma with FARS and current FARS Coaching Licence, I now enjoy the privilege of taking on a major coaching role at the Stratford Park Skating Club.
Jenny Newby—Jenny has skated at the club since she was eight years old, and been skating at Stratford Park since 1978. She is qualified to teach and assess basic skills 1-6 and holds a current coaching licence. She also teaches dance up to gold level. She achieved silver medals at the 2002, 2003 and 2004 British championships with Lewis Clarke, and is still actively competing in solo events for Stratford Park as well as coaching.
Jenny has also organized several highly successful dance training days at the club.
