Harlem skaters break through barriers in predominantly white sport

In Harlem, figure skating exists behind an invisible wall. The sport has long been coded as elite, expensive, and white — which means for the predominantly Black and Latino families in this neighborhood, it's simply not part of the landscape. That's where Figure Skating in Harlem (FSH) enters.

For nearly 30 years, the nonprofit has been quietly dismantling that barrier. They offer sliding-scale classes so cost isn't the gatekeeper. They teach figure skating itself — the jumps, the spins, the discipline. But they've also woven in STEM tutoring, college prep, leadership training, and something harder to quantify: the message that these girls belong in spaces that weren't built for them.

"Our students live in the real world, and at FSH, they are changemakers," founder and CEO Sharon Cohen told Beyond Sport. "Simply by participating in a predominantly white sport, they are on the vanguard of equity issues." It's a deliberate framing — skating isn't just about athletic achievement. It's about presence, visibility, and refusing to accept the boundaries others have drawn.

The numbers suggest it's working. Eighty-four percent of FSH students advanced one testing level in skating, and 90% showed measurable improvement in STEM concepts. But the impact extends beyond what's easily measured — parents report shifts in self-esteem, team cohesion, and how their daughters see themselves in the world.

FSH has been hosting competitive synchronized skating events for 19 years, and last year, their students' stories reached a much wider audience through "Harlem Ice," a five-part docuseries on Disney+. The visibility matters. When a girl in Harlem sees someone who looks like her gliding across ice in a sport she thought wasn't for her, something shifts.

What started as a local program has become proof that barriers aren't immovable — they're just waiting for someone to decide they're worth breaking through.