Kathy has been with Midwest Training and Ice Center since 2007. She has 28 years of experience in office work; billing, scheduling, and as an office manager. Her first week at Midwest she was in awe of all the kids here – from the tiniest of hockey players to the smallest gymnasts. Kathy says “They are all awesome in what they do – they are all so talented!”

Kathy, herself, is a talented artist who has done many shows and enjoys decorative painting. Her other hobbies include gardening, home canning, and to bake and cook.

Michelle is Midwest Elite All Star Cheerleading Program Director. She is currently the Clark Middle School (Saint John, IN) Cheerleading Coach, as well.

She has over 25 years experience in cheerleading, gymnastics, and tumbling, in addition to over 10 years coaching experience. Michelle was a competitive Artistic Gymnast for 8 years.

Michelle was a cheerleader in pop warner, cheered at Marian Catholic High School, made the Illinois All-State Cheerleading Team, Participated in Allstar Cheerleading with Cheer Command (formerly known as Windy City Rockets). She attended Purdue University where she competed with the Purdue Cheer & Stunt Club as well as Cheer Express All Star Open level 6 team.

Venissa joins us as a Front Office Staff Personnel! Venissa studied at both Indiana University and Loyola Business. Venissa has worked in administration and office management for over 15 years, which gives her experience to maintain the office.

Venissa has worked with Midwest since June 2013, and works in our Crown Point Office. Venissa is married with a teenage daughter who excels in Artistic Gymnastics, Cheer, and tumbling. Thanks in a large part to the coaches and staff at Midwest. Venissa is the coach for Wheeler Middle School Cheerleaders for Crown Point School Corporation.

Lisa has been with Midwest Training and Ice Center since the first day it opened in 2006!

She was a secretary for over 30 years and is married with 4 kids. Outside of Midwest, Lisa enjoys spending time with her family and camping.

Zachary played minor professional hockey for 4 season after players two seasons of Division 1 Hockey at RIT. He made stops in the ECHL, MAHL and AAHL during his hockey playing career.

Zachary currently instructs the off-ice program for the Blackbirds youth hockey program and officiates for Midwest.

Stephanie has been skating 20 + years and has competed in freestyle and solo ice dance competitions. She earned two medals at the National Solo Ice Dance Championship. She earned gold in 2012 for Gold Pattern Dance and silver in 2016 for International Pattern Dance.

Stephanie has passed the following tests: Gold Dance, Senior Moves, Novice Freestyle and 7 international ice dances. Stephanie has been coaching private lessons since 2011 and has been Midwest’s Figure Skating Director since 2012.

Carrie has been skating over 20 years and has been involved with ISI since 1993 and U.S. Figure Skating since 2002. She skated competitively as an individual through ISI for 13 years and U.S. Figure Skating for 7 years.

Carrie was a member of the Homewood-Flossmoor Icettes for 8 years. She is currently a member of Chicago Radiance and has been skating with the team since 2016. Carrie has been coaching since 2008 and coaching at Midwest since 2011.

Hannah lives in Crown Point, IN, with her dog named Willow. She started gymnastics when she was three years old and started competing when she was five working her way all the way up to the Junior Level on Trampoline.

She attended Lake Central High School where she was a Varsity Cheerleader. Hannah has a Business Degree in Marketing & Entrepreneurship from Purdue University Calumet, and she plans to go back to get her Masters Degree. Hannah has been coaching at Midwest since 2010.

Michelle is Midwest Elite All Star Cheerleading Program Director. She is currently the Clark Middle School (Saint John, IN) Cheerleading Coach, as well.

She has over 25 years experience in cheerleading, gymnastics, and tumbling, in addition to over 10 years coaching experience. Michelle was a competitive Artistic Gymnast for 8 years.

Michelle was a cheerleader in pop warner, cheered at Marian Catholic High School, made the Illinois All-State Cheerleading Team, Participated in Allstar Cheerleading with Cheer Command (formerly known as Windy City Rockets). She attended Purdue University where she competed with the Purdue Cheer & Stunt Club as well as Cheer Express All Star Open level 6 team.

Oleg lives in Cedar Lake, IN, with his cat named Bingo. He graduated with a Bachelors Degree from Moscow University of Physical Culture and Sport.

As an athlete, he was a Master of Sport USSR International Level, and from 1980 – 1990, he was a member of the USSR National Team. During his time, Oleg saw a lot of accomplishments. He was part of numerous championship teams including: the World Championship Team of 1986 and the Senior European Championship Team of 1987. He also was on the 3rd Place Junior European Team of 1984 and was part of many teams that placed on a World Cup from 1983 – 1990.

After his competition days, he was in the Cirque du Soliel Show from 1997 – 2003. He then found himself entering into the coaching world. In 2003, he coached the National Olympic Qualifier, Jennifer Perilla, and he severed as the USA National Team Coach that same year, along with 2009 and 2013. In 2007, he coached Olympic Qualifier, Brittany Dirk. Along with Perilla and Dirk, Oleg coached numerous Senior Champions on Trampoline throughout his coaching years including: Ryan Weston, David Ford, and Hayley Butcher.

Oleg plans to continue coaching and wants to use his knowledge and experience to continue to help athletes win National and International Championships.

Alicia currently lives in Crown Point, IN. She is a graduate of Lake Central High School where she was a 4 year Varsity Cheerleader. Her Senior year she was the Cheer Captain and was also nominated by her team “Most Likely to Come Back and Coach”. After high school, she went on to Cheer in college for 1 year. This former Midwest Athlete also won a Sportsmanship Award and 2009 Athlete Standout Award at Lake Central.

As a coach with 10 years experience, she lived up to her team nomination and went back to be the Asst. Cheer Coach for 1 year at Lake Central. Most of her coaching years have been spent training athletes at Midwest!

Alicia is an animal lover and truly has a passion for coaching. Everyday she brings tons of enthusiasm to her job and keeps a fun and energetic personality and a positive attitude!

Jaide graduated from Lake Central in 2019. She is an animal lover owning 1 dog and 2 cats. She was a Varsity Cheerleader all four years.

Jaide is attending PNW and is studying Nursing.

Kim lives in Lansing, IL, and has a dog named Prince and a cat named Boots. She comes from a big family, having seven sisters.

Kim has seen a lot of success in her career. She was 1st Place AA at Level 7 State in the Junior Olympics and 1st Place AA at Level 8 State in the Junior Olypics. In college, she attended the University of Illinois at Chicago where she was MIC Conference Specialist of the Week, took 1st Place numerous times on Vault, and placed in the Top 3 several times on Bars.

During her time at UIC, she earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Criminal Law and is currently pursuing her Masters Degree in Criminal Law with a focus in Legal Studies at Grand Canyon University. In the future, she plans to attend law school.

Judy is a degreed Physical Educator with over 30 years of experience in the sport of gymnastics – club owner, head coach (club & high school), judge, and administrator. She is the former Illinois USA (USGF) Gymnastics State Chair, Junior Olympic Chair, and current Level 5 Chair.

She is a wife of over 40 years, mother of 3 (all successful gymnasts), and grandmother of 4. She brings the winning attitude of “Best Effort” to Midwest!

Rob started coaching in 1988 as a volunteer at a local YMCA. In 1991, he moved to Lakeshore Gymnastics where he stayed until purchasing the company in 2005. From 1994 to 1999 Rob also coached high school gymnastics at Portage High School and then from 2000 through 2005 he coached Chesterton High School seeing them through two State Championships and one Runner Up.

From 2005 to 2013, Rob built Lakeshore Gymnastics into the second largest gymnastics and cheer teams in the state and some of the most talented athletes in the region. Since 1988, Rob has coached over 30,000 kids, hundreds of State Champions and many Regional and National Qualifiers and Champions along with seeing over 30 of his athletes compete at the Collegiate level.

Rob has traveled the country coaching at multiple camps, training thousands of children to attain their goals.

Rob has served on the State Committee since 2010 both as the Level 7/8 Representative and currently on the Banquet and Hall of Fame Committees.

Rob’s accreditations through USA Gymnastics include but not limited to:

• National Coach: School of Competitive Gymnastics
• National Coach: Women’s Artistic Gymnastics
• Instructor: USA Gymnastics University
• Director: School of Recreational Gymnastics
• Executive: School of Business Certified Meet
• Director Rob joined Midwest in April of 2013 as the Head Team Coach in the Crown Point location.

Rob joined Midwest in April of 2013 as the Head Team Coach in the Crown Point location.

Attended Chesterton High School, Ivy Tech Community College, and Purdue University – West Lafayette. Roby was a Cheerleader for 4 years. Roby has been coaching for 8 years now, formerly of Lakeshore Gymnastics, and now at both Dyer and Crown Point Midwest locations.

His favorite part of coaching is when an athlete finally gets a skill they have been working on in forever! His favorite skill is a Layout!

Tara lives in Crown Point, IN. She is one of two girls in her family, along with her sister Julia, and she has a dog named Chloe.Tara started competing in Tumbling when she was 5 years old. Along with Tumbling, she grew up playing basketball, as well.

She graduated from Lake Central High School, where she was a 4 year Varsity Basketball player, and she received a scholarship to play basketball in college at Indiana University Northwest, where is is currently attending and studying Business and Economics.

Oscar has been a trainer since 2009. He has done jiu-jitsu for seven years and is a purple belt. Oscar’s favorite classes to coach are kickboxing/boxing; as his main focus is agility, speed, and endurance. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his two daughters.

Karen has been with Midwest Training and Ice Center since 2010. She is married with 2 children. Outside of Midwest, she enjoys spending time with her family and working out.