Julie is a member of United States Figure Skating & the Professional Skaters Association. She is a Gold medalist in Freestyle and Moves in the Field passing both senior level tests under the instruction of Amy Vecchio & Tom McGinnis. She was a 2004 Senior Ladies Regional competitor. She has over 22 years of coaching experience teaching both groups and private skaters, levels ranging from recreational to competitive as well as hockey. She currently holds a Certified Rating from PSA in Freestyle, and Moves in the Field, Registered Rating in Group with a Certified Sports Science certificate as well as apprenticed under Master Rated coach Debi Leeming. Julie is currently on professional staff at Colonial Figure Skating Club,  Northeast Ice Skating Club, and North Shore Skating Club. She is a Learn to Skate USA certified basic skills instructor for the Flynn rink, CN Skating, as well as the Stoneham Learn to Skate program, where she started her coaching career in 1998. Julie joined the Northeastern University Figure Skating Club as the team collegiate coach in the 2016/2017 season. In the 2020 season, the team qualified for the Virtual Intercollegiate Nationals which culminated with a top ten national placement.  

 

Julie graduated with her Bachelors of Science in Psychology from Merrimack College and Masters of Science in Applied Nutrition from Northeastern University. In 2019, she graduated from Simmons University in the Didactic Program in Dietetics. Julie is a Registered Dietitian, credentialed by the Commission of Dietetic Registration and Licensed to practice in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 

 

She has four years of training as a personal trainer and is currently an Aerobics and Fitness Association of America certified group exercise instructor teaching strength and conditioning classes geared specifically towards skaters offering classes at North Shore Skating Club, Colonial Figure Skating Club, and Northeastern University.

 

Julie has a strong belief in a multidisciplinary approach to skating that combines proper nutrition as well as strength and off ice conditioning to supplement athletic ability providing a sound skating technique.

 

My Goals:

Figure skating has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. It has often been quoted that figure skating requires the endurance of a runner, agility of a boxer, flexibility of a gymnast and grace of a dancer, which can be incredibly demanding. Each of these different characteristics must be individually developed and trained to present the skater as having the whole package. Skaters must have both the knowledge and training to attain this skater’s ideal.

 

Since retiring from competitive skating, I am focused on coaching professionally. It is my goal to be able to not only teach my skaters the fundamentals and solid technique of the sport, but also teach them proper life lessons that will help them once they are away from the arena. Proper nutrition and conditioning are integral to the athlete's training program in the sport of skating. As a professional skating coach, I have the ability to teach technical elements of the sport, but am also qualified and credentialed to give my skaters healthy nutrition advice and proper off ice training techniques that will result in a positive relationship with food, exercise and a healthy lifestyle. It is my mission and goal to succeed as not only a technically sound figure skating coach, but also a positive role model leading my skaters to make healthy nutritious food choices and make exercise a part of their life.

 

Background:

My experience of coaching young impressionable skaters over the last nineteen years has been an amazingly rewarding one. More notable are those skaters that have told me that I have unknowingly helped them to begin leading a healthier lifestyle, simply because I personally strive to live an active life while understanding the positive impact of eating nutritiously.  This is what prompted me to further my education, so that I would have the formal background and education to continue to guide my skaters towards a healthy lifestyle giving them the fuel necessary to maximize their athletic ability.

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Inspiring Change: Julianne Pondelli '18CDPD Takes Nutrition to the Ice