Spotlight on Staff: Linda Kola
By LINDA BROCKETT
staff assistant in the president’s office
She wasn’t born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but with silver blades on her feet instead. That fact becomes obvious while watching her instruct her students in the finer points of both hockey and figure skating. She moves with ease and grace, while displaying a look of hard concentration on her face. Linda Kola, new director of the Honnen Ice Arena, carries that concentration off the ice as well, along with a smile to greet those as they enter the arena.
Although not completely new to Honnen -- she has coached here in different capacities for many years -- Kola is fairly new to the business of running an arena, starting her new role in June 2001. “Having the opportunity to interview for manager and to be chosen is like the ultimate for me,” she says. “I have come from the bottom end of just being a skater, run the whole gamut of directing different skating programs, and now oversee an entire facility. I see things in a different light.”
And run the gamut she has. She started skating as a toddler and knew by the age of 12 that she wanted to coach figure skating. Postponing that goal briefly, Kola concentrated on testing at each figure skating level, turning professional at 19. She later began working toward her coaching goal and started skating programs at both the Pueblo and Sertich arenas, maintaining public and private coaching sessions with many students. She is a Professional Skaters Association Master Rated Coach and holds that rating in pairs, figures, freestyle, group, and group administration. She served as chair of the Basic Skills Committee through the United States Figure Skating Association (USFSA) that rewrote the learn-to-skate program used nationally. Kola currently serves as technical advisor to this group today. She also has received hockey skating certification through the Professional Skaters Association so she can teach budding hockey players, young and old, the fundamentals of skating well in that sport.
Although she has a love for figure skating, she says, “I enjoy teaching hockey skating because it has the added challenge of incorporating stick handling with the skating itself. It’s very exciting.” Not only does she have students competing in the junior, senior, and adult national levels for figure skating, but she also has hockey students playing on Division I teams. Her influence has been far-reaching.
With coaching, traveling for the USFSA as a mentor and teacher in the apprentice program for new and established coaches, and running the Honnen Arena, it would seem she would have time for little else. But that is definitely not the case. She loves to be outdoors, bike riding, roller blading, and participating in water sports. “I’m in a cold environment every day, all year around,” Kola says. “I try not to do anything outside of work where I’m going to be cold!” She also enjoys following her 16-year-old son Robert in his hockey pursuits, the exception to her “cold” rule. “He grew up as a CC baby, being around campus all his life and watching the Tigers play from behind the goalie net. I suspect that is why he is a goalie today!”
Kola is dedicated to making sure the arena benefits the college community in addition to bringing in revenue from different groups located in and out of the Colorado Springs area. She is busy scheduling ice time for those who need it, reaching out to the community to bring new people to the “front door of the college,” meeting with different skating enthusiasts from all over campus, and imparting her knowledge to skating students and colleagues. Her determination and sense of humor give her the balance to bring this widely varied schedule into order and serve all those who use Honnen Ice Arena.
