In Harlem, New York — a city with a population mostly made up of Hispanic, Latino, and Black families — white-dominated sports like figure skating are especially out of reach.
Enter: Figure Skating in Harlem.
The nonprofit offers sliding-scale figure skating classes and tuition to girls of color. Beyond breaking barriers for skating, FSH also offers academic and leadership classes, college and career support, and social-emotional learning opportunities.
FSH goes even further, connecting students to social justice and community activism efforts to help instill a sense of responsibility in social change.
“Our students live in the real world, and at FSH, they are changemakers,” founder and CEO Sharon Cohen told Beyond Sport.
“They are encouraged to use their voices effectively and to persuasively fight injustices; simply by participating in a predominantly white sport, they are on the vanguard of equity issues.”
The organization has been operational for nearly three decades and has hosted competitive synchronized skating competitions for the last 19 years.
Skaters’ stories have even been highlighted in a five-part docuseries called “Harlem Ice” on Disney+, shining a light on FSH’s efforts to reduce barriers to entry in the figure skating world.
Figure skating itself has proven to be a successful modality in building empowerment and discipline.
An estimated 84% of FSH students moved up one testing level and 90% showed an improved competency in STEM concepts after getting involved with the sport, on top of their increased determination and physical well-being.
“FHS is the best program for the young ladies of Harlem,” FHS parent Allison Neal Springett said. “Self-esteem building, team building, and social awareness — the opportunity afforded [to] them is amazing.”
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A version of this article was originally published in The 2025 Sports Edition of the Goodnewspaper.
Header image courtesy of Figure Skating in Harlem
