Glide to Growth: Synchronized Skating Community Connects Through Global Nonprofit

Think back to being 17 years old.

At that time in life, students are juniors or seniors in high school who might be balancing school with one or two extracurricular activities and are starting to think about where to apply for college. Now think about that and add competing as a member of Team USA and running a global nonprofit and you get Amy Ji.

Ji is currently a senior at the University of Chicago Lab School – a private high school in Chicago, Illinois affiliated with the University of Chicago. She also competes in synchronized skating as a member of Team USA with Teams Elite, training approximately 13 hours weekly. Combined with her on and off-ice training is a 1 ½ hour commute from school to the rink each way.

On top of an already full schedule, at 16 years old, Ji founded a nonprofit called Glide to Growth, which offers free skating lessons to people with disabilities. She serves as the president and is very hands-on with teaching lessons.

"I feel like [each activity is] a reward, and it's a step to helping other people learn and also helping myself explore and experience different things," said Ji of her motivation to keeping such a busy schedule.

Interested in the intersection between neuroscience and skating, Ji began pursuing independent research opportunities outside of school as a sophomore. Through her ongoing research over the past two years with the Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute, Ji discovered that skating has multiple benefits for children physically, mentally and emotionally.

"What I got from my research was that the central nervous system has adapted over time because figure skaters rotate, and they tilt and they balance so much on the ice that ultimately it helps them maintain their core and maintain their upper body and lower body movements," Ji said. "So, a lot of neurodivergent children who might be struggling with their upper body or lower body balance can actually benefit a lot from being on the ice."

Inspired by her research and positive experience with Teams Elite, Ji decided to take her findings one step further in 2022 and start Glide to Growth.

"I can attribute my inspiration to Teams Elite," said Ji, who has skated with Teams Elite for five seasons, beginning as a juvenile and now entering her second season as a junior. "Teams Elite provided a second family to me. It provided a close community and I felt like I could do that better by creating a community myself, which is why I was inspired to do this nonprofit."

Glide to Growth uses U.S. Figure Skating's adaptive skating curriculum as the foundation to work with individuals with various disabilities such as autism, dyspraxia, dyslexia or other disabilities that may cause muscle weakness or delays in fine motor skills.

Over time, Ji has noticed how these skating lessons have had a positive impact on students.

"Through constant lessons, a lot of students have shown that they've been improving a lot," Ji said. "One of my students was first struggling with picking up his foot and marching, but after a few months of lessons, he's been able to do that really easily."

Parents of these students have also noticed how skating has had a positive impact on their child's mental well-being as well.

"A lot of the parents have noticed that their kids have been in much brighter spirits after getting on the ice and that figure skating is their favorite sport, which makes me so happy to hear," Ji said.

Glide to Growth was founded just last year and has helped more than 100 children ages 5 to 13 worldwide. The nonprofit, run by a staff of more than 30 young women, has expanded to three different continents with branches in Russia, Australia, France, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Within the United States, there are branches in Illinois, Washington D.C., New Jersey and California.

To grow her organization, Ji started at her school, enlisting the help of classmates from the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools to fill her board of managers, which help with finances, fundraising, communications and social media.  

She then recruited fellow synchronized skaters from across the United States and the world to serve as directors, which are responsible for working with their local skating clubs to procure ice time and spreading the word about free lessons for people with disabilities.

Within the United States, skaters representing Teams Elite, Team Image and DC EDGE work with Glide to Growth while international athletes from Team Unity, Jeanne D'Arc, Team Seaside and Starlight Elite operate the international branches.  

"I really get to know some of the people who are on different teams, and regardless of whether they're competitors or not, I think that it's important that we come together to help neurodivergent children … The fact that the majority of us are synchronized skaters already connects us really well to each other," Ji said.

Because the synchronized skating community is very tight-knit, it made it easy for Ji to ask other skaters to become involved with Glide to Growth. Ji reached out through social media and spoke to skaters at competitions, and people were quick to jump in and get involved.

"It's a very close environment," Ji said. "Every time I go to practice, it is something that I always look forward to because not only is the environment so connected, but the coaches are super supportive. In general, I just love synchronized skating so much because it's a team. It's an environment where I can still skate, but then also connect with 22 other skaters and it really does feel like family to me."

Having this nonprofit involve the synchronized skating community on a global scale is really special for Ji.

"Honestly, it makes me feel very proud, and it makes me feel like our community is even more connected because it's not just through our shared love of skating, but also through volunteer work and helping neurodivergent children," Ji said. "The whole spirit of Teams Elite is very family-like, and we're all super close to each other. From that familial environment, it's transformed into Glide to Growth, and I really love and I'm really proud of the work that we've done so far."

As for Ji personally, she is looking forward to competing with Teams Elite this season and her independent research on the intersection between neuroscience and figure skating will soon be published in the International Journal of High School Research in February of 2024. She has also now started applying to colleges, where she plans to study neuroscience and sociology and skate collegiately.

Although she'll soon be moving on to a new chapter of her life, she looks forward to continuing her work with Glide to Growth and continue her mission to make an impact on the world.

"I hope to continue expanding [Glide to Growth] and allow more skaters — even aside from synchronized skating — to help neurodivergent children on the ice," Ji said. "Even when I do go to college, I hope to also start expanding it there and creating a close community."