Coaching Team

Kearra Landon

Kearra has been skating for 23 years, starting her skating career at the age of 2 with the Drumheller Skating Club. She has been coaching for five seasons with the Drumheller Skating Club, starting as the Canskate coach in 2021. Now, Kearra is the club's head coach, overseeing the IntroStar program and teaching all of the Starskate program. Kearra shares her love for skating by coaching in an engaging, inclusive, and adaptive way to help each individual find success.

Kearra's favourite discipline to coach is freeskate. Freeskate is where she can teach skaters jumps and spins that can then be incorporated into a creatively choreographed program. The skaters have the opportunity to express their musicality and technical skills in a unique, individualized way.

Kearra's advice to anyone who wants to skate or is already skating is not to be afraid to fall. Falling does not mean that you are failing. When you fall, it means that you are challenging yourself to try something new, and there is something very powerful in picking yourself back up and trying again. Perserverance is an essential life skill that skating helps to develop. "I always tell the skaters, "If you never fall, then you're not pushing yourself to be a stronger skater."

Kearra's biggest inspiration is her mom, who is also a figure skating coach. She introduced Kearra to the world of skating and helped her become the skater and now coach she is today by instilling strong values and love for skating.

Sam Kendell

Coach Sam has been helping coach CanSkate for over 10 years, bringing a fun, positive, and encouraging energy to every session. Her favourite skills to teach are jumps, and she love nothing more than watching skaters gain confidence and achieve their goals.

Sam’s skating journey began at just 5 years old, and one of her most memorable moments on the ice was landing her axel for the first time—still Sam’s favourite jump to this day (and yes, she can still land some of those old jumps!).

When Sam isn’t on the ice, you’ll likely find her enjoying a hot chocolate or spending time with friends and family.

For skaters who feel nervous, Sam’s advice is simple and reassuring: take a deep breath and have fun—nerves mean you care. Inspired by both her skaters and fellow coaches, Sam’s coaching style can be summed up in one word: encouraging.

Sam’s favourite skating motto says it all:

“Fall down seven times, get up eight.”