Figure Skating in Harlem (FSH) is a pioneering not-for-profit 501c3 organization founded in 1997 to provide exciting new educational, cultural and athletic opportunities for girls in the Harlem community through the unique discipline and art of figure skating.

Using figure skating as a powerful magnet, FSH provides girls who live in the Harlem community with an innovative ice skating and educational program designed to build a positive self-image, teamwork, leadership, and academic achievement. By participating in the FSH program, girls experience positive physical, emotional and intellectual growth in a safe and supportive environment.

FSH provides its students with these specific services:

• On-ice Instruction
• Academic Tutoring
• Group and Individual Counseling
• Educational Theory Classes
• Public Speaking Classes
• Career Workshops
• Movement Instruction
• Ice Skating Institute Testing
• Master Classes with guest pros
• Cultural Field Trips
• Performance Opportunities (annual ice show, and special exhibitions)
• Awards Banquet
• Summer Camp Scholarships
• Internships and Mentoring Opportunities

Girls between the ages of 6 and 16 who live in Harlem are elegible for enrollment. Participants primarily come from low and moderate-income families. While FSH is supported almost entirely by private donations from individuals, foundations and corporations, parents are asked to make a small tuition payment, which covers 10% of the overall costs. Some scholarships are available.

In 1989 the Princeton and Yale women's ice hockey teams came to Harlem to conduct ice skating clinics with a handful of girls from a community-based youth agency called Upward, Inc. Learning about these visits, Sharon Cohen, a former competitive figure skater and Brown University and New York University graduate, decided to jumpstart a more rigorous figure skating program. Under the umbrella of Upward, Inc. and with generous grants from the New York Community Trust, FSH blossomed.

Launched by a special visit from Olympic Gold Medalist Scott Hamilton in 1997, FSH officially separated and incorporated as a non-profit in the State of New York. FSH has expanded to serve girls throughout the Harlem community.