Mihoko Higuchi's Journey with LYS Skate Club

[gsk8]

Mihoko Higuchi's Journey with LYS Skate Club

LYS Skate Club Two years ago, renowned figure skating coach Mihoko Higuchi embarked on a new adventure. She parted ways with her long-standing team to

www.goldenskate.com

Last week, we had the opportunity to visit the skating facility and speak with the coach and her son, who kindly welcomed us and introduced us to the LYS Skate Club.

Mihoko Higuchi founded the LYS Skate Club in 2022 in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. This initiative marked a significant step in her career as she established herself as an independent coach. Her son, Shota, followed his mother to take on this new challenge.

"I have always truly had this desire to teach children from a young age and help them develop," Mikoho Higuchi shared. "I want to offer my students a comprehensive teaching in figure skating, covering both physical and mental coaching aspects, right from the start."

More...

 

[Weathergal]

Thanks for this article. I've always found Mihoko Higuchi interesting and wondered if she would eventually strike out on her own. I enjoy seeing her fashion sense in the KnC, too! I was surprised to read she has a grown son so I looked her up and found out she's 55. I would never have guessed that - props to her!

 

[Arriba627]

She's a wonderful coach and was a huge part of Shoma's early success. As a disciple of Machiko Yamada, I think she absorbed a lot of her knowledge. It will be fun to watch her skaters develop.

 

[ladyjane]

Lovely article. Like @Weathergal, I'm surprised to note she's 55 (close to my own age). Interesting to see how this all worked out.

 

[rabidline]

Yes, Mihoko is older than she looks

When she first parted ways from Machiko Yamada, it came as a surprise to most of the Japanese figure skating observers. Before that, it was widely assumed that Mihoko will take over Yamada's old club in Nagoya, which has the history of being the club that raised Midori Ito, Mao Asada, Kanako Murakami, Shoma Uno, Mako Yamashita and Rino Matsuike.

But I think Yamada always knew that Mihoko has the potential to start her own coaching team and become a head coach in her own right. If I remember correctly there was nothing that suggested they didn't separate amicably, and Mihoko took no students from Yamada.

One of the things that I got really touched by was last year during the JGP, where both Mark and Ted mentioned and praised Mihoko's name on air as an innovative choreographer and coach for Rena's programs and performances. After several years of hearing commentators wrongly identify Mihoko as Machiko Yamada during commentary of Shoma's performances, it was really cool to see Mihoko starting to get her flowers.