The Sports Centre @ MCC Skating School presents guest coach
Thomas Litz
Download Tom's Team Teaching Program Brochure here.

He's also availible for private lessons. 
Contact Pamela Warren at for lesson times

Tom began his professional career at the age of 19 as the star performer in Ice Capades immediately following his 1964 victory at the World Figure Skating Championships in Dortmund, Germany, taking first place in free style. He also achieved a first place in free style while representing the United States in the 1964 Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. Prior to these peak events in his amateur career he also garnered the titles of United States National Senior Men's Champion and United States National Junior Men's Champion, as well as the Men's Eastern States Champion title for two consecutive years. Tom is documented (it can be found on the internet) as being the first skater in the world to successfully complete a triple toe loop in international competition, which was during the Olympic and World Competitions held in 1964. After touring for 8 years with Ice Capades as a star performer, Tom began his coaching career in Lake Placid in 1972, thirty years ago. 

Highlights of Tom's coaching career include:

Four summer school seasons as the Director and Head Coach for the Quebec Skating Federation's Elite Summer School, where he was responsible for conceiving and implementing the entire structure that is still in place currently. He instituted a complete teaching and learning system (which is still being used) that he had developed which allowed for the instruction of both the students and aspiring young coaches by himself and other prominent coaches that he brought in. During that time he traveled to Montreal three days a week during the yearly summer sessions to oversee the operation, which has evolved into one of the top figure skating programs in North America. His introduction of team teaching set a precedent that continues through today.

An invitation for a special two-month stint in Milano, Italy as the Italian Sports Federation's (a body similar to the U.S.O.C.) Head Figure Skating Coach where he acted as a coach and consultant to specially chosen Italian coaches and their students.

Producing and directing a series of very successful seminars conducted in Lake Placid prior to the 1980 Olympics that included the participation of various renown skating coaches including Peter Burrows, Arthur Bourke, John Nicks, and Bobbe Shire.

Establishment of The Litz Team, which, for over twenty years, has been a successful part in the overall summer, program at the Olympic Complex in Lake Placid, NY. The Litz Team was originally initiated to accommodate the significant overflow of requests for lessons from Mr. Litz, who gathered a team of associate coaches and conformed all of the teaching techniques by the development of the "Tom Litz 5-Step Teaching/Learning System" (Copyright 1994). Since that time Mr. Litz and associates have drawn nearly half of the attendees of the Lake Placid Olympic Summer Program, averaging 130 Litz Team summer skaters per season.

During the past several years of his teaching career, Tom had devoted his knowledge and experience to working with many coaches as a consultant, helping them and their students by integrating his system of techniques with their own existing teaching methods. Tom’s satisfaction and joy in teaching now comes exclusively from the unique capacity of providing a support system to other coaches. By enjoying their trust and mutual respect to further their student’s progress and growth as young individuals, Tom has truly realized his joy of teaching.

Mr. Litz is an accomplished artist in oil painting and has achieved the black belt in the Tae Kwon Do school of martial arts.