The thrill of ice skating has not diminished since childhood for Bob Mock, skating director at Center Ice Arena in Delmont and a former national ice dancing bronze medalist.

"It's the endless excitement of being in the middle of all this energy and creativity," he explained.

"I'm still there, and it's still exciting."

Mr. Mock, 59, of Turtle Creek, said he learned to skate as a boy at the outdoor Turtle Creek Community Skating Rink on Larimer Avenue, which was operated by his late father, Fred Mock.

While honing his skating skills, Bob Mock taught fellow students there, and taught and operated the ice resurfacing machines at the indoor Alpine Ice Arena in Swissvale and the Monroeville Mall Ice Palace.

It was at the Monroeville site that he met his mentor, George Lipchick of Plum, who connected him with a number of coaches and associations, and from whom he learned about the business end of skating, which would later prove invaluable.

While he primarily was a figure skater, he also was a speed skater and hockey player.

In his mid-teens, Mr. Mock began competing. In 1973, he and ice dancing partner Carolyn Fortuna Hawley finished third in the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships in Hartford, Conn.

"I grew up in a factory town, but through skating, a new world unfolded where I could perform and be creative and travel. It was the most amazing opportunity," he said.

In 1975 at age 25, an on-ice accident caused him to re-evaluate his future in the sport.

"I either was skated out, or I accepted the reality it was time to move on and give back to skating," he said.

He said his love of skating is boundless.

"There is an absolute joy of developing athletes and guiding them through the sport and into success," he said of his passion for coaching.

In 1980, Mr. Mock co-founded (and edited for the next 20 years) the monthly "American Skating World," the first skating publication in the country to provide a public forum on the sport.

At the same time, he coached at Monroeville Mall -- managing the rink its last five years, until it closed in 1984 during a national recession.

Out of work, he started skating schools at Rostraver Ice Garden, Kirk S. Nevin Ice Arena in Greensburg and Connellsville Ice Mine.

In 1987, he coached U.S. National Junior Ice Dance champions Jeffrey and Jennifer Benz of Export.

In 1991-1993, he was named a Top 26 instructor by the Ice Skating Institute of America.

He coached U.S. national juvenile dance champions David and Melissa Gratta of Belle Vernon in 1992, and eighth-ranked Senior Ice Dance team of Jason and Shannon Simon of Scott in 1999.

"My job is to take something really hard and make it look very easy so someone will say, 'I can do that,' " he said of coaching at every level.

"The challenge is finding people who have the focus and internal drive when there are so many other activities today that they can be involved in," he said.

Over the past 25 years, his regional, sectional, national and international competitors led him to events throughout the United States and beyond, such as the Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg, Russia; the Junior World Championships in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina; and the Blue Swords in Chemnitz, Germany.

He served as chair of the U.S. Figure Skating Association, Coaches Committee, 1992-95, and president of the Professional Skaters Association, 1994-98.

In 2009, he was named recipient of the Jimmy Disbrow Award for, among other qualities, being "an inspiration to others" and one who "unites the skating community."

A typical weekday finds him at the Center Ice Arena from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., coaching and managing the facility's 23-instructor skating school.

His office overlooks the one rink, of three rinks, that is used primarily for skating lessons "so I can watch my skaters all day long and run out onto the ice if I have to."

His daily attire of parka and hat, despite a room-temperature office, enables him to run "out on the ice anytime," he said.

Mr. Mock said what makes a champion "is the 'X' factor of the right combination of physical ability and the mental toughness."

To those aspiring to such heights, or simply recreational skaters, he offers this advice:

"Everyone experiences skating in their own way. Set your goals and let your motivation and desire and love of skating take you as far as you can go. That is how you measure success."

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