Our Coaching Team
The Meraki coaching team brings together decades of competitive skating experience and professional coaching expertise. Our coaches have competed at World Championships, earned national medals, and developed countless successful skaters. Together, they create a supportive environment where athletes develop technical excellence, teamwork, and confidence both on and off the ice.
Our coaches work collaboratively across all our Meraki teams ensuring consistent training methods and a unified team culture throughout the program. Additionally, all our coaches hold certifications in Emergency First Aid & CPR, Respect in Sport, Rowan’s Law, and Making Ethical Decisions.
Coaches featured in alphabetical order by surname.
Leanne Lamarche
Head Coach: Meraki Gold | Co-Head Coach: Meraki Novice
Leanne is a dedicated Skate Canada Professional Coach with over 15 years of experience, committed to helping skaters achieve their full potential in a competitive yet fun and supportive environment.
A Skate Canada Triple Gold Medalist and former Canadian Junior National Synchronized Skating Champion, Leanne has competed both nationally and internationally in junior synchronized skating. Her deep knowledge of the sport is supported by a Bachelor of Professional Studies in Education and an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Kinesiology and Health Science.
Leanne is an NCCP In-Training National Coach and a Certified Provincial Coach, with additional credentials as a STAR 1–Gold Coach Assessor across all disciplines. She has coached triple and quadruple gold medalists, led undefeated synchronized skating teams, and developed award-winning CanSkate and STARSkate athletes. Among her coaching highlights is working with Meraki Novice, who earned 2nd place at Canada Cup Nationals in a highly competitive category.
Her excellence as a coach has been recognized with awards from both Skate Ontario and the City of Markham for her leadership and success with undefeated synchronized skating teams.
Jamie Miller
Off-Ice Coach for: Star 6, Novice, & Gold
Jamie is the off-ice coach for both Meraki and the Leaside Skating Club. A certified group fitness instructor, she has been coaching with Meraki since 2015, guiding athletes toward their goals both individually and as part of a team. Jamie aims to help skaters develop a lifelong love of movement by giving them the tools to make exercise enjoyable. She focuses on building strength and flexibility, while emphasizing overall health, well-being, mental resilience, and sustainable habits. With experience training athletes ages 4 to 18, Jamie confidently tailors fitness programs to meet a wide range of needs.
Mertcan Pak
Assistant Coach/Skills Coach for: Meraki Star 6, Meraki Novice and Meraki Gold
Mertcan is a synchronized skater and coach with over a decade of experience in the sport. Originally from Isparta, Turkey, he was a member of NEXXICE Senior, one of Canada’s most prominent synchronized skating teams, and also competed with the Elite12 team at the international level. Alongside his competitive career, Mertcan has built a strong reputation as a skills coach at Meraki, where he continues to share his expertise, creativity, and passion for movement with the next generation of skaters. His prominent fields are edge control, speed & flow, as well as yoga, strength training, ballet, and theatre off the ice. In 2024, he announced his transition away from competitive skating to focus on new dimensions of the sport and his personal well-being, while remaining deeply connected to synchronized skating through his coaching and choreography.
photo credit: Dimitar Trajkovski
Lisa Patreau
Head Coach: Meraki Star 4 | Assistant Coach: Meraki Star 6
Lisa is a Certified Regional Coach and is currently training for her Provincial Coach certification. She has been coaching since 2007 and has taught synchronized skating at every level from Intro to Senior.
As a skater, Lisa competed at three World Championships at the Senior level in synchronized skating, earning a silver medal, and achieved many national medals with her team. She also completed her Gold Dances and Gold Skills, reflecting her well-rounded background in skating.
As a coach, Lisa has guided teams to national, provincial and regional success, including two silver medals with Meraki Juvenile in 2024 (Assistant Coach), a bronze medal with Meraki Pre-Novice at the Provincial Championships in 2022 (Head Coach), and two silver medals at the National level as Head Coach of an adult team.
Beyond synchro, Lisa is the Club Manager and CanSkate Coordinator at Leaside Skating Club, and also coaches STARSkate Skills, Dance, and Freeskate. She is passionate about building confidence in her skaters and using skating as a foundation to develop future leaders. Lisa strives to create a safe, fun, and motivating environment where skaters can be creative, work hard, and feel proud of their progress.
Katarina Roccasalvo
Head Coach: Meraki Star 3
Katarina is a Certified Provincial Coach who has been a Skate Canada Professional Coach since 2007.
As a skater, Katarina was a Triple Gold Medalist, as she completed her Gold Dances, Gold Skills and Gold Interpretive Tests. She was also a Gold Medalist at two Central Ontario Section Inter-club Championships in Ice Dance and represented the Leaside Skating Club as a synchronized skater. As an adult skater, she pursued her Diamond Dances and competed on an adult synchro team.
As a coach, she has had skaters complete Gold and Diamond Level tests, compete across Ontario in various disciplines and coached synchro up to the Novice level. She coaches CanSkate, all STARSkate disciplines, and works with skaters on Power Skating Skills.
Katarina’s goal is to ensure skaters develop their self-esteem in addition to their technical skating skills. Good sportsmanship, respect, discipline and ethics are also very important and are what she wishes to instill throughout their skating career. These are life lessons that enhance a skater to become a better athlete and a better person. Skating is all about having fun and doing your best.
Jennifer Williams
Head Coach: Meraki Star 6 | Co-Head Coach: Meraki Novice
Jennifer is a highly experienced synchronized skating coach with deep roots in the sport as both a competitor and coach. A graduate of Sport Seneca with an Honours Degree in Figure Skating, Jennifer began her own skating career at Leaside Skating Club before going on to compete internationally, earning five World Championship medals with the legendary Black Ice Senior Synchronized Skating Team. Returning to her home club, she has coached across the Meraki program at the Star 4, Star 6, and Novice levels, leading teams to success at the national level and earning multiple medals along the way. Jennifer is National Trained, bringing both technical expertise and a passion for athlete development to her role.
Emily Wong
Off-Ice Coach for: Star 4
Emily is an NCCP-trained CanSkate and Regional Coach who is currently working toward Certified status. She began coaching in 2023 and is passionate about fostering both individual skater growth and team development in an encouraging, hard-working, and inclusive environment.
Since 2015, Emily has been a part of the Leaside Skating Club competing in singles and synchronized skating categories. Emily was the Ontario Star 5 O-13 bronze medalist at the 2023 Provincial Championships. In addition, Emily has completed her Gold Skills, and is working towards the remaining Gold tests. As a skater, she has represented Team Ontario at the national level for several years and, in 2025, earned a silver medal at Canada Cup Nationals with Meraki Novice.
