The skate doesn’t fall far from the tree Love of the rink came differently for mother-daughter figure skaters By: Grace Penner Posted: 6:20 PM CDT Tuesday, Sep. 1, 2026

It’s said that home is where the heart is, and for Dana and Marrin McKee that has always been the rink.

The mother-daughter duo of figure skating coaches always find comfort lacing up in chilly arenas.

Dana McKee’s origin story was very similar to her daughter’s, having a strong motherly push onto the ice. Much like learning to swim or drive a car, Dana’s mother believed that skating was an important life skill that needed to be honed.

Growing up in Morris, McKee spent the majority of her youth in the CanSkate program — a developmental learn-to-skate stage teaching the basics of standing upright.

“I started the program when I was four and I was there for a very long time. I didn’t get out until I was 11 years old,” McKee said.

While she did find herself on the cusp of hanging up her skates and leg warmers, she was encouraged to keep going.

“I remember (my mother) convincing me part way through the CanSkate phase just to give it one more year. And so I did, never really thinking I was going to stick it out past then,” McKee said.

But then a new coach came to the community and saw her potential.

“I didn’t ever envision a life without skating.”

“They could tell I was really interested and so by the end of the season, I was out and doing my first assessments,” McKee said. “From then, I was just doing what I loved the most.”

Upon entering adulthood, McKee stopped training and switched to coaching — a career she has carried through to this day.

“I didn’t ever envision a life without skating,” she said.

After having Marrin, it was a no-brainer that her daughter would try it out, starting with getting her comfortable in the environment.

“She started coming to the rink with me when she was three months old. Luckily, I had some amazing skating families willing to trade some lessons for babysitting,” McKee said with a laugh. “She grew up literally in the rink.”

While McKee learned to love the sport from her mother’s persuasion, she always knew Marrin would have a choice in the matter — if her daughter no longer wanted to pursue it, McKee would be fully supportive of that choice.

“My thought was to just get her on the ice as soon as possible and get her comfortable out there, make that a part of her world,” McKee said.

It wasn’t love at first sight for the younger McKee. But that all changed when the sight of gold flashed across her face.

“When I was about seven, I started to really like it because I won a competition. And then I was like, ‘I want to always win the competition.’ Which isn’t necessarily my mindset now but that’s what got me going when I was younger,” Marrin said.

“She grew up literally in the rink.”

Since she was two, the 21-year-old Marrin has been coached by her mother, which has been an equally tough and rewarding situation.

“It was difficult to manage sometimes because your coach is someone who is critical and you have to take all this information and feedback. It was hard when I’d hear it from the wrong person because I’m looking at her and I just see my mom,” Marrin said.

“I had to compartmentalize the two sides. At the rink, it’s my coach, she’s not my mom. Any other time, she’s my mom, even though her coach side comes out in both.”

For McKee, it was also a challenging endeavour being parent and teacher under the same roof.

“From the coaching lens, I could always see where things needed to improve. But then as a mom, I was so proud… it’s always been a double-sided piece for me,” she said.

Throughout Marrin’s skating career she has had different speciality coaches, such as Kevin Dawe for jumping and Tina Chen for choreography, but her mother has remained a constant.

McKee always ensured that if they ever had a disagreement or tensions were high, they would leave what happened at the rink at the rink.

“Otherwise, it can take over your whole life,” she said.

Over the past five years, Marrin has followed in her mother’s footsteps and become a figure skating coach. This fall, Marrin will be entering her fourth year of communications at the University of Winnipeg while juggling her training and the training of others.

“Ever since I was a kid, I tiered it. Skating was the most important, school was second, and social life was at the bottom.”

“It’s a very difficult balance in my brain. Ever since I was a kid, I tiered it. Skating was the most important, school was second, and social life was at the bottom,” Marrin said.

“I coach six days a week, I train five days a week and then I have school five days a week.”

With all the calendar months filled to the brim with skating, it’s hard to imagine that Marrin has time for anything outside the classroom or rink. But she defies the odds, grateful for the friendships she has made on and off the ice.

“We’re such a tight knit family,” Marrin said about her Skate Winnipeg community. “Even when we compete against each other — win or lose — we’re all happy for each other.”

McKee had some hesitations about Marrin becoming a coach. She worried about the time commitment as well as the difficulty of making coaching a full-time gig. But she’s seen how amazing Marrin is with her students and how she’s making lifelong connections.

“I’m always astounded at the different personality types that Marrin will connect with. There are skaters I would never have expected to continue in this sport, but because she has connected to them, they’ve been here for three to four years. It’s shocking what she’s able to do,” McKee said. “I think that’s something even I don’t do with my own skaters the same way; I don’t have that personal connection.”

Marrin is aware she was not a natural in the sport, which helps her relate to the newcomers walking through the door.

“I like to think there’s two different types of skaters. There are ones who are natural at picking up the movements and there’s the ones who just never stop trying — and that was me,” Marrin said.

Looking toward the future, the McKees have very different goals. Marrin is constantly looking to improve her craft, wishfully aiming for the triple Salchow to click. In the meantime, she is still landing her double Axel — a difficult two and a half rotation in the air.

“One of my favourite things is edges and turns, just getting to flow through it all. I always want them to be absolutely perfect,” Marrin said.

McKee is looking forward to retirement, but it seems she might have to be dragged off the ice for that to come to pass.

“I’ve always said I’m going to be on the ice until I’m not able and I think that still holds true,” she said.

“As I get older it only brings me more because now I get to have not just joy from my own skating but watching my own skaters.”

Until then, you’ll find them both gliding on the ice in the early mornings and late evenings.

“It’s my outlet. It’s been what’s brought me joy my entire life. As I get older it only brings me more because now I get to have not just joy from my own skating but watching my own skaters,” Marrin said.

“There are so many skaters that have gone in and out of my life but if I run into them anywhere, that connection is still there,” McKee said through tears. “Seeing them succeed at all levels, learning the simplest skill that’s been so hard for them and celebrating that.

“We’re a community here. It’s a family.”

grace.penner@winnipegfreepress.com