Figure skating is more than a pastime – at The Skating Club of Boston, it is a family.

On January 29, 2025, we lost six members of our Club’s family – Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, Christine and Spencer Lane, and Jin and Jinna Han – in the tragic crash of American AIrlines Flight 5342. Their light and legacies are missed on our ice, and in the facility they called home, every single day. It is our hope that their lives and their sacrifice will be points of reflection, inspiration and light for countless future generations and that they will forever be a part of our Club’s history and tradition of excellence. The Club’s promise to their surviving family members, to everyone that has cared about their stories, and to the institution that is the Club itself, is simple: They will never be forgotten.

The Always Champions campaign will fund two permanent scholarships, one in the honor of Jinna Han and the other for Spencer Lane, to be awarded annually. These scholarships, with criteria set by the Han and Lane families, will enable a wide range of skaters to continue to pursue their skating goals at the Club. The scholarships are funded by an endowment structured in perpetuity, with all donations permanently invested and only the annual earnings used to support two annual awards, allowing the level of support to grow over time.

In addition, the Always Champions campaign will rename the 1,500 seat West Rink at The Skating Club of Boston’s home facility the “Always Champions Training Rink”. This includes the installation of a tribute wall remembering these six skaters, coaches and family members that the world lost on January 29, 2025 with photos, their stories and other remembrances. The tribute space in the rink will also include the names of all donors who have given a minimum of $250 to the Always Champions campaign by June 30, 2026. All donations will be included on the Always Champions tribute page at scboston.org/always-champions.

An existing outdoor space along the front of the Club’s facility will be enhanced in honor of our six Always Champions. Three reflecting benches will have permanent plaques honoring each family, and skates of the four skaters and coaches lost will be bronzed and installed at the foot of each bench. Additional landscaping across from the Club’s main entrance will include the planting of two weeping cherry trees, one on each side of the flagpoles. Landscape lighting and memorial plaques will be added to further highlight the trees throughout the year.

Always Champions

The fundraising campaign for scholarships to inspire and support future champions in the spirit of our champions lost on January 29, 2025.