Victoria Buddie
Co-Head Coach
Victoria Buddie is a San Diego native and has 19 years of competitive figure skating experience. She competed on behalf of Team USA Synchronized Skating from 2015-2020. Victoria is a 2013 Intermediate National Champion and 2011 National Pewter medalist with Team del Sol, 1x Senior Synchronized Skating International Champion (Trophy D’Ecosse, Dumfries, Scotland) x2 Senior Synchronized Skating International Silver Medalist (Trophy D’Ecosse,Dumfries Scotland) 1x Senior Synchronized Skating International Bronze Medalist (Spring Cup, Milan, Italy) and a 2x U.S National Senior Synchronized Skating Bronze Medalist. During her time skating for Team USA she represented the United States at 8 international assignments.
During her early skating career she became a Gold Medalist in Moves in the Field, and passed up to her Intermediate Freestyle test. She also is working on her Silver Ice Dance tests. Victoria began skating at the age of 3-years-old old at the UTC mall in La Jolla.
At 5 years old she began competing freestyle all the way up until her Senior year of high school. Victoria began her synchronized skating career with Epic Edge, then moved to Team del Sol and skated on Juvenile, Intermediate, and their first Senior Team after a 10-year hiatus. After two seasons on Senior Team del Sol and their huge accomplishment of bringing back Team USA to San Diego, she committed to Adrian College, where she studied Spanish and Communication with a minor in Journalism.
At Adrian College, she skated on their Senior Team her Freshman and Sophomore year of college. During her Junior year she transitioned to a more elite level of synchronized skating and joined the Dearborn Senior Crystallettes where her team was the Alternates for The Senior World Team in 2019 and 2020. They competed in the Inaugural Senior Synchronized Skating Challenger Series event at the Spring Cup in Milan, Italy in 2018.
Victoria loves synchronized skating and being able to teach younger athletes the sport she learned so much from. She enjoys helping skaters find their love for the sport and helping them become their most confident self both on and off the ice.
She is committed to helping Synchronized Skating grow in the Pacific Coast with dreams of helping it get into the Olympics one day. Victoria graduated from Adrian College in May 2020. She is currently working as a TV News Writer for Fox 5’s (KSWB-TV) Morning News.
Nicole Buddie
Co-Head Coach
Nicole Buddie is a professional synchronized skater from Chula Vista, CA. She began skating at UTC Ice in La Jolla, CA at the age of three years old. She has claimed a gold medal in moves in the field, tested up to Intermediate freestyle, and is currently working on her Silver ice dances.
Nicole first began synchronized skating with Epic Edge. She later advanced to Team del Sol, where she would compete on their Juvenile, Intermediate and the return of the Senior team. In 2016, Nicole committed to Adrian College to skate for their Senior Team/Team USA. Her 17 years of competitive skating include competing at the regional, national and international levels and represented the United States of America for four seasons with three different senior synchronized skating teams; Team del Sol, Adrian College, and the Dearborn Crystallettes.
Nicole is an Intermediate National Pewter medalist (2011 – Team del Sol), Intermediate National Champion (2013 – Team del Sol), and a 2x Senior National Bronze Medalist (Crystallettes 2019 & 2020). In 2019, Nicole and her team were announced as the first Team USA alternates for the 2019 World Synchronized Skating Championships and qualified as the second Team USA alternates for the 2020 World Synchronized Skating Championships.
In addition to her competitive years, she is a 3x International Medalist in the Senior division, including earning the gold medal at the Trophy D’Ecosse in Dumfries, Scotland. During her competitive career, she competed at six international competitions. She was assigned to compete in the inaugural World Synchronized Skating Challenger Series in Milan, Italy, and Gothenburg, Sweden (Crystallettes) in 2020. Outside synchronized skating, Nicole works as an Assignment Editor at Fox 5 San Diego. Nicole believes every skater has the potential to be great with a mentor who can guide them. She looks forward to growing the sport in San Diego.
Morgan Shepherd
Associate Coach
Morgan Shepherd is a San Diego native. Morgan began skating at San Diego Ice Arena at the age of 9. She started out as a competitive gymnast (at the age of 2) and transitioned to competing figure/synchronized skating at age 11. Morgan first began synchronized skating with Shining Blades and later advanced to Team del Sol, where she competed at the Intermediate, Novice and Senior levels. She currently skates in the Adult division.
Her 14 years of competitive skating include competing at sectional, national and international competitions. Morgan is an Intermediate National Champion (2013 – Team del Sol), Trophy D’Ecosse Senior International Champion (2016 – Team del Sol), Trophy D’Ecosse Senior Silver Medalist (2017 – Team del Sol), and Adult Pewter National Medalist (2022 – Team del Sol). Outside of synchronized skating,
Morgan graduated from San Diego State University with her Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Physical Therapy and is currently volunteering at physical therapy clinics in order to apply to graduate school. She hopes to use her kinesiology background to help the skaters decrease their risk of injury during practice by implementing proper techniques.
Morgan hopes to pass on her love for the sport to new skaters and experienced skaters hoping to transition to higher levels. Morgan also wants to encourage skaters to enjoy the camaraderie and fun of the sport while continuing to work towards a common goal.
