Vincent Zhou | Page 56 | Golden Skate

Vincent Zhou

Zenchio63

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 13, 2018
IFS Magazine tweeted the Sanspo.com announcement, so it must be official.

Tammy Gambill and Mie Hamada will be the main coaches of @govincentzhou
this season. Zhou will train in both the United States and Japan. He will begin classes at Brown University this fall.

Link to translated webpage on Sanspo.com (edited some grammatical parts):

Vincent Zhou to train with coach Hamada, who also teaches Rika Kihira, officially requested after the World Championship / figure

The relationship between figure skating World Championship men's bronze medalist Vincent Zhou (US) and Mie Hamada, who also teaches Kihira Rika (Sekidai KFSC), who first won the Grand Prix (GP) Final Women last December, is revealed in interviews where she will be the main coach with Tammy Gambil, who teaches at the Colorado Springs practice base. On the same day, the Kinoshita Group announced that it had signed an affiliation contract with Zhou.

The 18-year-old Zhou was ranked sixth in the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, using the highly challenging Quad Lutz as a weapon. Hamada coach has been teaching him regularly since a few years ago, but they were formally asked after the World Championships in March. Zhou is planning to enter the University of Brown this fall and practice in the United States and Japan, aiming for the Beijing Olympics in 22 years.
 
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Zenchio63

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 13, 2018
Finally, official announcement from Vincent himself:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BzJgqMEHOH5/?igshid=1b3gstdgmlht5

Super excited to begin a new partnership with Kinoshita Group, and I anticipate the journey to Beijing 2022 with them. Thank you so much @kinoshita_group_sports for your support!
Also, addressing the questions regarding my matriculation at @brownu, I am just doing one semester then focusing on skating. I will resume after the 2022 Olympics.


Congratulations again, Vincent, on your sponsorship and school! :cheer: Wishing you all the best in the new season! :clapper:
 

Zenchio63

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 13, 2018
where did you get these information how Vincent choose his program music? is it from Vincent's interview?

eta. @Zenchio63 also, my soulmate tag or 心有灵犀 tag is nothing serious nor deep, just my humor. hard to explain this to you. as you known I have multi-culture background in real life as well as on social media. but I could understand what you mean and your concern. No worries. just social media fun.

My bad, yyyskate. I work in quality control and edit errors all day long, so it's an "instinct" for me to point out incongruencies, especially misused vocabulary (pet peeve of mine). Didn't realize you were joking. Please rest assured I will mind my own business from now on. Speaking of joking, I also mentioned the "plagiarizing" of choreography in jest, not to be taken seriously. :biggrin:

P.S. I deleted my inconsequential feedback for the harmony of this forum. :laugh:
 

Zenchio63

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 13, 2018
Interesting feedback to Vincent's partnership with Kinoshita Group from "rosewood":

"It was a big surprise to me that Kinoshita signed an affiliate contract with Zhou. It's like a contract which Hanyu signed with ANA or Shoma signed with Toyota. Kinoshita is one of the crown sponsors of Japanese big events such as Japan Open (Carnival on Ice). Kinoshita used to support many Japanese ice dancers and pairs skaters. .....Being supported by Kinoshita can mean a lot for Zhou when he participates in events in Japan."

Thanks to rosewood for her informative post.

From Kinoshita's website:

We support young athletes who succeed in the world through sports. Currently, we are sponsoring 19 athletes in six different events: figure skating (Satoko, Koshiro & Vincent), snowboarding, surfing, table tennis, show jumping, and swimming.

We support various sporting events, both domestic and overseas, but our focus is mainly on figure skating. We wish to develop the world of figure skating through sponsoring the world's greatest ice shows performed by top figure skaters such as "Carnival on Ice" and "Stars on Ice", as well as the international figure skating competition held in Japan, the "Japan Open".

So it seems Vincent broke the tradition of Kinoshita only sponsoring Japanese citizens. And it certainly looks like he will be invited to Japan Open as well as next year's SOI Japan. Hooray!

Time to adopt Satoko as your Japanese sister, Vincent! :biggrin:
 

YukiNieve

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 23, 2004
I am told that there are Japanese fans who are not happy that the Group signed with a foreign skater. Hope coach Hamada and the other skaters provide Vincent with the support he needs from any criticism and backlash.

There are about 67 comments on Kinoshita Group's Twitter announcement about the contract with Vincent, and 18 of them are negative or somewhat negative. But if you read them carefully, you find that the majority of them (except last few) are from non-Japanese people.

Japanese skating fans (of course there are always some exceptions) are known to support all skaters, regardless of their nationality.
If you watch the competitions held in Japan, many of them carry and wave various flags of skaters from other countries.

I am sure Vincent will be fine. He will be loved and supported there.
 

Zenchio63

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 13, 2018
There are about 67 comments on Kinoshita Group's Twitter announcement about the contract with Vincent, and 18 of them are negative or somewhat negative. But if you read them carefully, you find that the majority of them (except last few) are from non-Japanese people.

Japanese skating fans (of course there are always some exceptions) are known to support all skaters, regardless of nationality.
If you watch the competitions held in Japan, many of them carry and wave various flags of skaters from other countries.

I am sure Vincent will be fine. He will be loved and supported there.

Thank you so much for the explanation, YukiNieve! I know Japanese fans support international skaters and Vincent has a loyal following in Japan. This is why I follow his Japanese fans on Twitter, even though I can't read Japanese, lol. Thanks again for your informed feedback. :pray:
 

yyyskate

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 1, 2013
I don't quite understand this contract thingy with Kinoshita group. what kinda contract is this? is it like a sponsorship (e.g. new balance to ATS skaters). or as it called affiliation (what is this)? Does Vincent have to work as an employee for this company? if so, how and how long? until 2022? will Vincent's name be associated Kinoshita like Shoma's with Toyota in competitions.
I don't know much about Japanese culture or corporations. Can our Vincent Japanese fans or fans who are familiar with this system enlighten me. Thanks :pray:

eta, "...Being supported by Kinoshita can mean a lot for Zhou when he participates in events in Japan."
what kinda advantage will Vincent got in events in Japan after being supported by Kinoshita?
 

Zenchio63

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 13, 2018
I don't quite understand this contract thingy with Kinoshita group. what kinda contract is this? is it like a sponsorship (e.g. new balance to ATS skaters). or as it called affiliation (what is this)? Does Vincent have to work as an employee for this company? if so, how and how long? until 2022? will Vincent's name be associated Kinoshita like Shoma's with Toyota in competitions.
I don't know much about Japanese culture or corporations. Can our Vincent Japanese fans or fans who are familiar with this system enlighten me. Thanks :pray:

It's like Alibaba sponsoring Vincent. Kinoshita also sponsors Satoko, Koshiro as well as athletes from other fields. So he is not unique to the company, like Yuzu is to ANA. So no need to mention the company. Did you know Satoko or Koshiro are sponsored by the group? And since there is no merchandise to sell, like skates or necklaces or water, no need to "work" to advertise products or brand name.
 

yyyskate

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 1, 2013
I have a speculation that is related to figure skating.that is maybe Vincent's costume designer will be changed into someone based in Japan and Hamada Sensei worked with quite often. Hint, Satoka, Rika, Yuna's costume designer.:biggrin: ;);) I really like some of the back design for male skaters (hint: 大白鹅,图兰朵) :biggrin: from her:biggrin:
 

yyyskate

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 1, 2013
It's like Alibaba sponsoring Vincent. Kinoshita also sponsors Satoko, Kazuki as well as athletes from other fields. So he is not unique to the company, like Yuzu is to ANA. So no need to mention the company. Did you know Satoko or Kakuzi are sponsored by the group? And since there is no merchandise to sell, like skates or necklaces or water, no need to "work" to advertise products or brand name.

my info is far from comprehensive. but the Alibaba sponsorship is forever a mystery among Vincent Chinese fans. Some said Alibaba sponsored Vincent's preparation for 2018 OG. some say Alibaba only sponsored Vincent's family members' flight tickets to South Korea and it is also one-time sponsorship as some kinda project (this maybe closer to the truth). Vincent also did promo for Alibaba on site and on social media(his IG).
when Yuzuru, Shoma, Koshiro compete in Japan, they will represent ANA, Toyota and Kinoshita respectively (at least this is what showed on Japanese TV). not Satoko though, Satoko represents Kansai University
and retired skater Takahiko Kozuka sponsored by Toyota, affiliation contract (トヨタ自動車社員, Toyota Motor employee), and I vaguely remembered he worked for the company in some format.
Also Vincent is not Japanese, curious about Vincent's situation with Kinoshita
#learnWithVincentAboutJapaneseSponsorship :biggrin:
 

DSQ

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 14, 2018
Country
United-Kingdom
From what I understand it’s like the same contract QTS have with Fear & Gibson in the UK. QTS are a railways contractor but they sponsor young athletes just for some good publicity. The most I’ve ever seen Lilah and Lewis do for them is wear some branded hoodies and shout them out on Instagram.

So companies like Kintoshita might not be promoting to the general public but being linked with these young successful athletes could be the difference between, in QTS’s case, the Minister of Transport choosing them over their rivals. Plus they get to do good at the same time.
 

lichi

sui holding a deep edge
On the Ice
Joined
Apr 24, 2018
This is a bit late, but yay good for him! I hope this coaching arrangement suits him well.
 

Zenchio63

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 13, 2018
From what I understand it’s like the same contract QTS have with Fear & Gibson in the UK. QTS are a railways contractor but they sponsor young athletes just for some good publicity. The most I’ve ever seen Lilah and Lewis do for them is wear some branded hoodies and shout them out on Instagram.

So companies like Kintoshita might not be promoting to the general public but being linked with these young successful athletes could be the difference between, in QTS’s case, the Minister of Transport choosing them over their rivals. Plus they get to do good at the same time.

Thanks for your input & info on Fear & Gibson's contract with QTS, DSQ. Kinoshita clearly states on their site that part of their social contribution comes from supporting various sports, arts & cultural activities. They support young athletes who succeed in the world through sports, and their main focus is figure skating. So the Group's aim here is not to advertise merchandise nor service, but to promote sports.

Their advertisements are clearly seen on the board of competition rinks. Some photos:

Rika GPF
Yuzuru 2017 Worlds
 

Zenchio63

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 13, 2018
Also Vincent is not Japanese, curious about Vincent's situation with Kinoshita
#learnWithVincentAboutJapaneseSponsorship :biggrin:

It's obvious coach Hamada had a lot to do with the sponsorship. She must have told Kinoshita representatives about her coaching experience with Vincent and how much talent and potential he has. From Jack Gallagher (Japan Times): "Productive Partnership: Hamada Helps Zhou Find Success.", Hamada said: “He is going to be a champion if he gets the passion and good edges, because he already has very good quality jumps.” Her notable success with Vincent at Worlds and WTT, as well as successive Japanese interviews and spotlight on Vincent, must have sparked an interest. Her becoming an official coach may have lead to Kinoshita making an exception and sponsoring Vincent, seeing his championship potential and popularity with the Japanese fans.

In the article, coach Hamada mentioned that she is unable to coach foreign skaters due to restrictions placed on her by Kansai University. The Kinoshita sponsorship, which is a big deal for a non-Japanese skater, may have persuaded Kansai to accept Vincent. I just hope she has plenty of one-on-one time for Vincent since she is already pretty busy.

As for Alibaba, it would be nice if they sponsor Vincent once again during the Beijing Olympic season. :)
 

Zenchio63

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 13, 2018
Each summer, figure skating fans are asked to vote for the eligible skater whom they believe is most deserving of the SKATING magazine Readers' Choice Skater(s) of the Year Award (Michelle Kwan Trophy) based on the accomplishments of the past season [2018-19].

This year's voting cycle on U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone starts June 28 and ends on July 5.
VOTE at: https://usfigureskatingfanzone.com/...or_SKATING_magazine_Readers_Choice_Award.aspx

Eligible skaters for the award are:

Top five senior-level skaters in each discipline at the [2019] U.S. Figure Skating Championships
Medalists at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships
Top five senior teams at the U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships
Medalists at the World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships

The winner(s) will be announced in the August-September issue of SKATING magazine and on the U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone.
 

Imov

Medalist
Joined
Mar 1, 2018
Hi, IMov,

If you look at their website: https://www.kinoshita-group.co.jp/en/group-outline
they are into supporting arts, culture, environmental protection and construction. There are no products or merchandise but they do have films and books.

P.S. No necklaces or merchandise for Vincent to sell. :biggrin:
Thank you for the reply, so I guess this is pure good will help which is good.
It might not be much, but any type of help in this expensive sport is welcomed.
And I hope the ISU increase the prize money of the skaters, I mean the prices of Skating event tickets this year is so high.
 

Zenchio63

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 13, 2018
"...Being supported by Kinoshita can mean a lot for Zhou when he participates in events in Japan."
what kinda advantage will Vincent got in events in Japan after being supported by Kinoshita?

Sorry, didn't see you added this part to the question until after I posted a lengthy answer previously, LOL. Vincent will very probably be included in Japan Open, SOI Japan and Carnival On Ice from now on, since Kinoshita sponsors all these events/competition. As a sponsored skater, there must be extra perks & support at these events, aside from the usual compensations.
 
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