Thoughts on U.S. skating talent | Page 11 | Golden Skate

Thoughts on U.S. skating talent

VegMom

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 25, 2017
I think this is a big part that some people are over looking with the convenient part. It is not always the talented passionate ones from an early age that rise. I recall an interview with Adam Rippon that he used to do one lap when dragged to the rink then started begging for food. It was only later in his childhood something clicked for him with skating. He is someone who many parents would have picked more convenient options for than the one he gets board and begs for food at. And that would have been a shame.

We have to try to make it feasible for skaters to dip their toes in before diving in headfirst. We have to keep the maybes around. We need skaters of all levels at all levels.

Hmm, that's odd because this article says he WAS passionate AND talented from the beginning.

"Kelly, who raised Adam and his five siblings as a single mother, says her son fell in love with skating after attending a birthday party at a rink in Pittston, Pennsylvania, near their Clarks Summit home, at the age of 10. 'He learned really fast,' she says. 'Within an hour he was able to skate around and he looked really coordinated.' She signed him up for group lessons and he entered his first competition eight weeks later.
A former dancer and a gymnastics coach, Kelly saw Adam's potential right away. 'He had a very good back, he was very coordinated and his learning trajectory was so quick,' she says. 'He was able to reverse moves right to left and left to right without a lot of explanation. It was a very natural thing for him.'"

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/a47860/adam-rippon-mom-kelly-rippon-interview/



I agree with keeping around kids who don't seem to have talent but do have passion. I don't agree with keeping the kids who don't have an interest in skating. It's sad watching them be so bored and just being forced by their parents to skate.
 

SnowWhite

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Joined
Nov 30, 2016
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I think this is a big part that some people are over looking with the convenient part. It is not always the talented passionate ones from an early age that rise. I recall an interview with Adam Rippon that he used to do one lap when dragged to the rink then started begging for food. It was only later in his childhood something clicked for him with skating. He is someone who many parents would have picked more convenient options for than the one he gets board and begs for food at. And that would have been a shame.

We have to try to make it feasible for skaters to dip their toes in before diving in headfirst. We have to keep the maybes around. We need skaters of all levels at all levels.

This is a good point. My sport of choice was horseback riding. The place where I started riding was very close to the city, compared to most other stables in the area, and it had a riding program run by the City, and was kept relatively affordable.

Later I moved on to other stables, but I know that a lot of people started riding there who probably wouldn't have otherwise because it was more convenient for people living in the city than most other options. There is a big difference between a 15 min drive and a 30 min drive for busy families.

Now obviously, horseback riding is not the most convenient sport in general, but still.
 

StitchMonkey

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 31, 2014
Hmm, that's odd because this article says he WAS passionate AND talented from the beginning.

"Kelly, who raised Adam and his five siblings as a single mother, says her son fell in love with skating after attending a birthday party at a rink in Pittston, Pennsylvania, near their Clarks Summit home, at the age of 10. 'He learned really fast,' she says. 'Within an hour he was able to skate around and he looked really coordinated.' She signed him up for group lessons and he entered his first competition eight weeks later.
A former dancer and a gymnastics coach, Kelly saw Adam's potential right away. 'He had a very good back, he was very coordinated and his learning trajectory was so quick,' she says. 'He was able to reverse moves right to left and left to right without a lot of explanation. It was a very natural thing for him.'"

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/a47860/adam-rippon-mom-kelly-rippon-interview/



I agree with keeping around kids who don't seem to have talent but do have passion. I don't agree with keeping the kids who don't have an interest in skating. It's sad watching them be so bored and just being forced by their parents to skate.

Cute how narratives can change isn't it ;)

The account i read is actually about the same... birthday party around that age (Ok i thought it was 11) where he fell in love with it, but before that she would drag him skating for Christmas as I recall... honestly it was a cute little story and not intended as a dig at Adam... just that he recalled falling in love with it later and not at first sight. I just wish i could recall his food of choice.

And I agree that we should not force kids... well maybe once a year at Christmas level of force, but that is about it. I just think we need to keep doors open to a lot of different paths to a love of skating and possible career. We don't know anyone's future.
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
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Olympics
Cute how narratives can change isn't it ;)

The account i read is actually about the same... birthday party around that age (Ok i thought it was 11) where he fell in love with it, but before that she would drag him skating for Christmas as I recall... honestly it was a cute little story and not intended as a dig at Adam... just that he recalled falling in love with it later and not at first sight. I just wish i could recall his food of choice.

And I agree that we should not force kids... well maybe once a year at Christmas level of force, but that is about it. I just think we need to keep doors open to a lot of different paths to a love of skating and possible career. We don't know anyone's future.

No, you're right. And it was hot chocolate. ;)

"It gets pretty cold in Pennsylvania in the winter time," Adam Rippon told PennLive in an interview last year. "My mom would take me to this outdoor rink every year."

He was talking about the former ice rink at the old Lackawanna County Stadium in Moosic, a suburb of Scranton, which doesn't exist anymore. (It's now PNC Field and home of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees.) But during Adam's childhood, the Astroturf field would have an ice rink placed on top. His mom, Kelly Rippon, had been a skater and was trying to pass that love down to her children. Adam is one of six children.

"I wasn't really a fan," he said. "It was just too cold and all I wanted was a hot chocolate."


Rippon's mom also took him to Coal Street Park in Wilkes-Barre to skate, too, she told The (Scranton) Times-Tribune. But it was too cold, and so it wasn't until a friend's ice skating birthday party that Adam fell in love with the ice and found his natural ability.
Adam's friends from the skating party took group lessons. Adam wanted to, too. He did a lot of his early training at the Ice Box Complex in Pittston, his mother told The Times-Tribune. The video above is a 2003 WNEP-TV clip.

"At that point, I was probably skating about four times a week for maybe an hour or two. And then that started changing slowly. I started skating five days and then about six, and then it was about two hours in the morning (and) two hours in the afternoon," he told PennLive.


http://www.pennlive.com/life/2018/02/reasons_olympics_adam_rippon_p.html
 

moonvine

All Hail Queen Gracie
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I didn't intend for this to become a discussion about financial costs. I was just trying to counter some of the insane over-the-top negativity on this board. I'll say it before and I'll say it again, I give Bradie props for not letting it get to her. I view it as a less accessible form of gymnastics in the sense that you tend to see rinks in areas with cold weather which makes sense b/c winter sports are a piece of the culture. It probably wouldn't be cost effective to build a rink in Alabama b/c it wouldn't resonate culturally. This is independent of $$$.

Alabama has at least one rink. The University of Alabama has an ice hockey team. They are called the Frozen Tide.
 

concorde

Medalist
Joined
Jul 29, 2013
The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) has a NCAA Division I ice hockey team - the Chargers.

Luke Ferrante represents the Skating Club of Huntsville. He has 3rd in Junior men at midwesterns last year. I think he withdrew before Nationals.
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
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Timothy Dolensky was born in Alabama in 1992, and putting two and two together, I believe his earliest skating took place there.

Per his USFS bio, "Started skating at age 6 after visiting a rink on a first grade field trip."

Per a GS article, "Originally from Alabama, Dolensky’s family relocated to the Atlanta area in 2000 for his father’s work."​
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Given that USFS has been placing ever-increasing emphasis on camps -- for identifying and nurturing talent, as well as for determining (at least partially) international assignments -- I think the following article about the Japanese federation's camps is relevant to this thread:

How Japan built its figure skating powerhouse

Mar 12, 2019, 7:45 AM EDT
By Akiko Tamura
https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2019/03/12/how-japan-built-its-figure-skating-powerhouse/


ETA:

… Luke Ferrante represents the Skating Club of Huntsville. He has 3rd in Junior men at midwesterns last year. I think he withdrew before Nationals.

BTW, at 2019 Nationals (which took place long after concorde's post), Luke Ferrante placed third in Junior Men SP.​
 

ssffww

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 30, 2015
I'm still going to disagree with you. I remember those surveys and they weren't reporting the way they should have been.
There are many of us elite and right below that are NOT from anywhere near that kind of income with our family. Many of us come from families that have had to sacrifice so much to get us where we are or were.

Go read about people like Jeremy Abbott, Adam Rippon, and so many other skaters that their parents (just as mine did) have to take out several mortgages on homes and work multiple jobs to keep their skater going.

I also wouldn't go assuming that there is just a majority of whites or asians in USFS. Just because a skater seems to be a certain race, doesn't mean they are necessarily.
I know of Native American skaters who you would not know that it was their race by looking at them.

ETA: As far as money: A really good example right now is Dinh Tran.

Many Americans don't have homes to mortgage and are already working multiple jobs just to pay the rent. You are describing middle to upper middle class families. 21% of children in this country live in poverty. That's almost a fourth. And, how were those surveys reported incorrectly? And, are you really suggesting perhaps there are more African-American skaters than we think, we just can't tell?

As for Dinh Tran, even the Skating Club president says, “It’s against all odds,” said Jessica Gaynor, Skating Club of San Francisco president.
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
Record Breaker
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Country
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Many Americans don't have homes to mortgage and are already working multiple jobs just to pay the rent. You are describing middle to upper middle class families. 21% of children in this country live in poverty. That's almost a fourth. And, how were those surveys reported incorrectly? And, are you really suggesting perhaps there are more African-American skaters than we think, we just can't tell?

As for Dinh Tran, even the Skating Club president says, “It’s against all odds,” said Jessica Gaynor, Skating Club of San Francisco president.

You're quoting a 9 month old dead thread. And I know more than enough about lower income families and struggle. Perhaps stop assuming that because one has been a figure skater that we were all from upper middle and high income families. You don't know me or my parents situation from 15-20 years ago and even now.
 
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