2019-20 Coaching Changes | Page 2 | Golden Skate

2019-20 Coaching Changes

Colonel Green

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 3, 2018
Country
Canada
Whaa...? Why would Stephen leave the Cricket Club!!
Rumour also has it that Barkell is moving to the Granite Club, so even if Stephen wasn’t going to Raf he’d either have to change coaches or change clubs.

But if the Raf report is true, presumably his parents want another absolute top-tier coach.
 

oatmella

陈巍
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 23, 2014
TSL hasn’t always been accurate about skaters moving to Raf - I recall they said that Kolyada was going to move to Raf, and also last season they said that Ting was going to him.
 

Ice Dance

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 26, 2014
The rumor/theory i heard was his parents wanted more one-on-one attention from a coach.

And it is possible that a talented young athlete like Gogolev might get that with Rafael at the moment. With Nathan currently at Yale and Ashley & Adam just retired, Arutyunyan seemed to have more time for Brezina & Bell this season. I sure wouldn't count on it being the case for most athletes (Honda, Lim, Vivien Le, Mantu, Lin, a variety of athletes Raf has talked with over the years like he is having his very first conversation with in the K&C). Anyway, it's possible. You can see why Gogolev's parents or TSL might think Gogolev could be a good fit with Rafael, and he could.

But, man, the potential for future fan & media-based bickering over conflict of interest a couple years down the road . . . :popcorn:.

Of course, Gogolev might well get even more one-on-one attention with Barkell wherever he is going if he is really going elsewhere. Anyway, TSL is sometimes right and sometimes wrong. I'm sure the people really involved will figure their way through the current transitions, and then we will hear something solid.
 

oatmella

陈巍
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 23, 2014
I don’t know a lot about Lee Barkell, but seems that Raf has more students than he does. I wouldn’t have thought of Raf as someone to go to if a skater is looking for a lot of one-on-one attention.

Conflict of interest? I guess it’s possible. But Stephen is so young - wouldn’t Olympic season likely be his first year as a senior? He will be a young 17 year old at the time of 2022 Olympics.
 

SnowWhite

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 30, 2016
Country
Canada
I don’t know a lot about Lee Barkell, but seems that Raf has more students than he does. I wouldn’t have thought of Raf as someone to go to if a skater is looking for a lot of one-on-one attention.

Conflict of interest? I guess it’s possible. But Stephen is so young - wouldn’t Olympic season likely be his first year as a senior? He will be a young 17 year old at the time of 2022 OG.

He can go senior for 2020-2021. I think that will depend on how this coming season goes. If it goes well on the junior circuit and at Nationals, I can see him moving up. And I'm not trying to suggest that Stephen will follow this path at all or that he's the same, but Nathan was 17 when he got GPF silver and won 4CCs (a few months older than Stephen would be), so I can see why people might think that.

I'm not sure it's all about 1 on 1 attention. It could be more about where in the coach's priority list you are. He was certainly used to being in a big competitive group at TCC, and they didn't have him stop working with Brian until this season, when Brian himself admits he took a lot of time working with / focusing on Evgenia trying to teach her to work with their training methods and that's what led to him 'losing' Stephen. From what we heard, Stephen did like training with top skaters like Yuzu and Javi, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's also important to his parents to be with a top coach with high level students.

I don't know how many skaters Lee will have next season, but he had plenty at TCC, including Gabby, Conrad, Alison and a bunch of their junior/novice Canadian skaters. But Stephen would have been a higher priority for him than for Brian most likely.

ETA: some of this is just speculation based on the rumours we've heard about Stephen leaving Brian and this potential coaching change.
 

doublequad

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 4, 2018
that's the thing other everyone who says Stephen is going to Raf has heard it from TSL. No other sources.
 

Ice Dance

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 26, 2014
Yes, all of it--the rumors about why Gogolev supposedly switched from Brian, Gogolev's father's supposed priorities, and about Gogolev going to Rafael are all TSL's spin on events. We don't know if any of it is valid as far as I know.
 

SnowWhite

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 30, 2016
Country
Canada
Yes, all of it--the rumors about why Gogolev supposedly switched from Brian, Gogolev's father's supposed priorities, and about Gogolev going to Rafael are all TSL's spin on events. We don't know if any of it is valid as far as I know.

Why Stephen switched from Brian is not just rumours. Brian commented on it in an interview, so we know it had to do with Brian spending extra time with Evgenia.

And I've never heard his father mentioned specifically - it's the parents.
 

moriel

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 18, 2015
The rumor/theory i heard was his parents wanted more one-on-one attention from a coach.

Cricket is a bit communal

Also Raf coaches Nathan, who is the top skater right now, by a huge margin.
Considering Stephen got lots of quads, it actually makes all sense, as Raf's approach, at least for me, seems to fit him way more, and would probably work better with his strengths.
 

andromache

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 23, 2014
IFS Magazine just posted that Gogolev is moving to Raf.

https://twitter.com/ifsmagazine/status/1126856401681301505?s=20

Ha, TSL is right again.

Seems like a smart move. Raf's biggest star will be at Yale full-time starting August, so there's a void to fill. And in interviews Raf is always talking about how he wants to work with younger skaters (as opposed to his ancient ;) ones like Ashley, Adam, Mariah, and Brezina).

ETA: I will add that I am very concerned about Gogolev's health long-term. Nathan has had a lot of injury problems, especially when he was younger. Hopefully Raf has learned something from his experience with Nathan.
 
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oatmella

陈巍
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 23, 2014
Nathan and Stephen do seem to have some similarities. Likely Nathan will be back with Raf full-time in one year, after the next school year has finished.

I believe Nathan’s past injury problems were mostly growth-related. Also I don’t think Raf is the most suitable coach for younger skaters, but Stephen is already 14. Nathan is the only skater who stayed with Raf from childhood (part-time training starting at age 10 or 11).
 

Jeanie19

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 20, 2017
Country
United-States
Nathan and Stephen do seem to have some similarities. Likely Nathan will be back with Raf full-time in one year, after the next school year has finished.

I believe Nathan’s past injury problems were mostly growth-related. Also I don’t think Raf is the most suitable coach for younger skaters, but Stephen is already 14. Nathan is the only skater who stayed with Raf from childhood (part-time training starting at age 10 or 11).

What about Alexander Abt? He coached him for 13 years.
 

oatmella

陈巍
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 23, 2014
What about Alexander Abt? He coached him for 13 years.

Oops, I’m not very familiar with Abt. Though according to Wikipedia, he was with Raf for 11 years, leaving him in 2002 - so sounds like he started training with Raf at around age 14.
 

ladyjane

Medalist
Joined
Jun 26, 2012
Country
Netherlands
Oops, I’m not very familiar with Abt. Though according to Wikipedia, he was with Raf for 11 years, leaving him in 2002 - so sounds like he started training with Raf at around age 14.

I don't know anything about Abt as a coach, but as a skater he was quite unique. Choreographing a lot of his own programmes, and always quite original. His SP in 2002 was just superb...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_5K3agfbkc. Sorry, off topic, I know. But to get back to the thread, you can see Raf at the Boards.
 
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