What does the future hold for Emily Hughes?

Just as the title says! ;-)

Personally, I love her pizzaz and style. She is certainly one of the new faces of US figure skating, but can she pull off a National Championship this season? She reminds me so much of Sarah at times, but she doesn't appear to have those nerves of steel Sarah was so famous for. Maybe this will be her year?

I will be watching her closely. I really like Kimmie and Alissa, but will always have a soft spot for Emily.

I've definitely enjoyed Emily ever since I volunteered at 2005 Jr Worlds. Sweet girl, beautiful skater, and I wish her all the best I don't like to play the predictions game... especially when it comes to USA ladies! Anything can happen.. but if Emily keeps working hard, she's definitely a contender.

Hughes, like Cohen, has trouble skating clean in the Free Skating. She usually falls once (on the loop?). If she can hold it together while Meissner falters, of course she can win a national championship. But other than pizazz I'm not sure I see a whole lot of "GM potential" in her. Internationally she's no Jenny Kirk but I also doubt she will be a real WM/OM contender, at least this season.

I think Emily has a very bright future. Consider:

1993/1994 -- MK makes her Nats debut, skating a poor SP but a great FS and ends up in sixth place. She goes to Jr. Worlds and medals.

2005/2006 -- Emily Hughes makes her Nats debut, skating a poor SP but a great FS and ends up in sixth place. She goes to Jr. Worlds and medals.

1994 -- MK makes her Sr. Worlds debut, coming in 8th

2006-- Emily Hughes makes her Sr. Worlds debut, coming in 8th.

attyfan said:

I think Emily has a very bright future. Consider:

1993/1994 -- MK makes her Nats debut, skating a poor SP but a great FS and ends up in sixth place. She goes to Jr. Worlds and medals.

2005/2006 -- Emily Hughes makes her Nats debut, skating a poor SP but a great FS and ends up in sixth place. She goes to Jr. Worlds and medals.

1994 -- MK makes her Sr. Worlds debut, coming in 8th

2006-- Emily Hughes makes her Sr. Worlds debut, coming in 8th.

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Those are some interesting stats and even though I think she has a lot of spirit and love for figure skating, I guess I just do not see her winning nine US and five World championships. However, with that said, I think she has the potential to be a medal contender down the line.

attyfan said:

I think Emily has a very bright future. Consider:

1993/1994 -- MK makes her Nats debut, skating a poor SP but a great FS and ends up in sixth place. She goes to Jr. Worlds and medals.
2005/2006 -- Emily Hughes makes her Nats debut, skating a poor SP but a great FS and ends up in sixth place. She goes to Jr. Worlds and medals.

Click to expand...

MK was twelve years old in 1993 when she made her Nationals debut. Emily Hughes was 16 in 2005. MK won 1994 JW at 13. Emily won bronze at 16.

1994 -- MK makes her Sr. Worlds debut, coming in 8th
2006-- Emily Hughes makes her Sr. Worlds debut, coming in 8th.

Click to expand...

Kwan was 13 when she made her Worlds debut. Emily was 17.
Emily was #3 on the World team; she could rely on Cohen and Meissner to secure the 3 places for 2007 Worlds; the onus was not on her to do so.

In 1994, Kwan and Bobek went to Worlds, but Bobek failed to make it out of the QR. Saving 2 places for US ladies for 1995 Worlds was on Kwan's shoulders alone. She came through.

I think it is ridiculous to compare Emily Hughes to Michelle Kwan. At Emily's current age (almost 18), Kwan was already a two-time US and World Champion and had already accumulated many "perfect" 6.0 scores along the way.

Emily has a pleasing personality, but her skating is not championship caliber, and most likely never will be. I think she will follow her sister Sarah's example and go off to college after this season.

You're right: Emily will never be Michelle. Yes, there are interesting parallels between the two career starts, but IMO, they are more a coincidence than blueprints.

I like Emily. I think she brings a lot of enthusiasm and excitement to her skating. I don't think she will be a top, top tier skater, but I think she'll be in the mix for medals. I don't know. Just in the US alone, I think Kimmie, Bebe, Katy and Alissa are more interesting to watch. Emily is contagious since she always seems so happy to be competing, and I like her better than her sister, but I don't think she'll be nearly as good as Sarah (OGM aside.)

That said, I still like the girl and will hope she can do her best each time out. I also like her choice in dresses and I hope she incorporates the charlotte into layback spin we saw at Marshalls into her competitive programs!

News Flash: No one can be compared to Kwan. It's just not a fair comparison.

attyfan said:

I think Emily has a very bright future. Consider:

1993/1994 -- MK makes her Nats debut, skating a poor SP but a great FS and ends up in sixth place. She goes to Jr. Worlds and medals.

2005/2006 -- Emily Hughes makes her Nats debut, skating a poor SP but a great FS and ends up in sixth place. She goes to Jr. Worlds and medals.

1994 -- MK makes her Sr. Worlds debut, coming in 8th

2006-- Emily Hughes makes her Sr. Worlds debut, coming in 8th.

Click to expand...

One has to remember that unlike Kwan Hughes was able to get a taste of the Olympics before her Worlds debut. At Olympics she placed 7th, and then you can say she took a step down for Worlds as she placed lower in a less challenging field. Still, I see college in her future just like Sarah. The future of us skating is more Meissner/Taylor.

Since the first time I saw Emily´s skating, I really liked her spirit and enthusiasm on the ice. It feels so very genuine. The only thing is that it should not hinder the concentration, it is very important to her to find the right balance quickly. Or maybe she has found it already?

I hope that Emily will be able to better her consistency and place well at the competitions she is participating in this season.