Joannie not at Worlds ??

[silverlake22]

If Joannie does retire, I'm sure we'll still see her quite often.

silverlake - Kate Charbonneau finished 7th in the FS, 6th overall. I like her very much and I'm glad she decided to come skate for Canada. The US has such a wealth of girls at the moment ,they'll hardly notice she's not there..

Oh ok, my bad, 5th, 6th, and 7th were like less than a point apart. I was so upset Anna let the pressure get to her and fell twice, I love that girl so much she just has that "it" quality and seems feisty and is always adorable in the Kiss and Cry. Kate reminds me a lot of Alissa Czisny , though hopefully she will prove to be a stronger competitor.

[museksk8r]

I figured the chances of this was about 50/50. I can't say that I blame her for sitting this championship out at all given the emotional and mental toll she's been under the past month. Given all she's been through, a person just doesn't recoup from that in a short period of time. A big part of me would love to see Joannie go for a record 7th senior Canadian title next season and possibly a shot at winning a World title, but another part of me sees a beautiful, strong, talented skater who just might be satisfied with accomplishing two big goals she had set for herself (a World medal, silver, and an Olympic medal, bronze) in this sport. I know Joannie will be wise and choose what is best for herself. I appreciate the journey she has taken me on as a fan and I really look forward to seeing what lies ahead for her, whether it be as an eligible or pro skater. Your fans love and admire you so much, Joannie!! Thanks for all the memories!

[Dodhiyel]

In the Stars on Ice website, where "Our Skaters" are listed, Joannie appears.

http://www.starsonice.com/figure-ska...ontent=skaters

[Sk8n Mama]

I can totally understand Joannie not going. She needs time. The "after Olympics" is emotional enough for a medal-winner, let alone all she's been through.

I hope we're sending the youngster. Skaters like Amelie Lacoste and Myriane Samson have been around for so long. To me, they've had their shot. If we've got a younger one with potential 4 years before the next Olympics is the right time to debut her at a Senior comp.

As for the points and the places, I do think Joannie will retire so whatever we get in spots for next year is probably what we deserve. Joannie was so far ahead of our other skaters. We need some development time. I would not be surprised to see Cynthia retire, either meaning, IMO, we probably will only have one with the ability to compete at Worlds.

[silverlake22]

I can totally understand Joannie not going. She needs time. The "after Olympics" is emotional enough for a medal-winner, let alone all she's been through.

I hope we're sending the youngster. Skaters like Amelie Lacoste and Myriane Samson have been around for so long. To me, they've had their shot. If we've got a younger one with potential 4 years before the next Olympics is the right time to debut her at a Senior comp.

As for the points and the places, I do think Joannie will retire so whatever we get in spots for next year is probably what we deserve. Joannie was so far ahead of our other skaters. We need some development time. I would not be surprised to see Cynthia retire, either meaning, IMO, we probably will only have one with the ability to compete at Worlds.

Who is this youngster people are talking about?

[Sk8n Mama]

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/1...d_rochette_out

Hot off the yahoo presses.....

[sgower]

This was on CBC this morning: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/figureskati...te-worlds.html

It is worth reading the comments - and the link to the Chicago Tribune which talks about the ISU and the pressure they are allegedly putting on Rochette. In the CBC article though she makes it clear that she hasn't had enough time to train.

[chuckm]

I hope we're sending the youngster. Skaters like Amelie Lacoste and Myriane Samson have been around for so long. To me, they've had their shot. If we've got a younger one with potential 4 years before the next Olympics is the right time to debut her at a Senior comp.

Charbonneau finished behind Samson, Szmiett and Lacoste at Canadian Nationals, and it wasn't even close (17 points behind Lacoste). To send her to Worlds would have been outrageously unfair to the ladies who beat her. In addition, she wouldn't score well skating against senior ladies, and she might not even make it out of the SP which would doom Canada to just one spot for 2011.

Besides, Charbonneau is still pretty juniorish, and her only truly secure jumps are toe and salchow, as she has problems with both lutz and flip. She is a promising skater for the future. But the future is not now.

[colleen o'neill]

The future is definitely not now..but 4 yrs. is a long time.. I really like Kate ,and was also taken with Rylie McCulloch-Casarsa at Canadians. Could polish up really well with Brian at the helm. ( mix metaphors, much ?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mzj8d...eature=related

At 15, Joannie was pretty much a diamond in the rough , too. But I'm sure Skate Canada was / is hoping for her to stay on for another year or so..

[silverlake22]

Charbonneau finished behind Samson, Szmiett and Lacoste at Canadian Nationals, and it wasn't even close (17 points behind Lacoste). To send her to Worlds would have been outrageously unfair to the ladies who beat her. In addition, she wouldn't score well skating against senior ladies, and she might not even make it out of the SP which would doom Canada to just one spot for 2011.

Besides, Charbonneau is still pretty juniorish, and her only truly secure jumps are toe and salchow, as she has problems with both lutz and flip. She is a promising skater for the future. But the future is not now.

Charbonneau also had two bad skates at Canadian nationals. Had she skated up to her potential I think she could have beaten Samson and Szmiett, and maybe Lacoste too.

[Tony Wheeler]

Charbonneau also had two bad skates at Canadian nationals. Had she skated up to her potential I think she could have beaten Samson and Szmiett, and maybe Lacoste too.

Well Lacoste finished behind Samson and Szmiett, so if she could have beaten those two, I think she definitely would have beaten Amelie

[colleen o'neill]

It would seem awfully cruel to throw her straight into senior world's ( from 6th at juniors) with all the pressure of ensuring at least two spots for the next year on her shoulders..yikes!

Much better to give her another year of JGP assignments and see where we stand then.

But I think I know where silverlake is coming from..( corrections welcome) . I do still feel a bit uneasy as to the state of womens skating in Canada , in spite of the fact that they keep telling us we're on the right track. Don't forget Kate is not a product of our system , we just lucked on to her. And I've watched Amelie , Myrianne and Diane have to really work to improve their line, posture and position over the last 2 or 3 yrs. This is late in their development to be having to focus on breaking bad habits , or acquiring an adequate degree of flexibility. I really hope there is enough attention being paid to this at the lower levels, but haven't seen much evidence of it in the last few years. Imagine if those things were second nature by the time a skater was in their early teens..I think you can see evidence of it in the US girls..

[chuckm]

Kate came up through the US system---she competed at 2007 Upper Great Lakes Novice Regionals (7th), 2008 Upper Great Lakes Junior Regionals (3rd) and 2008 Mids Junior Sectionals (9th). She never made it to US Nationals. In 2009 she switched to competing in the Canadian system and won Sectionals, Challenge and Nationals as a Junior.

The problem seems to be that in Canada, the ladies are given short shrift. Skate Canada doesn't groom ladies for success the way they do the other disciplines. There are huge numbers of ladies training in Canada, but there doesn't seem to be any system for identifying potential talent and nurturing it.

There's also a huge difference in the way the US and Canada run their summer competitions, which are an important step in the development of good competitive skaters. In the US, the lower levels (novice, intermediate (pre-novice) and juvenile) compete in qualifying groups, and then the top 4-5 skaters in each Q group compete in a final; this practice is followed in summer comps and also at Regionals.

In the summer competitions, Canada just puts the skaters into huge groups and that's it. The group winners never compete against one another and never have the opportunity to measure their own skills against their peers. It's only at the Challenges that top skaters meet top skaters, and at that point, the season is just about over.

[Sk8n Mama]

Skate Canada does have an identification and development program ongoing. The problem is there aren't huge numbers of "ladies" training in Canada because most of them quit after Novice or a year or two as Juniors. There are many reasons for that, but some of it is good old Skate Canada politics. I know several people coaching in Western Ontario section and so I know we've got the youngsters out there. But Skate Canada has to keep those youngsters on the ice past Novice so that our skaters are the best of the best and not the best of the ones who didn't quit.

[colleen o'neill]

Sk8n Mama , you intrigue me...

For years I've suspected that even though Skate Canada has made a lot of noise about identifying and developing promising young skaters at an early age, the politics (of which I know little, but fear much ) get in the way. I mean, I couldn't believe they were just shining us on, but year after year at Nationals ( and particularly with the girls), when we finally got to see the prospects that had been mentioned , out came a bunch of girls who ( whatever the stage of their jump development) had their shoulders up about their ears, stiff backs , stiff arms, no turnout, etc.etc...and they're maybe 15 or 16...These things take time to correct..and sometimes can never be fully corrected. Whereas, if the skater has ballet ( or some other stretching, strengthening discipline ) from an early age, there's a whole set of bad habits they can avoid .

A certain amount ought to be part of their coaching, not a separate added expense/ logistics problem for the parents to take on. Parents can always do more if they want to and can afford the cost or time, but there should be at least a basic level that is included. I don't know if this kind of approach exists now..I know it does with other sports.( A young member of my family was involved with rhythmic gymnastics , and after their first year, they would have a brief ballet class as well as their warm up stretches before a training session.)

well, I have more I'd like to whine on about, but my dogs want to be fed. I'll whine more later