Doesn't Canada usually only have one quality world class lady every decade or so? That means it will probably be another 7,8 years until another good Canadian lady comes around.
Doesn't Canada usually only have one quality world class lady every decade or so? That means it will probably be another 7,8 years until another good Canadian lady comes around.
Looking through the various lists for summer competitions, I notice that some skaters are doing 2-3 competitions. Exceptions are Phanef (back injury) and Lacoste (only doing long at Quebec). Does that mean that the first time Lacoste does her short program is at Skate Canada? Samson is doing multiple comps and looks like she wants to get back. Osmond is doing back to back in Detroit and Wildrose. That is one big issue for our ladies if they are not prepared for major competitions. Why wouldn't Lacoste do short/long in Quebec? Programs should be ready by now
The short program may be choreographed but not ready for competition since she doesn't skate her first international for a while yet. Sometimes after is it choreographed, the program doesn't work for the skater and needs to be tweaked or changed. The skater may be focussing on getting her long program honed and presenting it to the judges for feedback. There are a lot of reasons why the skater would elect to do only one phase of the competition. Summer comps are used to get ready for the season in whatever manner the skater deems appropriate.Originally Posted by hohoho
It's not a good thing for Lacoste to display insecurity (not doing both programs) because that is her biggest problem in competition. She never seems confident and self-assured when she competes internationally.
Right now, there is a vacuum at the top in Canadian ladies. By doing multiple competitions, Samson and Osmond are demonstrating that they are ready to take that top spot. Lacoste does herself no favors by her reluctance to show she is competitive with the others.
I totally agree with you. I think Amelie Lacoste did not show that she have any confidence with herself. And, I think this is why she does only one program this summer. It looks like she just competed one program this summer for not making disaster and
not lose her reputation as a Canadian Champion. But, in my opinion, this strategy don't demonstrate what a champion is. I'm rooting more about the others canadians who does their 2 programs this summer because it prove that they really want to gain the top spot and show that they can control their nerve under pressure
Amelie went to Worlds in March, and spent the spring months skating every carnival and gala available to her as Canadian Champion in order to pay for her skating. Skaters at her level don't have lucrative Stars on Ice tours to finance their exenses. She took the month of June off when the rinks shut down for maintenance and upgrades, and started working on her new programs for at the beginning of July.
Very few elite skaters in any discipline do both a long and a short program at Canadians competitions. That's the way it's always been. Look at the records from previous years. That includes Virtue and Moir, when they were doing summer comps. V&M are a team who have NEVER lacked confidence.
Stop looking for conspiracies in every little thing.
Samson and Osmond have even less opportunity to earn money by skating.
And if few elite ladies do both SP and FS at Canadian competitions, maybe that is one of the reasons why so few Canadian ladies make it to the top internationally.
Samson and Osmond have even less opportunity to earn money by skating.
And if few elite ladies do both SP and FS at Canadian competitions, maybe that is one of the reasons why so few Canadian ladies make it to the top internationally.
Getting competition experience helps; but you can only do so much if you don't have the talent. Osmond, Lacoste, Samson even Phaneuf all have limited abilities and not a lot of personality on the ice. None other than maybe the injured Phaneuf have shown much artistry and certainly none are known for their personality (on or off the ice). I hope for the best but it doesn't look good for Canada.
It's a summer comp chuckie. You seemed to think it was pretty meaningless when Chan was winning summer comps. Everyone does both events in regular comps. Doing just one program at Thornhill in 2009 didn't stop Virtue & Moir from winning Olympic Gold, Jeff Buttle from winning a World Championship, or Takahashi & Tran from winnning a bronze medal at Worlds.
Canadian women aren't getting enough competition from their earliest years because there are few events with finals. This particular generation of Canadian women are hamstrung because in addition to no finals at home, there have been no NAC's for years, and if they didn't place top 5 in their first JGP, they didn't get a second assignment.
I agree with all your points, Dragonlady. However, I have noticed over the years that the skaters who have a breakthrough at Canadians are often also the ones who go to several competitions in the summer/fall season. Examples from this past season:
1. Kaetlyn Osmond: competed at Glencoe Club compeition (short only), Wild Rose, BC Summerskate (short only), Sask Skate, Octoberfest.
2. Gabrielle Daleman: competed at a North Bay competition, Scarboro Skate, Skate Detroit, Thornhill, Isabelle Henderson and Octoberfest.
3. Alaine Chartrand: competed at Scarboro Skate, Lake Placid, Minto Summer Skate, Thornhill, Autumn Skate and Octoberfest.
Getting more competitive experience doesn't guarantee better results later in the season, but there does seem to be some correlation between more summer competitions and success later in the season. While I agree with you about the negative effects of not having finals and not having NACs, it seems that even without those higher-pressure situations in the competitions, the additional competitive experience benefit the skaters.
This doesn't apply IMO to skaters who already have the necessary competitive experience, such as V/M, Jeff Buttle or Takahashi/Tran. They are already competing at such a high level that the summer competitions can't simulate the pressure they would experience in a normal competition. For them the summer competitions are only for getting the programs out there.
All of this presumes that the skaters actually have the necessary skills in practice (jumps, step sequences, etc) and just need experience to transfer that into a competitive situation.
In the past the Quebec skaters and the BC skaters didn't seem to do many summer competitions, and they also remained rather insular, only competing in Quebec or BC respectively. For some of the Quebec skaters that seems to be changing, as some are now competing at Liberty and Minto as well as the competitions in Quebec. For BC skaters it's more difficult, as distances are long to other competitions, but some have been entering competitions on the prairies or going down to California competitions. I think that will benefit them.
Last edited by geoskate; 07-21-2012 at 12:29 PM.
First off, Octoberfest and Scarboro Skate are not summer comps. Scarboro is and end-of-season spring comp and Octoberfest is a warm-up for Sectionals. Wild Rose, BC Summerskate, Minto, Wild Rose, Lake Placid and Thornhill are summer comps. The rest I'm not sure about. I note that Osmond did her short only at Glencoe and BC, and Osmond has the advantage of not having been to Worlds, so her season ended a month earlier than Samson. Skaters who do Worlds get a later start at their programs than those who stay home.
Yes, doing comps is helpful. I've been advocating more competitive opportunities for the girls since they dropped NAC's and finals for all groups, but saying that a skater is not maximizing their opportunities by not having both programs ready for competition in August is flat out ridiculous.
Are there that many more summer competitions here in the US for the top US Junior Ladies skaters then in Canada? Why is that?
There are several Canadian girls competing in the Junior Ladies at the US' Liberty competition this weekend.
The USA has more people.
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks