Originally Posted by golden411
It sounds like he has skaters to go with him."I'm still trying to figure it all out," he said. "I have to find another rink in the area where I can teach. I have a lot of skaters, and this is very inconvenient for them. I need to find ice."
I don't care much in fact. It's boring. The whole story with silly firing looks childish and stupid. Don't they have any Labour Laws in US? The obviously don't. To fire someone without any valid reason is what? A norm? Probably not. But they know he won't sue, so they are doing what they are doing. It makes me puke.
Btw, Marina is indeed a very nasty persona. I didn't find much support to her in this story on Russian boards. Even boards that are 'in war' with each other, they all write the same thing about her. Most of people are very firendly and supportive to Igor. And no one had an idea that sexual harassement took place. That's just stupid.
I'm really only worried about how this will affect the skaters. I know that sounds selfish, but Igor has been at the helm of American ice dance for the better part of twenty years. He will rebuild. The man defected from the Soviet Union and built a life here in America. I have no doubt that he will be fine. I worry more for what this will do to the skaters.
He can't really go to DSC, since that is a rival school. And Ann Arbor is where his former wife teaches--perhaps he can teach there? Hopefully, Nechaeva and Chesnichenko won't mind sharing the ice with him. UMich does have its own club and rink, so perhaps he can go there.
Since neither of these coaches has lived or worked in Russia for more than 20 years, I seriously doubt that the Russian posters have much in the way of knowledge or insight into the situation. Not that those of us who live in North America have any idea of what went on either.
Agreed, DL. Also, a lot of those posters may harbour resentment since Marina and Igor did defect.
Looks like people are following Igor - "I have lots of skaters"
Trust me, in football's case there's just as much if not more drama than this.
This could be the best thing to happen for skating in years. Imagine if D&W go with Igor and V&M stay with Marina. This rivalry will have what's been missing the last few years. Bad blood. What a story for Sochi.
i wouldn't be surprised if some skaters felt betrayed by the firing since it came from the rink itself, the skaters are getting caught in the crossfire and that shows that the rink management itself isn't as supportive as it should be toward the skaters (and the skaters should be the first priority...they are the ones competing and putting the club on the map, you don't turn their training environment on its head then blame them for it). Also, at the end of the day, this is still Igor Shpilband we're talking about...dozens of skaters would loved to be coached by him
Will be interesting to see which skaters follow Igor/which ones try to keep the best of both worlds/how they deal with this.
I don't think Zoueva defected. Didn't she just move? Shpilband is the one who defected.
Sorry your stomach is so weak that a "firing" would cause vomit.
When it comes to sports in the US, if a coach is felt to be doing something unethical or not doing his best, he can be fired midseason, post season, or pre season. This is no different than any other sport. It's a shock, but it happens.
Shpilband was not fired as a coach by the club manager and rink owner who could only stop him from using the rink. Coaches and skaters fire each other regularly but it's rare that the management steps in to rid a coach, especially one as successful as Shpilband. His skaters now have to decide and make their choices.
Putting aside pre existing opinions springing forwards once again, known facts and those supported by at least two sources are:
1. Shpiband is expelled from the Artic Edge Club by the management.
2. He is allegedly blindsided and shocked, as reported by both himself and the club manager who did the "firing". This is puzzling because
3. The contributing situation had existed and deteriorated such that USFSA had been apprised of the situation over a month ago, as informed by the club manager and presumably true since it involves the ultimate official government body of US figure skating. As well, Shpilband's wife coaching at the same club had seemed to be equally clueless.
4. The confirmed part of the "situation" involved discords between Shpilband and Zoueva, as expressed by both coaches and Charlie White's mother but not acknowledged by the management as the reason for the firing.
5. Shpilband is now looking for a rink in the same area to continue coaching his skaters of whom there are many according to him.
Unverified claims include
1. The top 3 teams at the club had been unhappy with Shpilband to the point of threatening to leave unless he did. This has been offered as the prime reason of firing Shpilband by the management. No skater has been heard from and Charlie's mother has denied this. Shpilband seems to disbelieve this and he is seeking to verify with one of the teams cited . Even Zuoeva has not stated this against Shpilband.
2. Zoueva is saddened by the firing, per her own statement. She has also acknowledged Shpilband's part in their coaching success.
3. Miscellaneous claims and theories involving politics, past and current rivalries and misconducts of coaches, skaters, federations, etc, past campaigns of ridding rivaling coaches, unfair judging and corrupt system...........
After reading some other posts and the updates in the original article, all I have to say is that I still can't believe the skaters were "against" Igor!
Article in Russian with quotes from Zueva: http://www.rsport.ru/figure_skating/...599672867.html
She says: - "Igor created conflict of interest. Without my approval, he made a decision to accept his own students who he wanted to train separately from me. I have a very particular viewpoint in this situation - it is a conflict of interest".
- "He decided to start his own business within our common business. It is a conflict of interest. It is professionally incorrect to open your own business"
She also said the students are not involved in the conflict and that in her opinion he could have waited another year and a half until the Olympics (I guess to start teaching his own students).
I apologize for my bad translation, if anyone can correct it please do. Hopefully a full English version will be available soon.
Shocking news. Don't understand management's decision but Igor was under contract with the rink so I guess they can "fire" him. There are 4 rinks nearby. Ann Arbor is the closest but Yasa & Yuri are there and that could be a problem. Farmington Hills is the other closest rink to Canton, but has only 2 ice surfaces - same as Canton yet no major dance program. Onyx in Rochester has 3 ice surfaces - Richard Callaghan trained there for a time, no major dance program it seems. Also Troy has 4 ice surfaces but is the furthest from U of M, however they don't appear to have a significant dance program. I wish Igor and the all his skaters the best. It will be interesting as to which skaters stay in Canton or go with Igor.
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