Joanne McLeod's coaching | Golden Skate

Joanne McLeod's coaching

coppertop1

On the Ice
Joined
Sep 19, 2006
It seems that Joanne McLeod isn't a particularly well-thought of coach, for various reasons. I do notice than none of her skaters have succeeded in breaking through on the big scene, though Sandhu came close, he never was able to gain that consistency, which was mostly his own fault. I'm curious about where people get their information in regards to her coaching. I do think that if she did cater to Sandhu as her big star that would explain his sense of entitlement and tendency to give up on a bad day during competition. I've seen comments that she would complain when her students got called flagged for underrotations or edge calls or scored low on PCS.

I'm not accusing anyone of trolling, I'm just curious where this information comes from
 

nadster

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 1, 2004
One great source for some of the comments is the Vancouver sun paper.

I have read on that site some of the quotes of her complaining about UR calls and low PCS of some of her skaters most notably Kevin Reynolds.

The other thing is that the BC section does live stream all their competitions for free ( with the summer and the sectionals having live commentary as well ) . The commentators mention the coaches for each skater. So one can get a pretty good pattern of what happens with Mcleod's students there.
 

coppertop1

On the Ice
Joined
Sep 19, 2006
One great source for some of the comments is the Vancouver sun paper.

I have read on that site some of the quotes of her complaining about UR calls and low PCS of some of her skaters most notably Kevin Reynolds.

The other thing is that the BC section does live stream all their competitions for free ( with the summer and the sectionals having live commentary as well ) . The commentators mention the coaches for each skater. So one can get a pretty good pattern of what happens with Mcleod's students there.

Thanks :) I know she wanted Mira Leung to incorporate a 3-3 despite Mira's jumps barely having height to complete the rotation in a solo jump. Seems odd.

I'm not sure it helps to complain as opposed to saying "OK, we need to fix this".
 

Snoopy15

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
I understand where much of the criticism comes from; yes, there have been some skaters that she has mentored that have fallen below what they possibly could have achieved. However, that being said, I am certain that she is always working hard to ensure that her skaters are prepared and trained in the past few years. When she was coaching skaters such as Sandhu and Leung, I would say that she was relatively new to this; it is not easy coaching skaters of that caliber when you haven't had as much experience handling something like it. I believe they were her first students that truly came close. I do believe that she has certainly grown as a coach, as she is quite kind in person. The team at Eight Rinks know what they are doing and are attempting to ensure that all of their skaters, both competitive and up and coming, are on form.
 

sk8ingcoach

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 25, 2012
I attended a seminar where she was the singles coach, and i have expressed my opinion about her with other coaches that agree with me. SHE IS NUTS !!!!!!!!!
 

nadster

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 1, 2004
Thanks :) I know she wanted Mira Leung to incorporate a 3-3 despite Mira's jumps barely having height to complete the rotation in a solo jump. Seems odd.

I'm not sure it helps to complain as opposed to saying "OK, we need to fix this".

Mira got a lot of UR calls during her career internationally but did not get those calls at national competitions during the time when she was clearly Canada's second best lady.

However Joanne often said that the UR calls were unfair.

Therefore , in Joanne's mind Mira was ready for those triple-triples since in her mind Mira did not have a UR problem even though international judges were giving the clear message that she did.

Personally I find that many of her students wear ugly costumes in competition and they generally have poor axel technique. This is based on my observations at the BC competitions.
 

LiamForeman

William/Uilyam
Medalist
Joined
Nov 24, 2006
The three big names she coached (Sandhu, Mira-cle, Reynolds) all have completely different axel techniques. Mira was constantly UR'ing her 2axel.
 

coppertop1

On the Ice
Joined
Sep 19, 2006
I have noticed that her main students have problems with axels. Mira was UR'ing hers a lot, Kevin's looks all wonky, and Sandhu was popping his (mostly due to his perfetionism he'd rather single than fall-- something that should have been impressed on him about how falling is better than popping).

Mira's jumps did look close, they were small so definitely a 3-3 was not an option. Joannie's jumps were big and usually clean.
 

coppertop1

On the Ice
Joined
Sep 19, 2006
Where is Mira Leung? What is she doing these days/

I'm guessing she retired after 2010. I don't know if she's even skating anymore. She finished 15th after the short at 2010 Canadians, and then withdrew and she just disappeared. Her results had been going downhill since 2008, finishing sixth at the 2009 Canadian Championships and off the national team. By 2009, Cynthia Phaneuf was back and had regained her triples and since she was a stronger skater overall, she overtook Mira, as did many other skaters.
 
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