Marissa Castelli and Mervin Tran pair up. | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Marissa Castelli and Mervin Tran pair up.

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Congrats to them!

I hope Skate Canada will release them too. D/R is already a solid team, and M-T or Moscovitch and their partners could also be solid teams in upcoming years, so it doesn't make sense for Mervin to wrestle for that 3rd spot when he's got a much better chance of getting back to Worlds with Marissa skating for the US. And with Mervin's experience, him and Marissa (if they work out) could be the extra boost the US needs to be competitive in pairs again.
 

flutzy13

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 12, 2012
I didn't like what USFSA did to Morgan Matthews, and I wouldn't like it if Skate Canada destroyed Tran's hope of a later career either. If they should want Tran to pay back what they spent on him last year, I think that is very defensible, but the destruction of people to further nationalistic sports goals is deplorable, IMO.

It isn't like SC had a big investment in Tran-and wouldn't what funding he got have been mostly based on Purich's results with her previous partner, since he had skated for Japan for a long time? If the team indeed got any money from Skate Canada, given that they are not listed as being part of the Skate Canada 2013-2014 national team. This is not a surprise, since Purich and Tran did not compete at Canadian Nationals 2013, which is one of the criteria for being named to the team.
http://www.skatecanada.ca/en-us/athletes/nationalteam.aspx


And didn't Tran get Purich an assignment at TEB due to being a returning World medalist, a slot she would not otherwise have received?

Why should Tran be thinking about anything but his own (and now perhaps, Marissa's) career, in this case?

I don't think its so much about moentary investment, since like you say they didn't invest much, but about the fact that he's a talented skater and a Canadian who they would prefer to have skating for Canada and not to team with a talented American for the benefit of the US. Its different than when they released him to skate for Japan when he was young as he's now a successful skater with an international reputation.

I wouldn't blame SC for making this hard for Tran (and I don't think US would have signed off on a Castelli release until they were forced to), but I really don't want to see Castelli adversely impacted by political games with the federations.
 

Sandpiper

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 16, 2014
I can see why Canada wouldn't want to release Tran and turn him from asset to opponent. However, it's not his fault there are no suitable partners in Canada.
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
FWIW, Mervin did place 4th with Natasha and now that Lawrence and Swigers are broken up, then Mervin, if he had a Canadian partner and was representing Canada, in essence would be in the mix for No.3, though as others pointed out with Moore-Towers/Marinao and Moscovitch/Iliushechkina it wouldn't be guaranteed.

Canadian pairs are actually in worse shape than the U.S. There were only seven pairs at the senior level at Canadian nationals and eight at the junior level. U.S. seniors had 12 pairs and 10 juniors.
 

deedee1

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
:eek::hb::party2:

I, too, hope Skate Canada will release him. I do miss Takahshi/Tran as a pair, but do hope that he can continue to meet success in his career.

My thought, exactly! Wish Marissa & Mervin great success for many seasons to come. :yes:
 

tulosai

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
I wouldn't blame SC for making this hard for Tran (and I don't think US would have signed off on a Castelli release until they were forced to), but I really don't want to see Castelli adversely impacted by political games with the federations.

The USFSA would absolutely not have released her. I believe this with all my heart. She said in her interview that she's American rah patriotism and she'd never skate for another country, but in all absolute reality, I think what happened is that they talked and determined it would be easier for him to be released. She may well have patriotic feelings as well, and they may be strong, but I don't buy that they were not practical when talking about this.
 

Skater Boy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
There is something "discomforting" about skaters switching countries just to compete like buying a new hoodie. I am indifferent but I do think Canada is in trouble.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Tran's parents fled southeast Asia and ended up in Saskatchewan. Since 2007, he trained in Montreal, QC, with Bruno Marcotte, for three different countries. If Japan would have given him citizenship, he would still be skating with Takahashi. She wanted to go to the Olympics, and probably the Japanese federation urged her to skate with a Japanese citizen, because of the team event and complete lack of Japanese pairs.

I do not know why Tran and Purich broke up. She is now skating with a guy named Wolfe.

It is a bit strange, but it seems to me that Tran's true country is the St. Leonard rink.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
If SC had more than little or no use for Mervin...why else did they let the Japanese have him?
 

Violet Bliss

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 19, 2010
If SC had more than little or no use for Mervin...why else did they let the Japanese have him?

Why all the assumptions about SC, past and future? Maybe they understand the difficulty of finding partners and have let go and accepted skaters. We don't know what they are going to do about the very talented Mervin yet. And we can't just assume Mervin only cares to skate for himself, or should automatically be the one to switch nationality since he did it before.

This new pairing will boost US strength in Pairs, at a time when previously strong Canadian Pairs are in a bit of disarray

I wish them all the best.
 

Jammers

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 4, 2010
Country
United-States
I don't understand this pairing. I'm sure Marissa after getting a taste of the Olympics wants to get their again but there's no way Tran becomes a citizen for at least 7 years thanks to our broken immigration policy.
 

flutzy13

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 12, 2012
If SC had more than little or no use for Mervin...why else did they let the Japanese have him?

Because that was several years ago. He was young and unproven. And their pairs program was in better shape then. I do hope they just let him go with nothing more than the required year out- I'm just saying I won't be surprised if it doesn't happen so simply.
 

Violet Bliss

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 19, 2010
I don't understand this pairing. I'm sure Marissa after getting a taste of the Olympics wants to get their again but there's no way Tran becomes a citizen for at least 7 years thanks to our broken immigration policy.

I was so wrong in thinking Mervin would be able to get US citizenship in time for the next Olympic? It worked out for Tanith.
 

Jammers

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 4, 2010
Country
United-States
I was so wrong in thinking Mervin would be able to get US citizenship in time for the next Olympic? It worked out for Tanith.

Tanith missed the 2002 Olympics because she wasn't yet a citizen and it took her over 7 years to get her citizenship only through a special act of Congress. Tanith was much younger then Mervin and could afford to miss one Olympics but if Tran had to wait till 2022 he would be over 30.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
SkatreFiguring said:
I was so wrong in thinking Mervin would be able to get US citizenship in time for the next Olympic? It worked out for Tanith.

As I recall the sequence of events, Tanith got caught up in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 2001. A lot of applications for U.S. citizenship were put on hold. It literally took an act of Congress for Tanith to cut through the red tape in time for the 2006 Olympics.

In this effort she was befriended by the U.S. Congressional Representative from Michigan's Eleventh District, Thaddeus McCotter. (Note how skillfully this district curves around to pick up both Bloomfield Hills, where the Detroit Skating Club is located and Canton Township, where Mrs. Zoueva's operation moved -- rather like a salamander. ;) All that white part in the middle? That's where the Democrats live.)

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c101/BlueDjinn/11th_Map_2012.jpg

McCotter was kicked off the ballot in the next election when it was revealed that many of the required signatures on his nominating petitions were Xeroed copies of signatures from previous years. Private citizen McCotter sued his campaign manager, alleging that the manager sold him down the river in exchange for the cancellation of a gambling debt. The Tea Party candidate ran essentially unopposed and won.

Not that any of this is Tanith's fault. Just Michigan business as usual. :)
 
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LilJen

Rinkside
Joined
Jun 11, 2014
You took Tanith, and now Mervin too?! :cry:

Hey, we gave you Kaitlyn Weaver! :)

I'm of the camp that believes Marissa and Mervin felt it would be much more likely for Canada to release Mervin (4th at one Canadian nationals) than for the US to release Marissa (2-time US nats champion, GP medalist, Olympic team bronze medalist), so that's the direction they're heading. Let's hope it works. This should be really interesting--Mervin is much more expressive than Simon, but it will be a challenge, I would think, for her to get used to a new partner after so many years with Simon.
 
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