Frank Carroll to Assist with Team USA Mentoring Program
- Thread starter gsk8
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Just thinking about twice Olympic Champion, besides various world and european titles.
Anyway, what do you mean "your own"? Are you afraid that Katia would be a fifth column in US pair skating and damage you?
She already has a school and training your "own" future. Also, her daughter is skating for "you".
What's the problem?
I think question has to be asked - what is Frank's number 1 priority? The skaters he personally trains or the skaters that come to him through this program?
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Don't worry folks, I've got the solution right here.
Frank goes into his mentor role.
Gracie goes to Kori + Rohene.
Everyone wins: Kori gets a top lady, Franks gets his mentorship, and Gracie gets her hourly hugs from Jason.
DONE. :yay:
Frank goes into his mentor role.
Gracie goes to Kori + Rohene.
Everyone wins: Kori gets a top lady, Franks gets his mentorship, and Gracie gets her hourly hugs from Jason.
DONE. :yay:
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I love Tai and think she would be a great addition with Katia. IMO Katia had amazing skating skills and the quietest blades(along with Sergei) in pairs and competitive nerve to boot. Her resume alone qualifies her. Not to take away from Tai/Randy because they were wonderful as well. Katia was trained under a successful Soviet system that dominated pairs and I would think her knowledge is invaluable and could be a real asset to US pairs.
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Is this how it would work? It sounds like he'll be an advisor to coaches, not skaters.
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I believe he is advising both.
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- Jun 11, 2012
Just because Katia and Tai were outstanding pairs skaters doesn't mean they have the wherewithal to be mentors or coaches. And I would imagine that Frank is able to separate his own coaching responsibilities when mentoring other coaches. I still think this is a good idea. I read on this board where coaches are sliced and diced every which way, criticized to the hilt, second-guessed, etc. etc. Why not have someone monitoring them? And why not choose a person who has been coaching successfully for years and has a
positive track record? And who knows, maybe Frank is going to start winding down his own coaching career and move on into this. I also doubt this position was created to reward him for anything.
positive track record? And who knows, maybe Frank is going to start winding down his own coaching career and move on into this. I also doubt this position was created to reward him for anything.
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I think between Katia and Tai they could help US pairs become more successful. It's better than nothing we have now. We have not had any success in Pairs since Meno/Sand, Ina/Zimmerman. I think Tai and Katia could mentor pair coaches on partner selection, both of them had longevity with their partners as well as good relationships with their partners. It couldn't hurt since US pairs have been splitting so frequently with people they should not have skated with in the first place. I am curious why would you think Katia/Tai would not be an asset to mentor US pairs?
As far as Frank goes I think he is the perfect man for the job. I only feel it a little conflicting because he mentoring coaches and skaters and he would pretty much be guiding his principle skaters rivals and we all know that Frank is a man who had his politicking in order. I don't think he is like that but I think he would have some bias towards his primary students, not because he is callous or anything but I think it would be hard not to just as a human.
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In my opinion the biggest problem with US pairs is the partners not staying together long enough. If Katia and Tai or anybody else could solve that problem we'd probably be more competitive. But I also don't think some of the splits are the result of people who shouldn't have been put together in the first place. I think there is sometimes a lack of commitment, pairs partners with different goals that have developed as they aged (college, family, tired of living on a shoe string) or maybe just wanting more of a life outside of the rink. There are very, very, VERY few figure skaters that can make a living skating after they retire from competition. So at some point they look to "what comes next!" And I could be seriously misdirected with this statement, but, in some foreign countries figure skating IS that person's life and their ticket to a career that will sustain them for years to come whether they skate or not. In the US that isn't so!
I think Tai has been out of the sport for a long time and the technicalities of pairs skating have grown and evolved since her time. She might be able to add something to presentation but I really don't think she could add anything to the technical or development aspect. You could say the same thing for Katia although she has, at least, skated for years as a singles skater. I guess it goes back to that old adage that those who "do" don't necessarily know how to teach! It just means that they were highly coachable when they were competing. I think Brian Orser and Yuka Sato and Jason Dundjen are exceptions. Mark Mitchell. And there are a few more. There is emotionalism attached to both Tai and Katia for obvious reasons but that doesn't necessarily make them qualified as mentors. Just my opinion!
I think Tai has been out of the sport for a long time and the technicalities of pairs skating have grown and evolved since her time. She might be able to add something to presentation but I really don't think she could add anything to the technical or development aspect. You could say the same thing for Katia although she has, at least, skated for years as a singles skater. I guess it goes back to that old adage that those who "do" don't necessarily know how to teach! It just means that they were highly coachable when they were competing. I think Brian Orser and Yuka Sato and Jason Dundjen are exceptions. Mark Mitchell. And there are a few more. There is emotionalism attached to both Tai and Katia for obvious reasons but that doesn't necessarily make them qualified as mentors. Just my opinion!
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That was actually what I was wondering. Does this single that Frank will sort of 'finish out' coaching the skaters on his roster (Gracie and Denis) and not take any more on? What happens to some of the younger skaters that work with him? What happens to skaters that work with other coaches but get yearly 'consulting' from Frank? Will he continue doing these things for US skaters, but stop doing it for others outside the US, if they're not already on his roster?
Actually, it strikes me that this 'consulting' work he was already doing is probably quite similar to his new role for USFSA. For example, there was a recent discussion about Kaetlyn Osmond coming to work with Frank each year.
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Very valid points. I agree about our pairs match ups and the splits that occur. If a US pair were to do well and gain international recognition it is a door opener to do show over seas, such as Meryl and Charlie are this year. Stephan Lambiel makes a lot of money traveling and doing shows even though he has been retired. There is also the Stars on Ice tour even though it is only 20 cities.
I mentioned Katia as a pairs mentor not only because of her resume and the sport system she grew up in but also because she teaches skating today. Pairs can learn lifts and tricks but they won't be done well with out good basic pairs skating skills. I think Katia would be a perfect consultant on this because she possessed all of those qualities as a pair skater herself. Scoring systems may come and go and elements can change but basic skating such as crossovers, holds, edges ect are a foundation of skating that will never change. These are things I think a lot of US teams lack.
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From what I remember he's already doing this consulting work for Polina Edmunds, too, even though he's not her full time coach. I seem to even recall watching a video of her performing somewhere (may have even been glacier falls) where frank is standing on the side of the ice with her coaches during Polina's performance.
I mean, a ton of coaches will do short term coaching and consulting... I *think* I read another thread in this forum that reported a bunch of South Korean figure skating association youngsters being shipped to Canada for two weeks to work with Brian orser.... I think they just want this for Frank on a larger and formalized national scale for the American team, which has been in need of development...
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Good questions, breathesgelatin.
Unless something has changed, Mitch Moyer does not allow non-U.S. skaters to have access to the University of Delaware's cutting-edge motion-capture technology, which is funded (at least in part) by USFS. It is much more advanced than Dartfish, and has been very helpful to U.S. skaters as they learn new jumps.
Would not surprise me if Moyer bans Osmond (and other significant rivals to Americans) from visiting Carroll next summer.
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Yes but that's their choice. Being obligated instead is another matter and it might create problems.
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It does say "coaches and athletes" at the beginning of the article, but then goes on to say this:
"Carroll’s primary focus will be to mentor U.S. Figure Skating’s Team USA and International Selection Pool coaches within U.S. Figure Skating’s Athlete High Performance Department."
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I'd be thrilled to see either Katia or Tai mentor some US pairs; both have wonderful qualities and experiences to bring to the table.
My new fantasy: Katia does for US pairs what Zoueva did for ice dance!
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