- Joined
- Jul 28, 2003
Irina Lobacheva interview
Irina LOBACHEVA: "I'm learning to correct my students"
Having said good bye to the eligible sport, Russian skaters Irina Lobacheva and Ilya Averbukh have found new venues for self expressoin. Ilya is consumed by the development of his show "Ice Symphony", as well as by commenting jobs. Irina, meanwhile, now trains child teams. World and European champion talked about this new step in her career with the "Izvestiya" correspondent Ekaterina Konova.
Actually, I didn't want to become a coach, it was rather Ilya's idea. When we stopped performing, I only wanted one thing - to forget figure skating. Yet two years passed, we got a baby, and it all gave me a psychological rest. Besides, I started getting my first students. Kids' parents found out I was considering coaching, and asked me to try.
Traditionally, coaches in Russia encounter a miriad of problems. Did you consider moving abroad, as many of your colleages have done?
I've had the opportunity. We've had to live and train in America for seven years, as this was where our coaches Linichuk and Karponosov worked. We could have stayed in the West, and coached prospect-less children and well-to-do nannies, a rather characteristic mix. First of all, such an option didn't attract me. Secondly, we never got accustomed to America.
Well, Oleg Vasiliev and Tatiana Tarasova, who both have their schools in America, don't work with prospect-less skaters.
That's where you're wrong. The difference is that Oleg Vasiliev, besides working with American children, also works with our famous pair Totmianina and Marinin. Originally, though, he came to train Americans. Otherwise, what would the point have been to invite him to America and give him such excellent conditions?
Would you like to open your own figure skating school in Russia?
That's possible only with governmental support. We aren't ready for that yet. Though, of course, we're thinking about it.
Whom would you like to train?
Naturally, we have to move to the international level. Otherwise, I see no point in this work. I started training little kids to learn things from scratch. Coaching is very different. It took me about four months to learn to keep an eye on several teams simoultaneously, that alone is very difficult. Besides, you have to elarn to criticize your students; given each one's personality, you have to find a unique approach to each one.
Does Ilya help you?
We're working on it. Normally, putting a program together takes two weeks, if not a month. We do it faster, because we both come onto the ice to show the elements, and the kids repeat afer us.
Do you follow your former coaches' experience in your work?
For a long time, we were one big family with Linichuk and Karponosov, but now we've gone our separate ways. We only call each other occasionally. If I continue coaching, we can eventually become competitors, so why would they help me? Of course, I could have joined some team as an associate coach, but I won't do that. I want to do it on my own. The kids I've started working with are like a family. We're learning together.
Irina LOBACHEVA: "I'm learning to correct my students"
Having said good bye to the eligible sport, Russian skaters Irina Lobacheva and Ilya Averbukh have found new venues for self expressoin. Ilya is consumed by the development of his show "Ice Symphony", as well as by commenting jobs. Irina, meanwhile, now trains child teams. World and European champion talked about this new step in her career with the "Izvestiya" correspondent Ekaterina Konova.
Actually, I didn't want to become a coach, it was rather Ilya's idea. When we stopped performing, I only wanted one thing - to forget figure skating. Yet two years passed, we got a baby, and it all gave me a psychological rest. Besides, I started getting my first students. Kids' parents found out I was considering coaching, and asked me to try.
Traditionally, coaches in Russia encounter a miriad of problems. Did you consider moving abroad, as many of your colleages have done?
I've had the opportunity. We've had to live and train in America for seven years, as this was where our coaches Linichuk and Karponosov worked. We could have stayed in the West, and coached prospect-less children and well-to-do nannies, a rather characteristic mix. First of all, such an option didn't attract me. Secondly, we never got accustomed to America.
Well, Oleg Vasiliev and Tatiana Tarasova, who both have their schools in America, don't work with prospect-less skaters.
That's where you're wrong. The difference is that Oleg Vasiliev, besides working with American children, also works with our famous pair Totmianina and Marinin. Originally, though, he came to train Americans. Otherwise, what would the point have been to invite him to America and give him such excellent conditions?
Would you like to open your own figure skating school in Russia?
That's possible only with governmental support. We aren't ready for that yet. Though, of course, we're thinking about it.
Whom would you like to train?
Naturally, we have to move to the international level. Otherwise, I see no point in this work. I started training little kids to learn things from scratch. Coaching is very different. It took me about four months to learn to keep an eye on several teams simoultaneously, that alone is very difficult. Besides, you have to elarn to criticize your students; given each one's personality, you have to find a unique approach to each one.
Does Ilya help you?
We're working on it. Normally, putting a program together takes two weeks, if not a month. We do it faster, because we both come onto the ice to show the elements, and the kids repeat afer us.
Do you follow your former coaches' experience in your work?
For a long time, we were one big family with Linichuk and Karponosov, but now we've gone our separate ways. We only call each other occasionally. If I continue coaching, we can eventually become competitors, so why would they help me? Of course, I could have joined some team as an associate coach, but I won't do that. I want to do it on my own. The kids I've started working with are like a family. We're learning together.
