Coaches and Students

http://www.ifsmagazine.com/feature29.html

The above link leads to a discussion with many well known (and not so well known coaches) about the day to day interactions between coaches and students.

There are some interesting stories, particularly about Elaine Zayak, both as a coach herself now, and how she went back to her first coach, whom she left for Burrows when she was very young, to tell that first coach how very, very important she was to Elaine. I do so like Elaine!!

There are also interviews both with Carol Heiss and Lisa Ervin about what went wrong there.

I found it quite interesting.

DORISPULASKI:

Thanks for the great article! I read most of it and it's very true. I remember some of my coaches, some treated me like I was their daughter while others were really "mean" at least it seemed to me at the time - I was just a kid!!! It makes a great difference to a young skater how their early coaches treat them.

Good for Elaine Zayak for giving her first coach such respect. It is that first coach who instills the basics of skating to a young skater. I remember my very first coach or "skating pro" as the term was way back then when I started skating in Prince George. She was a doll! I will always remember her.

Thanks for the great post!