Angels (Patrons) of Figure Skating

[pollyls]

Hello fans. I'm curious about the tradition of patronage in skating. From just a couple of tidbits I've read, it seems like there is one. Scott Hamilton had a longtime patron who offered him support for many years, and who passed on a few years ago IIRC.

Additionally, there was an edition of Johnny Weir's Q&A on his web site where he answered a question from a young skater who shared that s/he had worked hard, and gotten to a certain skill level, but that the family couldn't really afford the coaching it would take to get to the next level. Johnny's response was that if you work hard and persevere, "angels" will appear to help you (and I got the sense he was referring to real individuals with capacity to help). His advice was to hang in there.

I'm sure somebody here knows more about this phenomenon and how it works. Anybody want to share?

Cheers,
Polly

 

[Tonichelle]

whoops re read what you wrote and I made a big mistake!

Yes Helen died during the US nations that were held in Texas a few years ago.

 

[heyang]

I think this happens quite frequently in sports. Pamela Anderson was a patron for one of the gymnasts on the US Olympics team. PA used to be a gymnast and maintained an interest. Someone told her about Maureen and her talent and her lack of finances. PA met her and decided that she wanted to help her.

The patrons are, of course, avid fans of the sport and have the money and interest in supporting someone with talent. Coaches have contacts and will introduce students to potential sponsors.

This also happens in academia. My friend's husband seeks out financial sponsorship for graduate student research.

 

[merrywidow]

Not only are there individuals sponsoring skaters, there have been hometowns that have. Todd Eldredge received a lot of financial support from his hometown. Natalie & Wayne Seybold were financed by their hometown. When Todd began earning money he made large contributions to his town's athletic program & Wayne Seybold is the mayor of his hometown today.

 

[sk8m8]

This is the case of not only FS, but of all sports that were "non-professional" at one time or the other. Althea Gibson recieved such help in her quest in tennis, as well as many other famous and not so famous tennis players.

There would have been no Tai and Randy if there weren't both a Mabel Fairbanks who started coaching them when not many african-american skaters (remember, they used to bill Tai as a Phillipino-American) were welcomed in the sport and also Maribelle Vinson Owens who coached her when there were no African Americans allowed in all white FS clubs.

Golf, Track, and almost all non-professional sports ( past and present) of course have been greatly affected by the "Angels" of which you speak. Oh, and love her or hate her, you would have never witness one of the lovliest and most powerful lutzes from Tonya Harding, had there not been such individuals. Pity they didn't pay her way through psychoanalysis

 

[SkateFan4Life]

Great thread! Elite-level figure skating is an extremely costly undertaking, and the average family simply doesn't have the financial wherewithall to pay upwards of $50,000 (sometimes more) for coaching, ice time, costumes, music preparation, choregraphers, travel, etc. I recall that Kitty and Peter Carruthers, the US pairs champions from 1981-1984 and the 1984 Olympic pair silver medalists, came from a family of modest means, so much so that the family car had over 200,000 miles on it, and the family ate tons of spaghetti and meatball dinners. Kitty and Peter received financial assistance from the USFSA Memorial Fund, which was established in memory of the 1961 United States World Figure Skating team that was killed in a plane crash while enroute to the 1961 World Championships in Prague. Other American champion skaters, such as Peggy Fleming, Scott Hamilton, Brian Boitano, and Kristi Yamaguchi, received financial assistance via this fund.

However, that still isn't enough to pay for the high price of figure skating. Paul Wyle and Nancy Kerrigan shared the same sponsor, a woman from Princeton, NJ, who paid for their competitive skating for a number of years. She even rented the home where the Kerrigan and Wylie families stayed during the 1992 Winter Olympics. She was truly an "angel" in that she made possible their ascent to the top.

Michelle Kwan's family had a number of lean years, as her parents were paying for the cost of Michelle and her sister Karen, both of whom trained at Lake Arrowhead with Frank Carroll for a number of years. Of course, Michelle is a millionaire now and doesn't need anybody's financial assistance to pay for her skating, but prior to her ascendancy to the top, her parents mortgaged their home in order to pay for the skating expenses.

It has to be extremely difficult for skaters to reach the top rung. They may win novice, intermediate or junior titles and then, in order to reach the top in the senior level, may need to relocate to another part of the country to train with a top coach, top choreographers, etc. (read $$$$). These skaters haven't made the bigtime yet, so they probably won't have any commercial endorsements, contracts to skate with Champions on Ice and/or to pay for their training. Parents and families can only be expected to make so many financial sacrifices, IMHO, in order to pay for a child's skating expenses.

It's a Catch-22 scenario, IMHO. They can't attract "angels" and/or corporate sponsorships until they become champions, yet they can't become champions unless they receive the financial support necessary to achieve this goal.

I certainly wish I had the financial wherewithall to sponsor a few of America's up and coming skaters. It would be a privilege and a pleasure for me to do so.
However, I cannot do so, so all I can do is send them my best wishes for success and hope that someone who has the resources will pick up the ball and lend a hand.

 

[Sylvia]

From: http://www.women-philanthropy.umich.edu/donors/donors_gm.html

Helen Myers McLoraine
2003 - Ms. McLoraine, a resident of Denver, made a $5 million bequest for the Scott Hamilton Cancer alliance for Research, Education and Survivorship at the Taussig Cancer Center of the Cleveland Clinic. Ms. McLoraine was a private investor in the gas and old industry. Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton, who was treated for testicular cancer at the Taussig Center, is among the many figure skaters she had sponsored. Ms. McLoraine died in Dallas at the age of 84 in January, 2003 [during U.S. Nationals as mentioned above].

Some useful related links:

Skater Support website: http://www.skatersupport.org/

http://swpskating.com/help.html
(how to support your local skaters, New England Amateur Skating Foundation--through which I have donated modest amounts (tax-deductible) to a few different skaters)

USFS' Memorial Fund: http://www.usfigureskating.org/About.asp?id=7