Patrick Chan Elite Figure Skating School

[Krunchii]

Joanne McLeod has a spotty record with most of her skaters fading out but she is one of the few NCCP level 5 coaches in Canada, like granted there are coaches without that certification who have coached skaters to greater success but she is the major coach in that area and a level 5 certification takes a lot of work to get so she's pretty much the go to for a new skating school in BC. I think she's the only level 5 in that area who has taken students to major competitions such as Worlds and Olympics. If they're going to try and encourage people in that area to try the sport might as well get her.

There are only 11 level 5 coaches if I remember correctly, other than Joanne I know of 8 other ones but they are all in Ontario. I'm not sure if Brian Orser actually has it, you need level 3 to take students to the Olympics for Canada but I don't think he's taken a Canadian yet so I wouldn't know

 

[Interspectator]

Joanne McLeod has a spotty record with most of her skaters fading out but she is one of the few NCCP level 5 coaches in Canada, like granted there are coaches without that certification who have coached skaters to greater success but she is the major coach in that area and a level 5 certification takes a lot of work to get so she's pretty much the go to for a new skating school in BC. I think she's the only level 5 in that area who has taken students to major competitions such as Worlds and Olympics. If they're going to try and encourage people in that area to try the sport might as well get her.

There are only 11 level 5 coaches if I remember correctly, other than Joanne I know of 8 other ones but they are all in Ontario. I'm not sure if Brian Orser actually has it, you need level 3 to take students to the Olympics for Canada but I don't think he's taken a Canadian yet so I wouldn't know

What do you need to do to get Level 5 Coaching in Canada? Is it a test?

Is it like the skills test that they give to skaters--only for coaches?

In Japan you take skills tests for figure skating and you can go up to level 8, but very few elite skaters bother to take the level 8 test because if they are good, they will be winning medals by that time. I think only Kozuka and Mao have Level 8. (I may be remembering this wrong though...someone remember what the highest level skill test is?)

 

[Krunchii]

What do you need to do to get Level 5 Coaching in Canada? Is it a test?

Is it like the skills test that they give to skaters--only for coaches?

In Japan you take skills tests for figure skating and you can go up to level 8, but very few elite skaters bother to take the level 8 test because if they are good, they will be winning medals by that time. I think only Kozuka and Mao have Level 8. (I may be remembering this wrong though...someone remember what the highest level skill test is?)

It's not really a skill test since most of the ones I know of are quite old and I don't think they'd be landing triples to pass, it's a coaching certification and it's takes a lot of time, workshops, experience and classes to get, I'm not really sure of the details. I have a friend who is NCCP level 1, she has the skills to go to level 2 but the classes and stuff costs money (a few hundred in her words) and takes time which she does not have right now since she is juggling work and school. Many of the level 5 coaches are heads of skating clubs right now and I don't think actually do THAT much coaching anymore, at least not with individual students I think, some are like John Nicks old. One of the 11 is Doug Leigh, who coached Brian Orser when he competed.

I think a lot of coaches only go up to about level 3 or 4 since it takes time, work and money, if you obtain a higher certification then you can charge a lot more for lessons but when you can build up a good reputation then you don't really need a high certification to charge students more.

 

[matmuh]

What do you need to do to get Level 5 Coaching in Canada? Is it a test?

Is it like the skills test that they give to skaters--only for coaches?

In Japan you take skills tests for figure skating and you can go up to level 8, but very few elite skaters bother to take the level 8 test because if they are good, they will be winning medals by that time. I think only Kozuka and Mao have Level 8. (I may be remembering this wrong though...someone remember what the highest level skill test is?)

i remmeber reading about levels at suzuki akiko’s skating career’s “kiss & cry” translations and wondered about levels, here she says Kozuka and Yukari Nakano reached level8, Yuzuru and Mao stopped at level 7

You are required to be at the specific level associated with the figure skating competition in Japan. For example, you are unable to participate on the Grand Prix series, Senior Nationals, or Worlds if you are not least Level 7. That level requires at least two kinds of triple jumps, the double axel (forward-entry jump with 2.5 revolutions), and over six revolutions in your spin combination. By the way, I’m Level 7; I never reached Level 8, the highest level. That’s because all you need is Level 7. As such, Asada-senshu and Hanyu-senshu also stopped at Level 7 despite being medalists. Kozuka-senshu and Nakano (Yukari)-san are the few that reached Level 8.

 

[Interspectator]

i remmeber reading about levels at suzuki akiko’s skating career’s “kiss & cry” translations and wondered about levels, here she says Kozuka and Yukari Nakano reached level8, Yuzuru and Mao stopped at level 7

That's it! thanks for finding that.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Before we rip apart Joanne McLeod (and yeah, her students do tend to have technique issues, particularly on the axel), let's remember that she's still a very successful coach with a lot of international experience - including getting her students to Worlds and the Olympics. You don't coach a student to doing 5 quads and multiple Canadian medals (Reynolds), or coach a student to win the Grand Prix Final (Sandhu) and multiple Canadian titles, and be as awful as people profess her to be. I actually think given the location, and her experience, she is a suitable choice for that role. I know, she's essentially the Nickelback of skating coaches, but that shouldn't detract from the fact she's still (as far as her students' accolades go) one of the most "decorated" of the Canadian coaches, so she must be doing something right.

 

[dress]

Sandhu was a great skater. He had good ss, good jumps and artistry. His issues were in his head sadly. He won a gpf over plushenko.

http://youtu.be/OpyZaAKZLcE

He is one of the only 2 skaters to have beat plushenko between 2002-2006 quad

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Sandhu was a great skater. He had good ss, good jumps and artistry. His issues were in his head sadly. He won a gpf over plushenko.

http://youtu.be/OpyZaAKZLcE

He is one of the only 2 skaters to have beat plushenko between 2002-2006 quad

He was very talented. I think if he stayed grounded, he would have performed a lot better. He was a feisty personality who put way too much pressure on himself to succeed and it often resulted in silly errors. Still one of the best skaters to never medal at Worlds. I'm curious to see his performance from that Professional Open thingie this past weekend.

Funny story, way back when... I won an interclub competition back in my figure skating hey day (I think it was 1998/1999?), and when I picked up the trophy with past winners on it, a certain Emmanuel Sandhu had his name on there. Needless to say, I didn't get nearly as far as he did afterwards.

 

[Violet Bliss]

Before we rip apart Joanne McLeod (and yeah, her students do tend to have technique issues, particularly on the axel), let's remember that she's still a very successful coach with a lot of international experience - including getting her students to Worlds and the Olympics. You don't coach a student to doing 5 quads and multiple Canadian medals (Reynolds), or coach a student to win the Grand Prix Final (Sandhu) and multiple Canadian titles, and be as awful as people profess her to be. I actually think given the location, and her experience, she is a suitable choice for that role. I know, she's essentially the Nickelback of skating coaches, but that shouldn't detract from the fact she's still (as far as her students' accolades go) one of the most "decorated" of the Canadian coaches, so she must be doing something right.

So glad to read a clear-headed fact-based assessment of MCleod.

Only successful people get noticed and then bashed for not being the best in the world. Fans also put so much on the coaches for their students' level of achievements as if it is a simple matter of having a good coach. Of course, then again, it's the very successful skaters whose coaches get blamed or credited, never mind that most coaches and students are nowhere near the top so they are spared the harsh judgements.

 

[mrrice]

I would never use Eman as a source to bash anyone. He is so talented and he was smooth as silk when I saw him perform. Also, with his dance skills, I'm sure his coach had a hard time getting him to stay focused on his skating. I didn't skate for very long but I have danced all my life and I can tell you, Eman has skills. Eman makes things look easy because he's so gifted.

Like skating, dance is painful, time consuming, and at least in my experience, wasn't very fun until I finally got some good training. I hope this works out for all involved.

 

[phaeljones]

<sigh> Well, if McLeod is the best that B.C. has, it is the best that B.C. can do.

I sure am glad that Nam Nguyen made the switch out of her B.C. fiefdom to Camp BOrser though. There is no way that he would be where he is today if he had stayed with her.