I was just looking up entries for upcoming competitions, and when I saw one of the sets of names, I could have cried with despair.
I'm not going to gloss over it – the guy in the partnership is just not good enough. And because of this, he ends up destroying the careers of his partners. With the exception of one skater, none of his partners have competed since they split with him.
And it is not as if this is a small number of partners – he is now onto his FIFTH different partner in FIVE seasons.
Whilst I am not familiar with his original partner (who he was with for 3 seasons), all his subsequent partners have been really good skaters who were really successful before joining up with him. And I really liked all of them. These four girls had all won medals in Junior Majors, and one of them had gone on to win medals at Senior Majors. So that is an indication of how good they were. And he just couldn't keep up with them. Two of his partners were brand new to the category, and even they were outshining him in no time.
The story of the partner that did continue after splitting with him pretty much says it all. She was one of the ones that was brand new to the category. Her efforts earned her a better partner for the following season, and the scores shot up. But then she became a victim of politics. The coach’s favoured skater needed a new partner, so he took the guy from this promising partnership, and the girl I am talking about became the collateral damage. And she has not competed since.
And I can’t help thinking that if she hadn’t been with that guy I don’t rate in her first year in the category, she could have had 2 seasons with a good partner and established a reputation that would have meant that she didn’t end up on the scrapheap.
So, I am really worried about the future prospects of his latest partner. It’s probably too early to judge them yet, because they have only done one competition so far. But, put it like this: the last time this girl had a score anywhere near that low was 5 years ago…
Oh, how I hope that she can escape him quickly before her hard-earned reputation is ruined!
CaroLiza_fan