The Future of Pairs - Anything GOEs' deep dive into the discipline

[Diana Delafield]

There are coaches in my club who have international pair skating experience.

But there is not appropriate ice time available for interested skaters to work on pair moves.

If they wanted to start a pair program, the biggest challenge would be finding ice time that could be devoted to pair skating (or otherwise sufficiently empty with the few other skaters on the ice able to look out for themselves), at a time of day when the skaters could be available and at a relatively affordable price.

I know a woman who skated pairs in the 1970s, who says they used to practice from about 1:30 to 5 AM.

Yes, I trained during those decades and at pretty close to that time of night. Continuing to train and compete after I got married and inbetween maternity breaks and while in grad school, my non-skating husband, a musician who liked to rehearse at home late at night himself, was fine with my schedule, except when he got stuck with walking the floor with teething babies night after night . But it's the best time to learn new skills and practice if your bio clock allows it. I've virtually always skated either around midnight or, just for fun after retiring from competition, at noon on weekdays when the rental for private ice was cheapest at neighbourhood rinks. My competitive partner and I were night owls, so that was fine for us.

You're right, most clubs want to limit pairs on the ice from two to, at most, four at a time. The more inexperienced they are, the fewer other skaters there should be around them. The expense for special-purpose ice time is prohibitive for most clubs and skaters, and the availability is scant (especially in a country like Canada where you have hockey wanting ice late at night to accommodate players with day jobs).

 

[moonvine]

The pitch I made is ideal for the higher level skaters looking for international opportunities.

The problem is that pair development does not exist in many rinks but only in select pair hubs in the country. Some parents may be interested in having their kids try out pairs, but there's no coach within 100 miles of them. In my parents' skating group on Facebook, one mom said his son just experienced a growth spurt and now has the strength and the build to do pairs successfully and is interested in pairs, but they don't know where to go to start pairs.

The USFS Pairs Camp needs to market itself more so that more people know that the camp accepts anyone interested in pairs, and tryouts with potential partners can be made during the camp as there are girls and boys with no partners but are looking to find partners. But other than the USFS pairs camp, where else can people interested in pairs go?

In our old rink, there are no pairs whatsoever. When we moved, one of my sons was told by his new coach he'd be perfect for pairs. He laughed at them as he -- who does not consider himself big and bulky like the pair guys he sees on TV - never even imagined himself as a pair skater. The coach insisted it's not about the build and height, but with the right technique, even a guy less than 6 ft tall can do pairs well.

Even well-established coaching teams like Evora/Peterson are struggling to find (and keep teams together) other than Max and Val (who's been with them since Florida, well, at least Max has been). I remember Cho Hye-jin, the Canadian-Korean skater now representing Korea in pairs. Hye-jin used to train singles in Canton MI with Theresa McKendry and drive back to Canada during weekends. The coaches convinced Hye-jin to try pairs, and she did. At that time, the boy they were trying to partner with Hye-jin, was this tall but skinny skater from Chicago, and she was so scared of how he would lift her that she refused to have anything to do with pairs. When Theresa retired, Hye-jin left Canton, trained exclusively in Canada, and then switched to pairs. The boy from Chicago quit skating as he dropped the 12-year-old partner that Evora/Peterson eventually found for him.

There are myriad issues in pairs. Finding skaters willing to do it is not easy. Finding girls willing to be thrown in the air is not easy; finding boys who can lift and throw girls is not easy. Pairs is a discipline that is best explored when the boy's bodies are developed enough to do the pair elements safely. I can't remember pairs teams who've been together since they were young kids, unlike dance like Davis/Charlie White, who's been together forever.

Finding a coach to train with is not easy. Not everyone can move to Colorado, Chicago, or California to skate with the established training facilities for pairs.

So yes, there are issues to think of how to attract kids/parents willing to make their kids do pairs at a young age. There are also issues of how to make higher level skaters shift to pairs. Different entry points require different approaches

At least they've added a new hub in Illinois. It's KIND of the same thing in gymnastics, there are a few elite gyms in the country which almost every elite gymnast go to. This often requires either the entire family moving, part of the family (1 parent) moving or even the gymnast staying with the coach (no idea if Safesport allows this now). But at least there are gyms all over to try gymnastics to see if you even might have what it takes before going through all that.

I do have to ask how different it is from ice dance. How many ice dance hubs are there? I guess one can do solo dance.

 

[Diana Delafield]

The boy from Chicago quit skating as he dropped the 12-year-old partner that Evora/Peterson eventually found for him.

Literally? Or as in, "decided to break up with".

There are myriad issues in pairs. Finding skaters willing to do it is not easy. Finding girls willing to be thrown in the air is not easy; finding boys who can lift and throw girls is not easy. Pairs is a discipline that is best explored when the boy's bodies are developed enough to do the pair elements safely. I can't remember pairs teams who've been together since they were young kids, unlike dance like Davis/Charlie White, who's been together forever.

There must be others, but Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardiner were 8 and 10 when they were put together, and never skated with anyone else. (You've got a valid point; I'm just adding a bit of historical trivia there.)

My partner and I were both 15, just short of 16, when it was suggested we try pairs together. I was already in gymnastics and raving to my skating coach about how much I loved the uneven bars (and the vault, and the beam...); he was big for his age, into a variety of sports, and on a cheerleading team doing lifting. Kind of obvious choices and we didn't need to be persuaded to try pairs, but I agree that was just the planets aligning at the right place and time. Not easy to match hopefuls up ordinarily.

 

[yuki@thelake]

Literally? Or as in, "decided to break up with".

The guy had to take a medical break and decided to quit skating.

The girl moved on to a new partner -- a singles skater who used to come to that rink to skate occasionally and who the coaches managed to convince to try out pairs. They competed NQS and qualified for nationals -- but before nationals, the boy decided he just wanted to do singles and didn't even bother showing up for pairs practice for the nationals. He was done.

The girl attended the pairs camp this year and continued to practice pairs elements while trying out singles. She has landed her triple throws, but can't find a boy to pair with.

The point is that it is hard to find partners. As you said, the planets must align.

Sometimes the skaters are the one who really want it and asks the parents to allow them to try pairs. Sometimes older skaters going nowhere in singles think pairs can be their fast track to success. Sometimes the idea must come from the singles coach for the skaters (and parents) to see opportunities in pairs. Sometimes the idea must come from the pair's coach if they spot kids who they think would do well for skaters.

Different entries into the sport, so different strategies to use in developing pair programs