Who Is the Queen of Skating Moms

[Squibble]

Do we have to pick just one?

Yep. Sorry, but life's tough.

There is something here that NEEDS to be corrected because it is SEXIST!!!

It was PAPA Henie, not Mama, who totally programmed everything for Sonja including loading the judging panel in her favor and negotiating her financial deals. PAPA was the original skateparent from hell!!!! Give the XY skaterdad his due!!!!!

Go start your own poll.

Need to be added:

*snip*

Mama Zhang

She's there. Mind you, I didn't specify which Zhang.

I'm surprised no one's voted for Momma Heiss so far. She managed to (1) upstage her daughter in press interviews and (2) control her daughter from beyond the grave.

I also think I should have added Momma Mitchell. (David, not Mark) [

[jazzpants]

Mamma Ruh, I've heard, is a piece of work...

[ratatouille]

I'm not sure if Kim's mother is QUEEN ... she majored in Yuna and seems to be the perfect mom for a figure skater but she did not teach her daughter the most important thing in life: respect and courtesy and that blaming others deoesn't lead you to anything.

[Mafke]

Two weird things. Skating dads seem to mostly be off the radar, how many competitor's dads really seem to get in their offspring's careers?

Papa Henie,
Papa Trenary,
Papa Csako (doubling as coach),
Papa Kwan,

and ....?

Skating moms mostly seem to be about the daughters, La Maman Joubert seems to be the only Skating Mother from Hell in a son's career. Am I missing others?

[RumbleFish]

Other than Tarasova, who else has dumped a skater and openly stated the reason as "being sick and tired of her/his mother?

[hanca]

Other than Tarasova, who else has dumped a skater and openly stated the reason as "being sick and tired of her/his mother?

Haven't you already mentioned that before?

[RumbleFish]

Haven't you already mentioned that before?

Yes I have but I want to know if there had been any other cases.

[Yazmeen]

One other "skatemom from hell" was forgotten here, and she really takes the prize...

Mama BONALY!!!!! Who, I believe, actually coached her daughter during her eligible career.

[ratatouille]

nobody can beat mom KIM. Other moms are being more discret.

[bek]

nobody can beat mom KIM. Other moms are being more discret.

In the sense of who is probably the hardest to deal with and hardest on her child, I definetly think its Mama Kim. But I think there ar other parents who have not only been rotten to deal with, but have also mismanaged and even hurt their child's careers.

For example one could argue Danny Kwan cost Michelle perhaps 2 OGMs. He was the one who forced her to continue on those boots, that she made it clear she didn't like because he gave his word and I'm sure money. She got injured because of those boots, and its why she wasn't able to do a 3/3 at the Olympics etc. Then we could add in Danny encouraging Michelle to go coachless at the Olympics to save money.

Say what you will about Mrs. Park who may be extremely hard on her daughter and extremely rotten to deal with. But I don't think she would EVER force Yu-na to continue on skates that were uncomfortable for her. I think winning and doing the absolute best to ensure Yu-na wins has always been Park's primary motivation-not money.

And while she may let the relationship with Brian lapse, I have a feeling when Brian suggested on Canada Am that it was about someone who will pressure Yu-na more to stay in, that its the truth. Mrs Park does not strike me as the type who would let her child go uncoached.

So I guess it just depends on how you really look at things.

[MarieM]

One other "skatemom from hell" was forgotten here, and she really takes the prize...

Mama BONALY!!!!! Who, I believe, actually coached her daughter during her eligible career.

Lies.
She's a really nice person, and never interfered with her daughter on ice training until noone wanted to listen to Surya anymore ... Meaning when they all tried to get something out of her ....
Outside that, Mama Bonaly is an angel with strange food taste.

[attyfan]

In the sense of who is probably the hardest to deal with and hardest on her child, I definetly think its Mama Kim. But I think there ar other parents who have not only been rotten to deal with, but have also mismanaged and even hurt their child's careers.
...

So I guess it just depends on how you really look at things.

There are a lot of parents who made decisions that hurt their child's careers -- although no one knows what part, if any, Danny had in Michelle actually going coachless, or whether money was a part of it (or, for that matter, what part, if any, Mama Lipinski played in Tara's hip injury, by failing to limit her practices, etc; John Hughes in handling Sarah's post-OGM career.). I don't look at one or two bad decisions as creating a "skating-parent-from-hell".

Instead, I look at other things. While trying to break into acting is not something I particularly admire, Tara does do a lot of charitable work, and, seems to be turning out OK. Not only did the Kwan and Hughes family each turn out a skating star who (at least so far) are managing to handle themselves quite well in preparing for life-after-skating, but they both had other kids, who did not become skating starts, but still turned out OK (at least as far as anyone could tell). No Kwan or Hughes sibling has complained about their dreams being sacrificed to the family skater.

[hirshey girl]

Other than Tarasova, who else has dumped a skater and openly stated the reason as "being sick and tired of her/his mother?

Actually, IIRC, Frank Carroll stopped working with Tiffany Chin because of her mother. That's the one that pops to mind immediately.

[bek]

Instead, I look at other things. While trying to break into acting is not something I particularly admire, Tara does do a lot of charitable work, and, seems to be turning out OK. Not only did the Kwan and Hughes family each turn out a skating star who (at least so far) are managing to handle themselves quite well in preparing for life-after-skating, but they both had other kids, who did not become skating starts, but still turned out OK (at least as far as anyone could tell). No Kwan or Hughes sibling has complained about their dreams being sacrificed to the family skater.

True. I agree about Yu-na's sister getting the raw end of the deal, but I also feel that its a situation we can't completely judge. The Kim family struggled financially whereas lets say the Hughes family was rich. Sometimes family members may make a decision to invest in one child, if they think that child's talent has the potential to benefit from the entire family.

Kim's mother did express regrets about not helping her other daughter's singing career, and DID offer to help her if she wanted too. I know everyone said, well I wouldn't want my mother to help me now if she didn't do it in the past. But I think that if a career in music was what her daughter truly wanted with more than anything in her heart, she absolutely would have taken her mom up on the offer. Even if she was still angry and upset about how her mother treated her. I know I would.

Perhaps Kim's sister truly wants to be a nurse now, which is very much a noble profession. Saves lives! I also think that perhaps her sister, got to see what the celebrity life is like for her sister, and perhaps is thankful to have a more normal life. Its not like her sister has no education, no decent job etc. I think she turned out alright. I am shocked when people criticize Kim's sister's career.

My feeling is given that Mama Kim has said her daughter is to take care of her sister and trying to make the music right. That Mama Kim and Yu-na both feel guilty enough about it, and know that Aera sacrificed so much that Aera could literally right now have probably anything she wanted, and pursue any dream she wanted. Now sure she didn't get that when she was a child, but not everyone gets that when they are a child or an adult.

[Squibble]

Two weird things. Skating dads seem to mostly be off the radar, how many competitor's dads really seem to get in their offspring's careers?

Papa Henie,
Papa Trenary,
Papa Csako (doubling as coach),
Papa Kwan,

and ....?

Papa Robertson

But a complaint from the German Skating Federation, accusing Ronnie Robertson of demanding more than legal expense money for his European exhibitions this winter, threw his second-place victory into doubt. As vocal as any of "the skating mothers," Ronnie's father. Naval Architect Albert R. Robertson, blew his stack: "It's politics, stinking politics." Said Ronnie's coach, Gus Lussi: "The whole thing is fishy, and I think it started in this country, not abroad."

Given the popular demand for it, I'll post a "Who Is the King of Skating Dads?" poll tonight. If anyone wants to nominate someone not listed already in this thread, please submit your nominations here or by PM.

[Yazmeen]

For example one could argue Danny Kwan cost Michelle perhaps 2 OGMs. He was the one who forced her to continue on those boots, that she made it clear she didn't like because he gave his word and I'm sure money. She got injured because of those boots, and its why she wasn't able to do a 3/3 at the Olympics etc. Then we could add in Danny encouraging Michelle to go coachless at the Olympics to save money.

Since when has there been evidence that Danny convinced Michelle to go coachless considering both she and Frank have always been extremely closemouthed about their split? Do you know something the rest of us don't?

[orbitz]

Two weird things. Skating dads seem to mostly be off the radar, how many competitor's dads really seem to get in their offspring's careers?

Papa Henie,
Papa Trenary,
Papa Csako (doubling as coach),
Papa Kwan,

I wouldn't put Papa Trenary in this list. Trenary's dad seemed very supportive of her at competitions, because she wasn't close to her divorced mom at the time. It was usually her dad that showed up at her competitions, and hence the ABC crew often shoot him in the stand cheering her on. It's like how we often see shots of Kerrigan and Todd's parents in the stands, but no one would classify them as the classic "skating parent".

What about Papa Weiss ?

[orbitz]

Since when has there been evidence that Danny convinced Michelle to go coachless considering both she and Frank have always been extremely closemouthed about their split? Do you know something the rest of us don't?

I'm sure bek was just expressing her opinion, but I don't think she's the only one that believe Danny played a big hand in Michelle going coachless though, but that's old news

[attyfan]

True. I agree about Yu-na's sister getting the raw end of the deal, but I also feel that its a situation we can't completely judge. The Kim family struggled financially whereas lets say the Hughes family was rich. Sometimes family members may make a decision to invest in one child, if they think that child's talent has the potential to benefit from the entire family.

Kim's mother did express regrets about not helping her other daughter's singing career, and DID offer to help her if she wanted too. I know everyone said, well I wouldn't want my mother to help me now if she didn't do it in the past. But I think that if a career in music was what her daughter truly wanted with more than anything in her heart, she absolutely would have taken her mom up on the offer. Even if she was still angry and upset about how her mother treated her. I know I would.

Perhaps Kim's sister truly wants to be a nurse now, which is very much a noble profession. Saves lives! I also think that perhaps her sister, got to see what the celebrity life is like for her sister, and perhaps is thankful to have a more normal life. Its not like her sister has no education, no decent job etc. I think she turned out alright. I am shocked when people criticize Kim's sister's career.

My feeling is given that Mama Kim has said her daughter is to take care of her sister and trying to make the music right. That Mama Kim and Yu-na both feel guilty enough about it, and know that Aera sacrificed so much that Aera could literally right now have probably anything she wanted, and pursue any dream she wanted. Now sure she didn't get that when she was a child, but not everyone gets that when they are a child or an adult.

And if the Hughes family are not rich? I have never heard anyone say that the Kwans were wealthy. Also, IIRC, the boot endorsement issue arose around the time Karen was entering college ... and Ron was already attending college. Does this mean if Danny Kwan made the decision regarding the boot endorsement to get the money he needed to send Ron and Karen to college, it is OK, and he gets off the "skating-parents-from-hell" list?

Let's not forget that the decisions (to send other siblings to college, or, to sacrifice their dreams in the interests of another child) was made long before that other child was a skating star, and, when the skating issue was a gamble. The fact that Mama Kim's gamble paid off, and, the older daughter could cash in if she wanted to, doesn't alter the fact that the older daughter's dream was sacrificed on a gamble, whereas neither the Kwan nor Hughes parents asked the same type of sacrifice of their other kids.

[kosjenka]

I was stunned when Michelle and Frank ended their partnership.
But somehow I remembered this moment that has happened in that Olympic season. I think it was during Skate Canada or Skate America press conference or on of the press junkets they attended together at the time where Michelle was asked about possibly going to Torino Olympics 2006 and Frank laughed out loud like it is out of the mind and Michelle have him this confused look and said something like "Well anything is possible.".
They seemed out of sync.
Like they were not in tune with each other. Simmilar like when Orser said during a press conference that Yu Na should learn 3 axel not so long ago and how she looked at him after that.