Tom Z's skaters

[Debbie S]

What did she do? I can't remember.

I think that was blown way out of proportion. People were upset that she didn't hug Kimmie or say anything other than something like "It's tough out there." IMO, Pam was just trying to hold herself and Kimmie together until the scores came up and they could leave the K&C and get backstage. I'm sure both were very upset about Kimmie's performance, but no one wants to have a meltdown in front of the arena and the millions watching at home. We don't know what went on outside the camera range (and we don't need to). Let's not be judgmental.

[pinky166]

One other thing I've noticed regarding Tom Z's skaters, it seems like they all go to Cheyenne Mountain Highschool. Most other top skaters are home/online schooled it seems, so maybe Broadmoor is a good choice of club for skaters who do not wish to be homeschooled? That could be a factor drawing so many skaters to Broadmoor and Tom Z. Also, aren't the facilities at the World Arena great? It just seems like it's a popular place to train, and then students who train their end up being coached by Tom Z.

[barbk]

One other thing I've noticed regarding Tom Z's skaters, it seems like they all go to Cheyenne Mountain Highschool. Most other top skaters are home/online schooled it seems, so maybe Broadmoor is a good choice of club for skaters who do not wish to be homeschooled? That could be a factor drawing so many skaters to Broadmoor and Tom Z. Also, aren't the facilities at the World Arena great? It just seems like it's a popular place to train, and then students who train their end up being coached by Tom Z.

Cheyenne Mountain has a very long history of working well with elite and rising skaters. In contrast, the nearby high school in my town still required a skater competing in regionals and sectionals to take PE and counted the days gone to the qualifying comps as absences against the attendance policy. In comparison, a high school cyclist at this same school -- who is the child of another Olympic medal winning cyclist -- and who rather quickly rose to international prominence didn't seem to have difficulty getting time off to go to international competitions. Being a top cyclist in a cycling-mad town doesn't hurt. I'm guessing that the school might have been more flexible with a international-level elite skater, but someone nobody's ever heard of needing time off to compete at Midwesterns didn't get real far. I'm sure that the same skater, at Cheyenne Mtn, would have had no trouble rearranging the school day and getting time off.

[Lanie]

I'd assume like what barbk says: schools don't always accommodate. My high school had various actors and so on. They were accommodated. As a skater, who skated a few hours a day, I could not get out of taking PE so instead I took a bunch of dance classes. I can't imagine what it would have been like had I competed at all. I'd have been in trouble!

[TwizzlerS]

Universal Sports seems to go out of its way to mention Cheyenne High School. I wonder if the school pays them to do this.

[ks777]

Universal Sports seems to go out of its way to mention Cheyenne High School. I wonder if the school pays them to do this.

Probably not. Every time Mirai skated, they used to mention Mirai's school too.

[UMBS Go Blue]

I wonder if the school pays them to do this.

Sorry, but a public high school paying a TV network to promote itself? That is just in today's era of limited public funds.

And, folks, say whatever you will of Tom Z, but to barbk's point, it's great that there is a public school that is accommodative of "different" needs, let alone skaters' needs.

[smarts1]

Generally, if you're a top athlete at a high school, the administrators and the teachers are going to go out of their way to help you. I experienced it first hand since one of the girls in my girl was a top tennis player who pretty much never came to school and always went to tennis tournaments.

[jlai]

The only thing I curious about is why nearly all his skaters's programs are so boring except Abott...

His earliest skaters like Ryan and Jeremy aren't boring, but perhaps as Tom Z became successful he recruited hardworkers over talents.

[chipso1]

We don't know what went on outside the camera range (and we don't need to). Let's not be judgmental.

As someone who was backstage at '08 Nationals after Kimmie's FS, I can attest that Pam's reaction was icy at best. There were no hugs, no consoling, no words of encouragement.

Now, maybe Kimmie didn't want to be hugged/consoled at that moment, but there were definitely signs that their relationship was beginning to strain.

[PDilemma]

it's great that there is a public school that is accommodative of "different" needs, let alone skaters' needs.

Those matters aren't necessarily in a school's control. I had a student who figure skated and getting her excused from PE required a waiver from the state dep't of ed for accreditation reasons and because of rules to prevent kids on school sponsored teams from getting special treatment in that regard. It was a bureaucratic headache to get it settled for the two years she was required to have PE. The school did it for her; but had the state turned it down, she would have had to have taken PE.

There were no issues with her missing schools for competitions, though. And there were times that she was excused from first period or allowed to be tardy when they had difficulty scheduling ice time.

[Debbie S]

As someone who was backstage at '08 Nationals after Kimmie's FS, I can attest that Pam's reaction was icy at best. There were no hugs, no consoling, no words of encouragement.

Now, maybe Kimmie didn't want to be hugged/consoled at that moment, but there were definitely signs that their relationship was beginning to strain.

Backstage at Nats is not really a private place. There are cameras (and reporters, and volunteers) everywhere. I don't have any inside knowledge of the situation, and I'm not trying to defend anyone, but it would be unlikely for any emotional interactions to occur in that area, unless it's a curtained-off area outside of media hearing range or a locker room.

And it's also possible that Pam knew her days as Kimmie's coach were numbered. But we'll never know.

[madm]

Cheyenne Mountain has a very long history of working well with elite and rising skaters.

When my daughter was at another high school in Colorado, I phoned the vice principal at Cheyenne Mtn High to find out how they worked out the state requirements, online classes, PE waivers and the like at their school, so that I could learn from it and propose similar things at my daughter's public high school. That administrator told me they developed a curriculum for elite athletes because they have so many of them, given that the Olympic Training Center is in town as well as many elite skaters. They would rather help them finish high school in the public school than to have them drop out. So they allow students to take high school equivalency courses via BYU Independent Study, and the district pays for many if not all of those credits. They also allow students to have a variable schedule designed around ice time in the middle of the school day. Lots of students take early morning classes, leave for a few hours, and then come back for mid/late afternoon classes. At my daughter's school, we were able to do independent study for health and PE, do music during "zero" hour before school, and leave by 12:30 in the afternoon for skating. She took all her core classes at the high school, and was creative about picking up the other credits in various ways. She always did 1-2 classes via independent study every summer. Thank God my daughter's counselor and principal were supportive and helped us develop a class schedule that worked with high-level skating demands. The students at Cheyenne Mtn are very lucky that they do not have to trailblaze with the administration to pursue a non-varsity sport.