The Johnny Weir Skating Academy

[Carolla5501]

Johnny has been incredibly biased throughout his career commentating, he "LOVES" certain skaters that he knows personally (or are from Russia) Allowing him to do his "love fest" with skaters he is coaching seems incredibly unprofessional.... but of course NBC has given up any semblance of "professionalism" on figure skating anyway.

 

[livetoskate]

I'm excited to hear about Johnny's skating academy & hope he holds some adult skating camps! Paul Wylie did a half-day event for adult skaters about 4 years ago at the Garner Ice House and it was so exciting to learn from him.

 

[On My Own]

You cannot remove bias from commentary. It's an aesthetic sport. It's inherently biased.

 

[zebobes]

The only thing that would give me pause is would I be able to trust that Johnny would follow through on a venture like this? With Tanith and Charlie, they feel more stable, committed, and even then, they didn't show up at worlds as a coach, with Greg going instead. Johnny can prove me wrong, but I would be worried of him getting bored with coaching and getting distracted by something else.

 

[Rukia]

The only thing that would give me pause is would I be able to trust that Johnny would follow through on a venture like this? With Tanith and Charlie, they feel more stable, committed, and even then, they didn't show up at worlds as a coach, with Greg going instead. Johnny can prove me wrong, but I would be worried of him getting bored with coaching and getting distracted by something else.

Well it's not going to be just him. I imagine he can set it up in a way that allows him to have time to pursue all his interests.

 

[Sylvia]

Johnny skates at the Skating Club of Wilmington in Delaware …

ETA that his planned final shows in the U.S. are taking place there this weekend:

2023 Spring Ice Show – Galaxy On Ice – Starring Johnny Weir

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Wilmington Our hotel is next to Concord Mall, minutes from I-95 and the Skating Club of Wilmington. We offer free shuttle service to area shopping and restaurants within three miles. Our location off Concord Pike (Rte 202) offers easy access to Wilmington attractions...

skatewilm.com

This local DE article on Johnny’s final U.S. shows this weekend includes quotes about his new skating academy:

'Taking my last breath on the ice.' An ending for Olympian Johnny Weir, and a beginning

Johnny Weir knows what he'll be thinking about as he gives his last U.S. skating performance at the Skating Club of Wilmington.

www.delawareonline.com

Weir, drawn to Russia and Japan at a young age, became a cult hero in both countries. He saw how those skaters trained, then he incorporated their techniques into his own regimen. He also learned the value of learning in groups as opposed to one on one.
He wants to emulate that in his new life, helping young skaters.

"I want to create a very elite school that is competitive with the rest of the world and taking little things from around the world that I’ve learned, and hoping they make the skaters better," Weir said. "And, of course, helping young skaters not make the same mistakes that I made and certainly to have an atmosphere that is very supportive and full of teamwork."

What kind of mistakes?
"There was something very natural to skating for me," he said. "I could be a bit lazy at times. I could be a bit persnickety and not listen to my coaches at times because there were things that would come a lot easier to me than another skater that was on the ice with me.
"I definitely think my work ethic could have used some work, and that’s what I did later in my career, and working with the different coaches. They helped me learn what the work was about, and not just the fun of figure skating. ... I was very harsh with myself. And I want to instill in my students that it’s possible to achieve so much in this sporting world and that you can be kind to yourself at the same time."

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Representing the Johnny Weir method, please welcome to the ice…

 

[BittyBug]

The only thing that would give me pause is would I be able to trust that Johnny would follow through on a venture like this? With Tanith and Charlie, they feel more stable, committed, and even then, they didn't show up at worlds as a coach, with Greg going instead. Johnny can prove me wrong, but I would be worried of him getting bored with coaching and getting distracted by something else.

Tanith and Charlie may be the bigger names but Zurlein has been coaching for far longer (since he and Chock split I believe). And I expect that Green and Parsons would have been consulted about who went with them to Japan.

 

[tony]

Representing the Johnny Weir method, please welcome to the ice…

Nah, it will be ‘the Johnny Weir house of glitter and big hair fabulousness’

 

[Rukia]

Nah, it will be ‘the Johnny Weir house of glitter and big hair fabulousness’

And now on the ice, representing Johnny Weir Presents: Johnny Weir's House of Stupendous Skating Surprises and Fierce Flexes on Ice

 

[Vagabond]

The only thing that would give me pause is would I be able to trust that Johnny would follow through on a venture like this? With Tanith and Charlie, they feel more stable, committed, and even then, they didn't show up at worlds as a coach, with Greg going instead. Johnny can prove me wrong, but I would be worried of him getting bored with coaching and getting distracted by something else.

It all comes down to the color of his aura on any given day.

 

[floridaice]

Johnny's Delaware home was featured on MTV's Cribs in September 2021.

MTV Cribs is still a thing?

 

[MacMadame]

Well it's not going to be just him. I imagine he can set it up in a way that allows him to have time to pursue all his interests.

That's what I was thinking based on how he talked about it. I didn't expect him to be involved in the day-to-day coaching that much so he'd have time for commentating and appearing on red carpets and as the MC of parades, etc.

 

[Aussie Willy]

And now on the ice, representing Johnny Weir Presents: Johnny Weir's House of Stupendous Skating Surprises and Fierce Flexes on Ice

Sounds like a new drag family.

 

[kirkbiggestfan]

Of course, he had to create the school of me, myself and I. He couldn’t join an established club.

 

[BittyBug]

Of course, he had to create the school of me, myself and I. He couldn’t join an established club.

If you bothered to read his statements, he sees an opportunity to introduce a different style of coaching - one that leverages more group lessons than on-on-one instruction. It's not very different than Belbin and White starting MIDA when they could just as easily have joined an existing camp. But I suppose if Johnny does it, someone will find cause to criticize.

 

[mtnskater]

We need some more top singles coaches in this country and if Johnny Weir can create such a coaching facility more power to him. Lord knows Tammy/CO Springs and company aren’t quite getting the job done…or not enough talent is entering the sport. Not sure which is the case or maybe both. RAF can’t go on forever either.

JMHO, but in terms of commentary I don‘t care about supposed conflicts of interest with figure skating commentators. It’s entertainment and fluff, not that important. it wouldn’t bother me in the least if Johnny commented on skaters in his school. Never bothered me with Sandra, Tanith or others and I’ve been surprised about folks who really make a big deal about it since it doesn’t really amount to a hill of beans anyway.

Now when it comes to the Supreme Court and the Judiciary and other important aspects of local, state, or federal government, that is when I very much care about conflicts of interest and influence peddling.

 

[mtnskater]

I'm excited to hear about Johnny's skating academy & hope he holds some adult skating camps! Paul Wylie did a half-day event for adult skaters about 4 years ago at the Garner Ice House and it was so exciting to learn from him.

Yes! I took from Paul Wylie in group lessons at the Aspen Adult Skating camp a few years back and it was wonderful. Would love a similar thing from Johnny for sure.

 

[MacMadame]

I hope more figure skating schools start doing this. I know the Mitchell Johannson Method does a lot of group lessons but what others do?

 

[Willin]

I'm curious to see how he runs it. He's visited a lot of Russian training camps including Eteri's and has praised the Russian system (which, in his case hopefully won't include the stringent weight requirements). I wonder if his academy will be modeled on that Russian model of training skaters.

We also know he's friends with a lot of Russian skaters and coaches, so while I hope he doesn't poach coaches directly from Russia given the political climate, one would think he may recruit some Russian ex-pats.

 

[tony]

I'm curious to see how he runs it. He's visited a lot of Russian training camps including Eteri's and has praised the Russian system (which, in his case hopefully won't include the stringent weight requirements). I wonder if his academy will be modeled on that Russian model of training skaters.

We also know he's friends with a lot of Russian skaters and coaches, so while I hope he doesn't poach coaches directly from Russia given the political climate, one would think he may recruit some Russian ex-pats.

I don't think we have to worry about such things. He has completely distances himself from anything having to do with Russia since all of this started, and he was very vocal (well, within reason on the air) about the Valieva situation. Remember, he traveled to Russia to interview all of the Eteri girls before the Olympics and then very much went against it rather than staying silent or making excuses.

 

[Willin]

@tony Certainly he's distanced himself from Eteri and the warmongering athletes and has spoken out strongly against them, but I could still see him recruiting coaches who are not involved in either of those.

I think the Russian system - with group classes, a group coaching structure, and a sort of team based approach to individual athlete could be good without the weight watching and abusive coaching styles, which is why I'm curious.

 

[Andrea82]

Tanith and Charlie may be the bigger names but Zurlein has been coaching for far longer (since he and Chock split I believe). And I expect that Green and Parsons would have been consulted about who went with them to Japan.

And Zurlein's husband (the chair of ISU Synchro committee and a former ID judge) is well connected within ISU if you want politicking a bit on site.

 

[Icetalavista]

Although his attention-seeking can annoy me, he has made a # of informed technical comments about skaters during their performances. Not cliched repetitive ones either.

 

[Rukia]

And Zurlein's husband (the chair of ISU Synchro committee and a former ID judge) is well connected within ISU if you want politicking a bit on site.

See this is exactly the kind of post I need an react for

I hope more figure skating schools start doing this. I know the Mitchell Johannson Method does a lot of group lessons but what others do?

This is formatted funky but I wanted to edit this to add that when the Letovs were in Dallas they kind of did this? Basically what my coach at the time told me was that they charged a flat monthly fee and you got to just be there when they were there (and then I guess some number of private lessons idk exactly how it worked, but my coach was explaining that almost every high level skater in the area switched to them because it was just more economical). I have no clue what they do in Boston though.

 

[MacMadame]

My trainer has both group lessons and semi-private. From what I gather, the Russian system uses a mix. Semi-private means there is a group workout but it gets modified for each person there and there won't be any more than X people in it. Group means any number of people all doing the same thing.

I can see a need for both with maybe a few private lessons here and there to deal with pesky issues that aren't being fixed via group and semi-private

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

I heard it’s going to be one hour a day off ice training, one hour a day gym, one hour a day on ice training, one hour hair and make up, and one hour fashion reconciliation.

 

[Taso]

A group approach is just more affordable and I think could open that financial barrier of entry for more singles skaters to develop in the US. I wish Johnny well in his endeavor.

 

[skateboy]

I heard it’s going to be one hour a day off ice training, one hour a day gym, one hour a day on ice training, one hour hair and make up, and one hour fashion reconciliation.

I'm in!

 

[Aussie Willy]

A group approach is just more affordable and I think could open that financial barrier of entry for more singles skaters to develop in the US. I wish Johnny well in his endeavor.

I agree. Affordability is a barrier to participation in the sport. It is not even the elite but the grass roots is the biggest participant pool. There has to be more efficient ways to make it accessible. It is certainly something I think about in my role here in Australia.