Brian Orser – Coaching in a Virtual World (IFS article)

[Sylvia]

This article by Rob Brodie was originally published in the January/February 2021 issue of International Figure Skating:

Account Suspended

Excerpts:

Orser said that due to the limited number of training hours and people are permitted on the ice at any one time, a schedule was set to keep all the coaches working. “I might get the shift from 8 until 11 in the morning and I may not have any of my kids on that shift. So, I work with Karen Preston’s kids, or with Ernest Pryhitka’s or Joey Russell’s skaters,” he explained. “And then, later in the day, when those people have a shift, maybe one of them will work with Conrad. The coaching team that we have is really strong and we are all helping each other. I trust putting any of my kids with any of these coaches, and they trust all the other coaches with their kids, too. Tracy and I work four days a week and Jeff Buttle works three or four days a week. We try to make it fair. We want everybody to get their hours.”
This arrangement has also proven beneficial for the skaters themselves. Orser said the coaches have all noticed over the past six or seven months that their skaters are doing so well because of the diverse coaching they are getting. “For me, it is kind of fun to see some of the kids who have come up through our program, who I don’t normally get to see. But I do miss the big guns. I do miss Yuzu and Jun and Katia. It’s too bad for now, but it will be a great day when they are all back.”

“It is frustrating for us and it is frustrating for me as a coach,” said Orser. “I see every weekend a competition in Russia. Whether it is a qualifier for their nationals, or Rostelecom Cup or their test skates … it is a bit frustrating that they have been competing and they have been doing their domestic competitions and we have not. And you know what, the Olympics are looming, so good for them. If this goes on much longer, we need to create a high-performance bubble with Skate Canada to push through and work, train and isolate as a team. That needs to be done if this situation is going to continue. You have got to bring the best athletes from all over the country to train together. That is kind of what they do in China; that is what they do in Russia.”

 

[skatfan]

Thanks for posting Sylvia.

 

[VALuvsMKwan]

Thanks for posting Sylvia.

From the article above:

“It is frustrating for us and it is frustrating for me as a coach,” said Orser. “I see every weekend a competition in Russia. Whether it is a qualifier for their nationals, or Rostelecom Cup or their test skates … it is a bit frustrating that they have been competing and they have been doing their domestic competitions and we have not. And you know what, the Olympics are looming, so good for them. If this goes on much longer, we need to create a high-performance bubble with Skate Canada to push through and work, train and isolate as a team. That needs to be done if this situation is going to continue. You have got to bring the best athletes from all over the country to train together. That is kind of what they do in China; that is what they do in Russia.”

Stop to find the , B.

 

[Frau Muller]

From the article above:

“It is frustrating for us and it is frustrating for me as a coach,” said Orser. “ ...we need to create a high-performance bubble with Skate Canada to push through and work, train and isolate as a team. That needs to be done if this situation is going to continue. You have got to bring the best athletes from all over the country to train together. That is kind of what they do in China; that is what they do in Russia.”

Stop to find the , B.

Somehow Canada found money for vital projects such as studying and banning “Choctaw” and “Mohawk.”

 

[Colonel Green]

Somehow Canada found money for vital projects such as studying and banning “Choctaw” and “Mohawk.”

I personally would consider making the sport less racist a vital project.

But regardless, the cost of holding a few meetings versus the cost of relocating a bunch of skaters (and coaches) on a lengthy basis is hardly comparable.

 

[barbarafan]

Somehow Canada found money for vital projects such as studying and banning “Choctaw” and “Mohawk.”

Touche

 

[Frau Muller]

Touche

Indeed...and, by the way, it’s not just the cost of “holding a few meetings” for these PC studies. It’s the fees for the PhD-holding experts who were commissioned to undertake the chocktaw-mohawk, gender-inclusion and other studies. It’s big business for liberals. Not that it won’t result in something positive eventually. Just thinking priorities.

 

[barbarafan]

Indeed...and, by the way, it’s not just the cost of “holding a few meetings” for these PC studies. It’s the fees for the PhD-holding experts who were commissioned to undertake the chocktaw-mohawk, gender-inclusion and other studies. It’s big business for liberals. Not that it won’t result in something positive eventually. Just thinking priorities.

I don't really know why they did that. It is way over my head. I would think there should be more attention(as in any)to indigenous people in the elite sport of FS. There should be free tryouts at rinks close to reservations or in towns with rented skates and a few kids should be chosen who show promise to be gifted lessons plus all equip.expenses .If they keep working hard it continues. Skate Canada can pay part and do fundraisers for the rest......ok I will shut up. It is one of my WTF pet peeves that more is not done so we could see a better sampling of Cdn Skating instead of only the rich of Canada.

 

[Colonel Green]

I don't really know why they did that.

Because it needed to be done.

 

[mackiecat]

The skaters from the reserve used to get their ice time paid for them. Not sure if this is common or was just for the reserves near the clubs I skated at.

 

[marbri]

I don't really know why they did that. It is way over my head. I would think there should be more attention(as in any)to indigenous people in the elite sport of FS. There should be free tryouts at rinks close to reservations or in towns with rented skates and a few kids should be chosen who show promise to be gifted lessons plus all equip.expenses .If they keep working hard it continues. Skate Canada can pay part and do fundraisers for the rest......ok I will shut up. It is one of my WTF pet peeves that more is not done so we could see a better sampling of Cdn Skating instead of only the rich of Canada.

That's all fine and dandy but if you want to advocate for this at least learn that in Canada they are reserves. Not reservations. Maybe Skate Canada didn't waste their money after all....

 

[Sylvia]

I do give Skate Canada credit for organizing the recent "Talking About Race Panel" - video can be watched here: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...ersity-in-figure-skating.107470/#post-5941673

 

[bladesofgorey]

Somehow Canada found money for vital projects such as studying and banning “Choctaw” and “Mohawk.”

This is such a brainless "gotcha". As many people complained this is the low-hanging fruit that could be changed pretty easily. It didn't cost a ton of $$ and the "experts" reactionaries love to put in scare quotes were enlisted to help guide a framework and concrete suggestions regarding how to make skating less bigoted/racist and more inclusionary. They didn't exactly get handed a whole bunch of money for the name changes for steps, but I can't imagine anyone is truly dense enough to think they did.

 

[Karen-W]

This is such a brainless "gotcha". As many people complained this is the low-hanging fruit that could be changed pretty easily. It didn't cost a ton of $$ and the "experts" reactionaries love to put in scare quotes were enlisted to help guide a framework and concrete suggestions regarding how to make skating less bigoted/racist and more inclusionary. They didn't exactly get handed a whole bunch of money for the name changes for steps, but I can't imagine anyone is truly dense enough to think they did.

Personally, I'm less bothered by the "money" aspect of it, like you said, it probably cost pennies compared to what it would cost to implement real change. This shallow and empty. I see this false argument in various areas that "words matter" and I just shrug and think to myself, words matter little when the actions remain the same. It is a strange era in which we are living when people are convinced that words speak louder than action.