Canadian Skaters Group Alleges Abuse, Calls for Inquiry

[Willin]

I don't know about Canada, but skating schools and skating clubs are the same as far as I know.

The skating school is run by the rink. In cases where the rink is owned by a public entity (like a city parks & rec department) the government runs the skating school like they would other rec classes. In cases where the rink is private (most places not in Canada/the Northern US), the skating school is run by the rink itself.

In both cases the rink will have a full time skating director who is responsible for making sure classes run smoothly. They arrange classes, set up levels (and if they choose to arrange the levels through USFS/Skate Canada/ISI nationally), schedule ice time, hire coaches, and deal with issues. Outside of classes it is their job to approve or deny requests to coach at the rink - if something goes wrong they can ban coaches and they can stop coaches who caused trouble elsewhere from coaching at their rink in the first place.

Skating clubs are always private entities that may simply be a sports club or may be run as a nonprofit depending on funding/fundraising and the club's preferences. With the exception of the Skating Club of Boston I don't know any who own their own rink outside of the varsity skating programs in high schools/colleges. While many rinks have a single skating club present and as a result their skating skills kids tend to only join that club, there don't tend to be any official club affiliations with skating schools. In fact most clubs operate completely separately from the entire rink process beyond shared coaches and skaters - and in fact rinks can ban or cut ice time from clubs for any reason.

 

[overedge]

In Canada I believe the majority of skating clubs are SC clubs. I was trying to find the numbers for average club sizes, which I couldn't, but IIRC a good number of the clubs are smaller organizations run by volunteer boards of directors. So there may not always be a director of skating, or a board member, with the appropriate knowledge as to whether a particular coach should or shouldn't be allowed to coach at the club. And in rural or remote areas there may not be much choice as to who to hire, if there are skaters that need coaching in specific skills, and there aren't too many available candidates to teach those skills.

 

[overedge]

Jeremy Ten responds to someone on Twitter saying that the complainants are speaking their own truth https://twitter.com/j3r3bear/status/1654342310627545089?s=20

 

[Debbie S]

Outside of classes it is their job to approve or deny requests to coach at the rink - if something goes wrong they can ban coaches and they can stop coaches who caused trouble elsewhere from coaching at their rink in the first place.

Yes and no. If the rink has an open pro policy, which most rinks have (unless they are owned by a club...SCOB, Philly, Wilmington are 3 on the East Coast), then the rink really can't deny the coach teaching privileges as long as the coach is current on USFS compliance, without risking a lawsuit.

When it comes to hiring group lesson instructors, skating directors have more leeway (I'll note that in some rinks, particularly those owned and managed by a municipality, the rink manager and the group lesson director may not be the same person). I know of one instance, about 15 years ago, where a group lesson instructor grabbed the arm of a child who was misbehaving, while the parent was watching. Resolution was the coach was allowed to keep coaching private lessons at the rink but not hired for group lessons or choreographing any group numbers for the rink's holiday show for a year.

In the past 20 years, at the rinks where I skated, 2 coaches have been kicked out of the rink. This was after they received multiple warnings, plus tons of documentation behind the scenes, and they committed multiple ethics and other violations. Clubs usually have a bit more leeway than rinks, with the board usually voting on coach approvals and if a coach has a history of causing trouble, they'll likely be rejected. But that only applies to club sessions and usually the club's home rink will offer their own FS sessions on different days/times, where those coaches are able to coach.

 

[coppertop1]

Jeremy Ten responds to someone on Twitter saying that the complainants are speaking their own truth https://twitter.com/j3r3bear/status/1654342310627545089?s=20

The age old "It didn't happen in me, so it never happened at all".

 

[tony]

Not to stir the pot and be told off by people that don't seem to realize their own biases from case to case when it comes to this stuff, but just because someone claims something (as bad as it may be) does not mean it's actually the truth or anywhere close to it every single time. Stretching things, being jealous, creating grievances, being mad in retrospect about not achieving a higher level, etc, isn't only reserved for movies and books. Now it doesn't mean they shouldn't be believed or that allegations shouldn't be taken seriously, but it also doesn't mean a bunch of figure skating fans or people on the internet should automatically assume they know all. Yet it happens time and time again in 'real life' and online-- look at the poster here in the Trash Can that got mad I didn't agree with them and called me a racist amongst many other ridiculous claims because they were offended. Seeing the accusation against one of Canada's most loved skaters just seemingly disappear within 2 days and then people cheer said skater on at their last event was... something.. but not surprising.

I know one of the brief mentions of an incident in this thread (not sure if it is even here anymore or was deleted) is completely untrue, and I went straight to the source it involved to verify. Now I know someone is going to say "yeah sure, let's believe a random poster on the internet". Your choice, but my track record, especially within the rumblings of Canadian skating and the Federation, shows no reason for me to say otherwise. I can't feel any kind of way about this or any other situation without knowing more details of the case, and it doesn't mean I'm supportive of any kind of bad behavior. I just want more facts.

 

[Dragonlady]

One of the most high profile cases besides Callaghan from 20ish years ago involved Bob Young, who was actually employed by two different rinks in the Hartford, CT, area.

Young was executive director of the ISCC in Simsbury and was involved with bringing in a lot of the Russian and Ukrainian skaters who moved there after ‘94. There were very brief mentions in the media in February of 2000 that he had been accused of sexual harassment by one of his former students.

A Hartford Courant article from 5/25/2000 (paywalled; unfortunately I don’t have a way to post a link) reported that he had recently stepped down as executive director at the ISCC and was hired as executive director at a facility in Newington later that same month. The article notes that the owner of the new rink was not concerned about “allegations of sexual harassment” that, per the Simsbury police, were still under investigation at that time.

Per U.S. Figure Skating’s website, Young’s lifetime ban became effective in July 2002. Two different articles from the Hartford Courant on 1/17 and 1/19/03 reference him as coaching a top junior pairs team at the facility in Newington, after that lifetime ban went into effect. (There’s no reference to whether he was still an official employee of the rink, though.) He would not have been issued coaching credentials for competitions after the ban, but based on an archived version of the USFSA website from December of 2002, he was still listed as coach in that pair’s national team bio.

Two more skaters went public with accusations in 2007. (It was reported a month later that police dropped their investigation into one of those cases because they couldn’t establish whether the statute of limitations had expired based on the timeline.)

Former coach faces new sexual abuse allegations

A former world-class figure skating coach who was banned from national competitions after settling a sexual abuse lawsuit faces new allegations of abusing skaters.

www.espn.com

All of this was a matter of public record and Young was still coaching at the elite level for years after the original story broke in the media. While some things have changed since then, I still think there’s a lot about this story that illustrates some of the ways the culture of skating tends to protect people who are powerful and well-connected against accusations of wrongdoing.

The parents of both of the skaters who accused him in 2007 publicly defended Young when the prior allegations were being investigated. They blamed the girl, and said she was more than willing.

If a coach's students are successful, some parents won't care how he/she achieves the results.

 

[Prancer]

Once again, could we please not identify specific skaters and accusations that are not public.

 

[champ]

Jeremy Ten's statement is incredibly cringey. Yikes. Tone deaf at best. Apologist

 

[champ]

What happened?

Jeremy's Twitter is just...yikes. He dismisses the allegations but says he's a safe person to t

 

[Prancer]

Once again, could we please not identify specific skaters and accusations that are not public.

I do not want to say this again.

 

[champ]

I do not want to say this again.

Heads up everyone we are not to mention the name of the former skater who has a public twitter account and who did a big public twitter comment on the fact he was never abused and stated to come to talk to him if you think you were.. His twitter account has his name as the handle. His identity is not hidden and his comments are public. But we must not mention any name on these threads no names allowed.

 

[Prancer]

Heads up everyone we are not to mention the name of the former skater who has a public twitter account and who did a big public twitter comment on the fact he was never abused and stated to come to talk to him if you think you were.. His twitter account has his name as the handle. His identity is not hidden and his comments are public. But we must not mention any name on these threads no names allowed.

Heads up, everyone--you can talk about Jeremy Ten's tweets all you like as they are public.

You cannot, however, say that X coach abused X skater if there has been no public accusation, complaint or statement by the skaters and coaches in question.

I hope this clarifies the issue.