By Troy Schwindt
Rocky Marval started pairs skating when he was 19 years old, saying, “Before I knew it, I was at the Olympics.”
Marval is one of five former Olympians, along with one Olympic coach, who helped develop a 10-part video series that introduces the basics of pairs skating to athletes, coaches and parents. The series, titled “Dare to Pair,” can be found on the U.S. Figure Skating Members Only portal by clicking on Skating Opportunities and Pairs.
“I hope these videos inspire you to try pairs; you never know where it will take you,” Marval says during the first video.
The video project is the brainchild of three-time Olympian, World bronze medalist and five-time U.S. pairs champion Kyoko Ina, who coordinated the series with the support and direction of U.S. Figure Skating, the University of Delaware and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee. The U.S. Figure Skating Foundation provided a grant to help fund the project.
“Increasing interest in pairs skating has been a focus of the Pairs Development and Technical Committee,” said its chair Danielle Hartsell Minnis. “We have been working alongside Kyoko Ina to promote pairs skating while encouraging higher-level singles skaters to consider pairs. The pair video project was developed to guide singles athletes/coaches on how to train skills specific for pairs skating and in preparation for a pairs tryout. We are excited to share them with the skating community in hopes of inspiring future pairs skaters.”
Mitch Moyer, senior director of athlete high performance at U.S. Figure Skating, suggested to Ina that she should recruit some of the veteran pairs coaches in the country to produce and communicate this important information.
Ina solicited the help of Canadian Isabelle Brasseur, a two-time Olympic medalist and World pairs champion who coaches in New Jersey with Marval; two-time Olympic medalist and five-time World champion Robin Szolkowy of Germany; Amanda Evora, an Olympian, World pairs competitor and five-time U.S. medalist; and former pairs skater and Olympic and World coach Jim Peterson.
Brasseur and her daughter, Gabriella, helped edit the videos before turning them over to the U.S. Figure Skating video department for professional production work.
The experts in the videos explain “what pairs skating is.” They demonstrate a proper warmup, lift groups and positions, footwork on and off the ice, twists and death spirals before finishing with encouraging words about “giving pairs a try.”
“I feel like so many skaters, parents and coaches might be interested, but if they are not exposed they have no idea what’s out there,” Ina said. “My intent of this video series is for them to open their eyes and say, ‘You know what, maybe my child or my student, or I as an athlete, might be interested in this. And it’s not just something that I have to wait until I’m in my teens to really figure out, but I can actually start when I’m younger and say the reason I go to the rink in the first place is because my friends are there. So now if I can practice and skate with my friend, even better.’”
Coaches who may not have a pairs program but have singles skaters can access information in the videos and introduce their students to the possibility of pairs skating. If coaches need help getting started or have questions along the way, the instructors in the videos are available to help. Email questions to pairs@usfigureskating.org.
“These core professionals are definitely available for any questions, and if anyone is not comfortable reaching out cold turkey, they can always reach out to me and I can set them up with somebody,” Ina said.
“Even if they are not ready yet to reach out to these professionals, they may ask [me], ‘What do I do to begin? I have 10 girls. I don’t have any boys.’ I could suggest that you have to teach moves in the field, basic stroking, basic jumps, spins, anything — just make them start side by side. It doesn’t take a whole lot of effort. I’m sure the kids would love to have a semi-private or group class together, and you don’t need to have any pairs knowledge about that. You can start there, and then when they get to that point of needing to learn some pairs elements, of course, we are going to help you out and not leave you to figure it out on YouTube.”
Ina added that including pairs can also help build a coach’s business.
“Kids are like sponges,” Ina said. “If you are not exposing kids to every possible outlet, whether it’s ice dance, pairs, singles, theatre, synchro, whatever it is, kids will only know what the coach knows, right? So if the teacher is able to say, ‘I don’t know anything about pairs, but I do know you have to jump side by side, you have to skate in sync and in unison, and you have to spin and do all of these things,’ at least they can start that child out. Then as that skater grows, the coach can grow as well.”
The videos are also designed to educate parents about pairs skating so everyone is on the same page during this new adventure.
Peterson, who several months ago moved from his training site in Ellenton, Florida, to Canton, Michigan, said he’s proud of the video series and optimistic that it can help open doors to include more pairs skaters and coaches.
“One of the biggest challenges we are having right now with our discipline is demystifying the pair wheelhouse of technique and making it a little more accessible to the singles skaters and singles coaches,” Peterson said. “My biggest hope [with the video series] is it brings pairs skating to the masses and that it can offer a solution to a singles skater who may find his or her career wanting to be challenged further, giving them perhaps another opportunity that could pave the way toward success in another realm they weren’t planning on, while still capitalizing on their strong singles skills.”
Safety, Peterson said, is another main goal of the video series.
“We wanted to create an atmosphere of safety [during practice and in a potential tryout],” Peterson said. “We want coaches to understand how to spot lifts, how to properly set up tracking. So the more knowledgeable they are, they can provide safety to their students who are trying pairs for the first time.”
The videos are also up on PSA TV on the PSA website: skatepsa.com. Click on https://psatv.uscreen.io/catalog and scroll toward the bottom for the Dare to Pair series.
