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Post Meet Blog Entry #3

Well…..blogging in Courmayeur was not as easy as it was in Taipei. Lack of access to internet and low batteries were a curse. Sorry folks. Here is what you missed and my overall impressions. Courmayeur is a beautiful place. The Sports Complex was exquisite. The ice conditions were horrid bordering often on unsafe. The one starter was one of the worst the skaters had ever skated under. I don’t think I could sit in a chair motionless as long as he held the skaters. The officiating was pretty good but it is clear that because of the new regs there are going to be inconsistencies. It is good we now have instant replay. There was buzz that some countries submitted inaccurate seed times to manipulate prelims and heats. I personally feel that requiring that all submitted seed times to be publically posted prior to the start of the meet showing dates and locations of where the times were skated would help control any “inacurracies”. At the junior world level France, Kazstistan, Russia, Austrailia, and Great Britain, have taken huge leaps forward. Canada, China  and Japan continue to be strong and well Korea……what can one say?

The U.S. juniors (I can only speak for the men) were not happy with their performances and felt that the U.S. lost some ground in the world junior ranks from last year. Yes, it is true that had Simon Cho been there the U.S. would have faired better, but there were other Juniors from other countries that are Senior World Cup skaters that did not come either. Jack Whelbourne was the only male Olympian that was in attendence. He finished 2nd overall. The U.S. did have some performances that showed strength. Cole advancing to the Semis in the 1500m, Johnny and Jim showing some strong 500m skating in the prelims. Our ladies, in my opinion, showed overall U.S. improvement in terms of how they stack up against the world. We still have a ways to go. I was left with the overall impression that our juniors need to have more international experience. Skating against skaters who are unknown to you is different than competing against skaters you know like the back of your hand. Our U.S. coaches were excellent. Joe Rohraff and So Yeon did an amazing job.

All in all our skaters came back even more determined than last year to continue to step it up because the rest of the world sure is!

Ciao,

Heidi

Junior Worlds 2011 Entry #2

Today, Wednesday, was bright and sunny. The views were breath taking! Team U.S.A. had originally been scheduled to practice at 9:00pm at night, but our coaches arranged to skate with France on their 7:00pm practice. The later practice afforded the skaters an opportunity to walk through Courmayeur, do some window shopping and sample the hot chocolate. Coach Jimmy Jang is here with the Russian Team, but I can tell he still loves us
The Korean team is strong as usual. One of the Korean women took a bad fall on their practice in the morning, but seemed alright because she joined Team France and Team U.S.A. on their practice to test out her ankle. Britain’s world team member Jack Welbourne is here and looks very strong.
Team U.S.A. had a higher intensity on-ice practice tonight after their dryland session. The men did a relay practice run against France. It was not intended to be a race but there was no way Team U.S.A. was going to lose in practice and it wasn’t long before France was easily defeated. Our guys looked good. The ladies practiced their relay as well. They worked on smoothing out their exchanges and did a lot of laps!
I did not get a lot of feedback on the girls’ times but our guys were skating in the 8’s. They felt the ice was much better today than yesterday. The ice yesterday was SOFT!
There is an ever increasing energy in the air. James and Cole are analyzing every stroke they take and reflecting on how to make it perfect. Yep…..that’s Cole and James for you. Adam is having a blast and has a twinkle in his eye and a smile of his face. Johnny is just Johnny and is ready to go.
Coach Joe and Coach Soo Yeon laugh at Lexi’s intensity. Katy is so focused and serious too. Rachel is calm and having a great time. Kendall……..has her game face on and is having a blast with the team.
The food……..well………pasta, bread, pasta, bread, pasta, bread, pasta, bread…………. A definite lack of protein for sure! I think James and Cole were stalking a small dog in the village! After the first few meals James said to Coach Joe, “Is this it?”
Coach Joe made some arrangements last evening to get some meat and alas the dog is safe…….well at least for now! Tomorrow Team U.S.A. practices at 9:00am. They will then rest for the remainder of the day. Well that’s it for now. Ciao

Junior World Trip 2011 (Entry #1)

Hello friends we arrived in Courmayeur Italy yesterday (Monday February 21st) after an eight hour layover in the Paris airport. Sadly we did not get to see any of the city due to the fact that we had a frightening episode that nearly got our skates taken away. It seems that the TSA is not clear on the international protocols involving carrying skates on a plane. We ended up having to buy a $120.00 suitcase and checked Cole’s, J.H.’s and Lexi’s skates. It is interesting to note that three other skaters got through the French security just fine with their skates. Selective implementation of the rules. After an uneventful flight to Turin and a 2 hour bus ride to Courmayeur we arrived at the skater’s hotel, the Hotel Astoria, and dropped them off. Each small hotel is housing about 2 or 3 countries. The U.S.A. is with Germany. We then set off to our hotel, the Hotel Dolonne. The building dates bake to the 16th century or so we are told. Our room includes dinner and breakfast. We had a delicious dinner and then went to our rooms. Bryan and my room is in the attic on the 3rd floor. Our bathroom ceiling is only 5 feet high so how can I put this delicately…….one cannot pull up one’s drawers until they have shuffled out into the bedroom where the ceiling is a tad higher. We have no shower just a tub….interesting but so cute. The view is unbelievable from our window. Breakfast this morning consisted of delicious croissants, yogurt, and espresso. We walked to the rink that is simply the most beautiful venue that one can imagine. The pictures on the internet do not do it justice. Team U.S.A. warm-up at 1:00pm. Coach Rohraff and Coach Yeo did a light dryland and a light on-ice practice. Tomorrow’s pratice promises to be more challenging. It seems that all the teams took it easy today after what was a long day of traveling yesterday. Today Becky, Annette, Bryan and I went walking through Courmayeur. The quaint cobblestone streets were like something from a movie. We, surprisingly, were not impressed with Italian pizza, BUT Italian Hot Chocolate is like nothing I have ever tasted in my LIFE! It is much thicker than ours but not as thick as a pudding. The flavor is unearthly! Tommorrow’s blog will hopefully include more skating stuff. We are meeting the team at the rink at 12:00pm.