| Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean are the best British figure skaters ever. The won many medals for their country, nevertheless now British figure skating is in a very difficult situation. As you have probably noticed, there were no ladies sent to both the Europeans and the Olympics. You can also expect to see no British lady at the Worlds. Why is that so? Ask the federation. Zoe Jones became the British champion again this year, however according to the officials her title doesn't mean anything. The level of the competition was terribly low. During the free skate only one competitior, Vicki Hodges, managed to produce a triple jump (!!!) and she won the free, placing 2nd overall. She wasn't able to beat Zoe because she was only 5th after the short. Zoe can do all the triple jumps. She just must have had a bad day or nerves got to her. I don't know. I know that I'm disgusted with the reaction of the British federation (N.I.S.A.). They thought that the level of both junior and senior ladies was pathetic. It is a fact but what moved me was their comments. They said that there is no hope in the ladies field. "If we wan't to have good skaters, we'll have to wait another twenty years." They also announced that they won't send any senior ladies to international competitions. Great! With such an attitude, UK will never have good skaters. If I were a parent and I saw how idiotic the British federation's approach is, I would never let my child train figure skating. Where's the encouragement? The whole situation looks currently really sick and if the officials speak in such manner, it will put many people off. And it already did. Tiffany Ann Sfikas and Andrew Seabrook have split after competing at their first international competition, European Championships, where they placed 10th. On their home page (http://www.ukpairs.com) you can read that Andrew decided to give up skating because of his ill feelings directed towards the British Skating Federation. Before Tiffany and Andrew appeared at their first international competition, they have been training for 3 years. They couldn't compete because Tiffany didn't have British residency. Why? The British federation said that they can't help her. She had to do everything herself! She was fighting to obtain it, having to wait for hours in the different immigration officies. Nobody helped her!I think that you don't need to comment this all. Now you just know why there are no top class British skaters. And if nothing will change in the governing body, N.I.S.A., there won't be any in the years to come. |
