The Leveille Situation: What, exactly, is USSPEEDSKATING's policy on National Team walk-ons?
Back in the fall of 2005, I posted the story of how Tom Cushman started working with Tony Goskowicz's skater, Charles Ryan Leveille, while the U.S. Allround Team was on a training camp in Milwaukee. Charles had been training with Tony's team up until that time, when Tom decided to let him "walk on" to the National Team.
Now, I'm not saying that Charles is not a good enough skater to be on that team. All I would like to do is to ask how this fits in with USSPEEDSKATING's insistence that the only people who are entitled to National Team benefits are those who are "Chosen By The Board" in the spring, before the season begins.
So, the story goes like this: At the Milwaukee training camp, Tom starts paying attention to Charles (videoing, lap times, technique analysis...) at the expense of his own skaters. This gets so bad that the parents of some of Tom's Allround skaters call a meeting with the program director to complain.
Then, at the Fall World Cup Trials, Tom coaches Charles, who happens to make the World Cup team ahead of several Allround Team members. One of my friends told me that there was subsequently an article in one of the Milwaukee newspapers where Tom was talking about the new talent he discovered.
Excuse me, but isn't this the kind of thing we call "poaching?" You know -- taking credit for an athlete developed by another coach? Goskowicz is the one who taught Charles how to skate long track in the first place, and wrote his training program throughout the summer. Not only that: Look at Leveille's history in the sport of speedskating. He first developed as an inline speedskater, and after he became a champion there, his sponsors agreed to fund his transition to ice, as he learned short track under Wilma Boomstra in Southern California. After an unfortunate crash and a horrible back injury, he decided to switch to long track, and trained with Goskowicz at the Pettit in Milwaukee.
Considering USSPEEDSKATING's typical treatment of athletes from outside their own teams, letting Charles walk onto the National Team in the fall of 2005 was a surprising move. I'm wondering what Tom was thinking when he did it. I'm wondering what rules he followed. I'm wondering what his superiors thought of his decision. And did anyone ever give any serious thought to what benefits Charles would be entitled to, or denied? I once asked someone why Charles's skating was being videoed, when he was not a member of "The Chosen 20." The answer I got was this: "Well, Tom has decided he wants to work with Charles. But don't worry - he doesn't get to see the trainers either."
What??? So, you're going to let the guy train on your team, but you're going to deny him the chance to see the trainers? What happens if he gets hurt? None of this makes any sense. This is just an example of how USSPEEDSKATING twists any of their rules to fit any situation to their liking.
As a contrast, let me present to you now my story of being a promising outsider, coming up in the speedskating world during the season of the 2002 Olympic Games:
I was training at the time with Jan Van de Roemer and Lester Pardoe, with the Oval's FAST Program. In the first time trial weekend of October 2001, I skated a 1500 meter race, paired with Elli Ochowicz. She beat me by only a few tenths, and immediately the murmurs of fear and uneasiness began. A week or so later, I skated a 3000 meters in 4:28, during one of my many bouts with tonsillitis. After this race, Jan tells me that the "USS people" are relieved at my slow time, saying, "Oh, don't worry about her. She can't skate the long distances."
The Fall World Cup Trials arrive, and USS craps their collective pants as I beat the field in the 3K by 6 seconds.
Can you see the difference between how they treated me in 2001, and how they treated Charles in 2005? Does anyone care to speculate on a reason? I sure don't.
Coming back to the main point: What we have here is a few basic problems. The first one involves USSPEEDSKATING not being clear on its rules about National Team walk-ons: How they'll decide who walks on, and what these walk-ons will get. The second problem involves a coach abandoning his own team after wrecking them through his typical "overtraining protocol," in favor of an athlete who had been working with another coach, and taking credit for that athlete's success.
And, finally, the Leveille situation proves what I said about USSPEEDSKATING's so-called "Development Program," where all they need is a talent scout who reads the Fitness and Speed Skating Times to find the fastest inliners, convert them to ice, and there you go. The problem with that "strategy" is this: Inline skating is pretty much dead (at least, compared to where it used to be, when USS inherited skaters such as Boutiette, Parra, Cheek, Rodriguez, Hedrick...) , so where are you going to find your talent? Where are you going to find an organization that DEVELOPS THEIR SKATERS ON THEIR DIME, and THESE SKATERS BECOME CHAMPIONS FOR USSPEEDSKATING WITH NEGLIGIBLE INPUT FROM USSPEEDSKATING ITSELF.
On the surface, this "walk-on episode" just seems like an unfair situation. But if you go deeper, you see that it is representative of USSPEEDSKATING's attitude towards the development of the sport.
Back in the fall of 2005, I posted the story of how Tom Cushman started working with Tony Goskowicz's skater, Charles Ryan Leveille, while the U.S. Allround Team was on a training camp in Milwaukee. Charles had been training with Tony's team up until that time, when Tom decided to let him "walk on" to the National Team.
Now, I'm not saying that Charles is not a good enough skater to be on that team. All I would like to do is to ask how this fits in with USSPEEDSKATING's insistence that the only people who are entitled to National Team benefits are those who are "Chosen By The Board" in the spring, before the season begins.
So, the story goes like this: At the Milwaukee training camp, Tom starts paying attention to Charles (videoing, lap times, technique analysis...) at the expense of his own skaters. This gets so bad that the parents of some of Tom's Allround skaters call a meeting with the program director to complain.
Then, at the Fall World Cup Trials, Tom coaches Charles, who happens to make the World Cup team ahead of several Allround Team members. One of my friends told me that there was subsequently an article in one of the Milwaukee newspapers where Tom was talking about the new talent he discovered.
Excuse me, but isn't this the kind of thing we call "poaching?" You know -- taking credit for an athlete developed by another coach? Goskowicz is the one who taught Charles how to skate long track in the first place, and wrote his training program throughout the summer. Not only that: Look at Leveille's history in the sport of speedskating. He first developed as an inline speedskater, and after he became a champion there, his sponsors agreed to fund his transition to ice, as he learned short track under Wilma Boomstra in Southern California. After an unfortunate crash and a horrible back injury, he decided to switch to long track, and trained with Goskowicz at the Pettit in Milwaukee.
Considering USSPEEDSKATING's typical treatment of athletes from outside their own teams, letting Charles walk onto the National Team in the fall of 2005 was a surprising move. I'm wondering what Tom was thinking when he did it. I'm wondering what rules he followed. I'm wondering what his superiors thought of his decision. And did anyone ever give any serious thought to what benefits Charles would be entitled to, or denied? I once asked someone why Charles's skating was being videoed, when he was not a member of "The Chosen 20." The answer I got was this: "Well, Tom has decided he wants to work with Charles. But don't worry - he doesn't get to see the trainers either."
What??? So, you're going to let the guy train on your team, but you're going to deny him the chance to see the trainers? What happens if he gets hurt? None of this makes any sense. This is just an example of how USSPEEDSKATING twists any of their rules to fit any situation to their liking.
As a contrast, let me present to you now my story of being a promising outsider, coming up in the speedskating world during the season of the 2002 Olympic Games:
I was training at the time with Jan Van de Roemer and Lester Pardoe, with the Oval's FAST Program. In the first time trial weekend of October 2001, I skated a 1500 meter race, paired with Elli Ochowicz. She beat me by only a few tenths, and immediately the murmurs of fear and uneasiness began. A week or so later, I skated a 3000 meters in 4:28, during one of my many bouts with tonsillitis. After this race, Jan tells me that the "USS people" are relieved at my slow time, saying, "Oh, don't worry about her. She can't skate the long distances."
The Fall World Cup Trials arrive, and USS craps their collective pants as I beat the field in the 3K by 6 seconds.
Can you see the difference between how they treated me in 2001, and how they treated Charles in 2005? Does anyone care to speculate on a reason? I sure don't.
Coming back to the main point: What we have here is a few basic problems. The first one involves USSPEEDSKATING not being clear on its rules about National Team walk-ons: How they'll decide who walks on, and what these walk-ons will get. The second problem involves a coach abandoning his own team after wrecking them through his typical "overtraining protocol," in favor of an athlete who had been working with another coach, and taking credit for that athlete's success.
And, finally, the Leveille situation proves what I said about USSPEEDSKATING's so-called "Development Program," where all they need is a talent scout who reads the Fitness and Speed Skating Times to find the fastest inliners, convert them to ice, and there you go. The problem with that "strategy" is this: Inline skating is pretty much dead (at least, compared to where it used to be, when USS inherited skaters such as Boutiette, Parra, Cheek, Rodriguez, Hedrick...) , so where are you going to find your talent? Where are you going to find an organization that DEVELOPS THEIR SKATERS ON THEIR DIME, and THESE SKATERS BECOME CHAMPIONS FOR USSPEEDSKATING WITH NEGLIGIBLE INPUT FROM USSPEEDSKATING ITSELF.
On the surface, this "walk-on episode" just seems like an unfair situation. But if you go deeper, you see that it is representative of USSPEEDSKATING's attitude towards the development of the sport.
posted by Eva at 5:31 PM
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