A number of years ago, World and Olympic coach Audrey Weisiger gave a presentation to coaches at a camp and she shared her skating and coaching journey. She begins by explaining to the coaches that even many non-elite skaters can benefit from learning about the approaches used by elite coaches because they may choose to be great coaches in the future. Elite coaches do not have to have been elite skaters.
Audrey’s story starts with her skating journey at 5 years old at an outdoor rink, and she loved it immediately. She began competing at age 8 and at age 12 in 1967 she was the Intermediate Ladies Eastern Champion. The event was so new that there wasn’t even a trophy, so her coach got a trophy for her. Two years later in 1969 at age 14 she was the National Bronze Medalist in Junior Ladies. She got a standing ovation for that performance and it was her favorite personal skating moment/memory. She follows this with a short story about her disastrous experience at Nationals the next year.
Her dad shared some wisdom with her, saying “Remember, skating is not fair. If you like it, we’ll support you. You can do it, but you are not allowed to become an ice skating coach.” After her success in 1969 she moved to the Broodmoor in Colorado Springs and was miserable there. Rather than skating being “her thing” the club there was critical and negative and she didn’t feel like she belonged. It was a difficult time for her.
Audrey started coaching in 1972 at the Fairfax Ice Arena, initially determined to only be a recreational coach, perhaps specializing in choreography. But the skaters she was choreographing for couldn’t do anything she wanted them to do, so she had to start teaching skating. Audrey then jumps some history (over 25 years) to becoming the Professional Skating Association and the US Olympic Committee Coach of the Year in 1999.
She says, “The one thing I can honestly say to anybody that aspires to be a great coach is you have to work your butt off. Every living, breathing moment for me was ‘I’m going to get better. I’m going to make that kid better. I don’t care if you don’t want to do it. I’m going to make you do it.'” She then shows a picture of some of her protégés who are carrying on the tradition of great coaching. Audrey continues to coach, but she thinks of herself as retired from competitive skating and puts more time and effort into a number of worthwhile and important causes and projects.
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