Stories from The Spokesman-Review

Free daily coverage from the newspaper.

Get stories via RSS     Return to headline list

Hall of fame coach has optimism for U.S.

Jeff Bunch  •  Staff writer
Published January 24, 2007

Frank Carroll, center, talks with senior ladies skater Bebe Liang during practice Tuesday at the Spokane Arena. (Brian Immel The Spokesman-Review )

He is the Vince Lombardi of singles skating coaches.

Frank Carroll is a U.S. and world figure skating hall of fame coach. He is one of only three coaches to have two national champions in the same year – in 2001 with Timothy Goebel and Michelle Kwan – and has coached nearly a dozen world champions.

On Tuesday, he was in the stands at the Spokane Arena to watch his four senior skaters at nationals go through their short program practices: Evan Lysacek, Becky Hughes, Danielle Kahle and Bebe Liang.

Carroll has seen the evolution of the sport, yet he is still a vibrant part of its future. He shows no signs of slowing down after decades in the business nor does he see the cupboard bare in U.S. skating.

"After the Olympics, it's always a rebuilding process," Carroll said. "But when you think about it, we have a defending world champion (Kimmie Meissner), third place in dance (Belbin/Agosto), third place in men (Lysacek), and our pairs team (Inoue/Baldwin) did very well last year (fourth).

"So, the ones that are going to stay in have very high standings. It's going to be very interesting to see how the new ones, the young ones, do stepping up and taking the place of the ones who retired, internationally."

When asked about the sport's new scoring system, he says he wasn't initially a fan of it. He has since warmed up to it and even begun to appreciate it.

"I think that there's still some work to be done," he said, "but when you throw out a system that's been there for 60, 70 years (the 6.0 system) and you bring in a new system, you've got to expect a few years of development and experimentation before it works the way you really want it to. So, I think it's a work in progress."

The system no longer puts a double value on the long program. Carroll said he likes the fact that the new points-based system gives skaters who had a poor short program a chance to come back in the free skate.

Lysacek took the ice for the first time Tuesday and looked confident, despite arriving late in Spokane because of travel delays and rushing onto the ice.

The teacher said his pupil has prepared well for this event. He said champions are made the hard way.

"You can't depend on just nailing it (in the free skate)," Carroll said. "You have to feel confident inside through training, long hours, and lots of successful run-throughs that when the time comes, 'Yes, I can do this.' … You've got to know you can do it."