cinsidering that christy ness' husband comes with the "package deal"...i would not recommend her as a "good" coach...

in fact...if i had a kid skating...i'd avoid her (and him)...

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do ya ever get the feeling that ms. bielman wishes she'd never done that damn spin???

Hmm, Ok, if I were smarter, I'd leave this one alone but I have to say from my firsthand experience, that Christy's husband is not a problem and certainly shouldn't stop anyone from going to Christy for coaching. Christy has an impressive resume and although she is not universally popular like Frank Carroll, she is a good coach. Kristy Yamaguchi is Christy's most successful skater although many top skaters worldwide have trained with Christy.

Andrew Ness was an Olympic team doctor (I can't remember for what nation) and he is a great source of sports medicine knowlege. He is a physician running his own practice up in the San Francisco Bay Area and has no time to be part of a "package deal."

I realize that people are either hot or cold on Christy but her husband shouldn't be dragged into this. I know him and he is a great guy.

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Babyskater's Mom

yeah...i've met the dude...and i'm not impressed...and neither are many people in edmonton...

i don't mind kristy...but i'm still not a fan...and i've watched her (and announced her in competitons) since she was just a kid...

as for scott and wife charlene and frank carrol...i give then all a "thumbs up"...not to mention denise and sashi kuchiki, roger berry and many other lesser known but excellent coaches in socal...

in northern california you do have charlie tickner and many others to choose from who can provide excellent training and inspiration...

santa rosa ain't such a bad town to skate in either (at "snoopy's rink")

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do ya ever get the feeling that ms. bielman wishes she'd never done that damn spin???

You are absolutley right!!! Someone like Christy Ness who coached an amazing skater like Kristi Yamaguchi (actually Kristi wasn't that good--I mean she only won Olympics and Worlds and had 3lutz 3toe, decent 3axel attempts and was one of the most consistent skaters ever--she wasn't that good) isn't a good coach. Yeah I'd stay away---you wouldn't want to end up being as terrible as Kristi Yamaguchi!

I want to thank everyone for the great suggestions--I have received numerous responses, both here and privately, and will now try to match up cost of living, real estate prices, and schools with suggested training centers and coaches. We are going to stay put throughout the summer, since kiddo is making a first attempt at Regionals this season, but will let you know where we land! Thanks again!

Bogie

Bogie, I just discovered a perfect web site for you!!

ALL kinds of info, including a "matching" service (all free!), where it asks you to rate all the important things, & it will give you a big list of the best cities that match your criteria.

Hope that helps!

www.bestplaces.net

Backspin,

That was fun! I ended up with a top ten list that pretty much reflected the areas I was most interested in, with Long Island leading the list (don't know about that, though!) Thanks for the tip!

As a native who who's lived away toooo long, I can tell you Long Island is one of the most beautiful and most expensive places to live in the country. Schools are good, the access to NYC is great, but the taxes are a killer and ice prices a nightmare. Decent housing starts at about 350K.
Also as a native, I can tell you that the general impressions of Nyers as brash and rude may be your impression too. My take is that we are enthusiatic and outgoing, but I know my co-workers here in the midwest don't see me that way. It's a way different culture you will either love or hate. Myself, I can't wait to get back there.
As far as skating, there's nothing that would draw me there. The rinks are few, and high level coaching minimal, unless you plan on commuting long distances. And in NY traffic, that's not an easy feat.
But if you do end up there, I will be so envious!

WEST COAST:
L.A. area is very expensive and the schools are bad, so you'd probably need to pay for private schooling. If you have the money, Belaire and Beverly Hills and nice neighborhoods (I used to live there).
Colorado Springs is very bargain basement and you can skate at Broadmoor so that's another nice place. But out there the pace of life is much slower than in other major metropolitan areas and the schools are just so-so.

FOR EAST COAST
If the place you reside is important to you other than just because of skating--I'd say that Westchester County, NY or Fairfield County, CT are your best bets. You can access many good coaches and the schools are excellent. Towns to look in on:
New Canann, CT
Darien, CT
Greenwich, CT
Westport, CT
Weston, CT
Wilton, CT
Rye, NY
Harisson, NY
Purchase, NY
Larchmont, NY
Scarsdale, NY

All of the above towns are very nice places to live and have very high ratings according to the various websites. Most of the houses in many of the towns (especially in Greenwich, Westport and Harrisson) are VERY, VERY expensive---we are talking millions for decent homes. But then again, I did see advertisments for middle market homes in all of these towns. The two with the best school systems seem to be Greenwich and Westport both of which spend around $12000 per student and have highly rated public schools.
GOOD LUCK!!

Hey, we live in the L.A. area and our schools are fantastic! Top of the country in fact. Our little community is adorable. (Bogie88, you guessed right about where we are!) The South Bay/West LA areas have great public schools. Some of the areas in the South Bay are O.K. price wise. Torrance, for example, is somewhat reasonable. Bel Aire and Beverly Hills are outrageous, unreal and the sticker shock could be fatal! It is unfortunately true that California in general has far higher housing prices than most of the nation. That is the biggest drawback of living here. Fortunately, pay checks are bigger in general so that is the trade off. Northern California pays even more than Southern but the rinks are far apart and skating is very low key there. You find a lot of the kids that live up there who are excelling in skating have coaches in LA that they come work with on a somewhat regular basis. N. Cal is quite beautiful, though.

In the South Bay/West LA area there are several rinks: Healthsouth, Torrance (Harbor City), Culver City. Other nearby (within a reasonable driving distance) rinks are Paramount, Lakewood and Palos Verdes. If you feel like driving, within 30-40 minutes of the beach area, you can go to Pickwick, Van Nuys Iceland, Disney Ice, Glacial Gardens, Aliso Viejo, Pasadena, Simi Valley (a little farther out). Rinks, rinks everywhere!

These rinks have a range of great coaches. Off the top of my head (which is very tired today!) Frank Carroll, Ken Congemi, Charlene Wong, Miss Le (famous for coaching Chen Lu), Scott Williams, Tiffany Chin, John Nicks immediately come to mind. There is someone for everyone. Less known but successful coaches include Karen Kwan, Sashi Kuchiki, Tammy Gambil, Johnny Bevan (who coached Ye Bin Mok last season), Peter Oppagard, Nedda Soltani, Richard Ewell, etc. That list doesn't even scratch the surface of the range and depth of coaches here in the LA area.

We are still fairly new to this area. I can tell you that the level of skating is very high in the LA area. Skating is somewhat popular here. Lots of wonderful skaters call the LA area home: Michelle Kwan, Timothy Goebel, Ye Bin Mok, senior pair John Baldwin and Rena Inoue, Evan Lysacek, Amber Corwin, Angela Nikodinov (who is starting to skate again! Yay!), Ekaterina Gordeeva (and her little skater), Ilia Kulik, Scott Hamilton, and more excellent skaters than I could fit in this note. If skating is important to you, don't rule out LA. It has a lot to offer! We love it!

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Babyskater's Mom

Also you could consider Newington, CT and Simsbury, CT--many Russian coaches coach there as well as other American coaches. Charter Oak FSC (Simsbury) has a great facility and the homes in upstate CT aren't bad pricewise--but you'd probably want to live in Fairfield County and make the 1-1.5 hour commute. I have a summer house in Fairfield Country and it's a great place to live. I lived there during part of the school year and the public schools are great--but the housing is very expensive and so is the overall cost of living. Colorado is probably the best bet--great coaches (Broadmoor FSC) and very cheap housing (for very nice homes) in the Colorado Springs area. I have a home also in the Colorado Springs area and it's a nice place to live.

I have to say, my daughter did a workshop with Charlene Wong. This was just as my daughters coach was getting ready to take a leave of absence... and my daughter wanted Charlene to be her new coach... granted I'm not moving across the country for a coach, but it was nice to see that click happen so easily/quickly.

Shouldn't that be Scott and EX-WIFE Charlene??? (I know. Details...details...)

I can vouch for Charlie Tickner, since I took a few lessons with him!!! He's KEWL!!! (The only reason he was no longer my secondary coach at the time was that I got a job and he couldn't teach me at that rink!!! The only reason I'm not back taking him again is b/c I could only afford one coach!)

But if I get a job near a rink where he could teach me, I'll JUMP (pun not intended) at the opportunity to take him again as a secondary coach.

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Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

yeah...i missed that one...just never heard about it till now...oh wellski...can't keep up on everyone!!!...

charlie is a character...and really sharp on the skating skills...he was fortunate to work with some excellent coaches during his competitive days...namely, the sahlins, skippy baxter and jimmy grogan...

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do ya ever get the feeling that ms. bielman wishes she'd never done that damn spin???

On a personal note: I would stay far away from the Newington rink because Bob Young is the manager there. Regarding Simsbury, although there are many good coaches, IMHO the skating club is a mess. I understand that it's membership is bailing fast. Don't confuse rinks with clubs, they are two separate entities.

The community of Simsbury is lovely. My family thinks highly of the school system and the services the town provides. The area towns of Avon, Canton and Farmington are also exceptional. There is a rink in nearby West Hartford that many skaters use for practice, and the sister rink to Simsbury is in Cromwell and is terrific.

I think if I was in your position the first thing that I would do is to contact the coaches that interest you (via the rink) and ask for resumes. Many will provide one for you as well as references from skaters that have trained with them. Then visit rinks if you can, and talk to the locals... you know rink moms... most will be happy to give you the dish on who's who. Believe it or not, one of the finest and most successful regional coaches at our rink charges the least and quietly goes about producing winners on a consistant basis.

Good luck to you and your skater!

Though this is slightly off topic..... but what's wrong with Christy Ness and her husband?

Jeujeucda

i talked to a mom from the midwest who said to avoid the skating director leslie deeson in boise as well as other coaches in boise, but you are not probably plannign on going there anyway

as for christy ness' husband, i've met him...and though i never knew christy personally, i've been around her since she was a kid competing (even announced her at central pacific championships one year)...suffice to say that i really don't care much for the guy...nor do i think much of his input...it's a personal opinion...however, one that is shared by a few people in edmonton where christy taught for some time...

beyond that, i can't say much...i just wouldn't recommend those two...

if fairness...there are those who know them that see things differently than i...

this thread started out asking for knowledgable opinions and suggestions...and i gave mine...

as for boise...seattle ain't that far away...and i've never heard "boo" about that town...got me curious...but you should really know for sure (rather than going on hearsay...) before ya start rumors...

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do ya ever get the feeling that ms. bielman wishes she'd never done that damn spin???

blades you are right, sorry, esp. since the mom i talked to wasn't even the original source...i think she heard it from another mom? i just remember that she was telling some story about big problems in that town and the name stuck with me because my cousin is named the same thing!...(and it's a guy!!)...

In your posts of the past, you say how new you are to the scene. How obvious.
My daughter took from Leslie Deason in San Diego before she moved and she still misses her dearly. We have not been able to find a coach that could come close to how good Leslie was with my girl.
I am not the only parent that has had a hard time finding a coach to replace her. One other student has gone through 3 coaches, and Leslie helped her find Evelyn Kramer and Christa Fassi. She is spending a couple weeks with Leslie (as we are) in Boise this summer.
It is a awfully small world for heresay.
My experiences with this wonderful coach are first hand.
Be careful

Simsbury offers an excellent array of coaches, has lots of elite and non elite skaters, a heavy international representation and an excellent facility. The community is great. However, this is a small town and if you like big city climates this would not be the place for you.

Newington is OUT! Unless you want to get involved with the likes of Bob Young.

Boston has some interesting skating venues such as the Skating Club of Boston. But that is an antique as far as a rink goes and is very small. Still they have some good coaches and the environment is definately figure skating.