johnny weir from new york?

[sue123]

granted i don't know that much about johnny weir, but i heard he skates for the new york skate club, but lives in delaware? did he ever live in new york? i don't know why, but this is bothering me.

[dbny]

He skates for the Skating Club of New York (SCNY). He is not from NY, but club affiliation is about more than where you are from.

[sue123]

but it just makes a lot more sense if you skate for where you're from. is there an advantage to skating for one club as opposed t another?

[mikey]

Supposedly he is from Lancaster, PA (near where I grew up). That's not too far from New York City.

[fadedstardust]

Well, he's not region-hopping, so I don't see how it matters. It's not like he goes to Regionals or Sectionals anymore anyways, so why does it bother you? And yes, there is a big advantage to be from a big, well-known club. I don't see why someone shouldn't have the right to it, especially since he does skate at Sky Rink sometimes, plans to live in New York in the future, and pays their exhorbitant member fees (200+ dollars). He's a two-time National champion, he can skate for whomever he damn pleases, he worked hard to get here and his club isn't the one going out there for him to win those titles.

[SkateFan123]

Supposedly he is from Lancaster, PA (near where I grew up). That's not too far from New York City.

John is from Coateville, PA. He lives and trains in Newark, Delware and in Simmsbury, Connecticut. He represents the SC of New York.

And according to a recent article, he offered to marry Tanith so she could get her citizenship quicker. Tanith said that she wanted to get her citizenship the right way. Good for her!

[sue123]

Well, he's not region-hopping, so I don't see how it matters. It's not like he goes to Regionals or Sectionals anymore anyways, so why does it bother you? And yes, there is a big advantage to be from a big, well-known club. I don't see why someone shouldn't have the right to it, especially since he does skate at Sky Rink sometimes, plans to live in New York in the future, and pays their exhorbitant member fees (200+ dollars). He's a two-time National champion, he can skate for whomever he damn pleases, he worked hard to get here and his club isn't the one going out there for him to win those titles.

i'm not saying he doesn't have a right, i'm just trying to understand the logic. i don't see how being from a bigger club is an advantage, since he still picks his own coaches and everything, so i don't understand how the club he's in would be an advantage. same for any skater, but the only one i'm aware of is johnny weir. i was just trying to understand the logic. i'm sorry if i've offended you in any way, because that was not my intention.

[mikey]

John is from Coateville, PA. He lives and trains in Newark, Delware and in Simmsbury, Connecticut. He represents the SC of New York.
Well... not exactly. He was BORN in Coatesville, but grew up in Oxford and Lancaster until he relocated to Newark:
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/sports/7784321.htm

...not that it makes any difference to the discussion though...

[Sylvia]

i'm not saying he doesn't have a right, i'm just trying to understand the logic. i don't see how being from a bigger club is an advantage, since he still picks his own coaches and everything, so i don't understand how the club he's in would be an advantage. same for any skater, but the only one i'm aware of is johnny weir. i was just trying to understand the logic.

Weir has previously mentioned (in his journals and Q&A on his official site) that he chose to leave the Univ. of of Delaware training facility and club in favor of another rink in Newark, DE, for various personal reasons. Plus several of his coach's other students represent the Skating Club of New York, which makes things easier for his coach during Regionals.

Many elite skaters choose to keep their original/hometown club affiliation despite moving elsewhere to train full-time -- Evan Lysacek (DuPage FSC in Chicago) and Jenny Kirk (Skating Club of Boston) who are both in Los Angeles now -- are just two examples off the top of my head.

[milanessa]

i don't know why, but this is bothering me.

Well, until you know why it bothers you I don't think anyone can address it except to reiterate the facts. Yes he skates for the Skating Club of NY; yes he was born and raised in Pennsylvania; yes he lives and trains elsewhere. I don't see anything there to be upset or bothered about.

gerry

[sk8er1964]

It is not uncommon for skaters to skate out of a club where they don't live. For example, I know of an ice dance team where he skates for a midwest club, and she skates for a west club. They both train in the midwest, but it gives them the flexibility to skate out of whichever region/section they deem the most advantageous to them. In the elite arena, it's not like it is for the average Joe skater - everything they do is calculated to help them reach their goals.

Skaters will also have first clubs and second clubs -- for example, I want to represent Club A because my coach is there, but Club B is closer to home, so that's where I do alot of my practice. So I join both clubs, but declare Club A as my home club. This is very, very common.

Now, with Weir, I have a sneaking suspicion he skates for NY because he's in love with that city, and thinks it's cool to represent them. If that's the case, more power to him. If it's for other reasons, more power to him. It really doesn't matter to anyone else but him! :D

[mary]

. . . Plus several of his coach's other students represent the Skating Club of New York, which makes things easier for his coach during Regionals.


Would one of the coach's other students be Andrei Griezev(sp)? I'm just wondering who Priscilla's other high level students are.

[fadedstardust]

i'm not saying he doesn't have a right, i'm just trying to understand the logic. i don't see how being from a bigger club is an advantage, since he still picks his own coaches and everything, so i don't understand how the club he's in would be an advantage. same for any skater, but the only one i'm aware of is johnny weir. i was just trying to understand the logic. i'm sorry if i've offended you in any way, because that was not my intention.

No, you did not offend me at all- the only one who could be "offended" is Johnny, and I am not him. :) However, I don't think you are very familiar with elite skater dealings, so you don't understand why a bigger, more well known club might be advantageous- it's okay, and I'm not about to air the USFS's dirty laundry here, but anyone who's been through (or is going through it now, as I am) the upper divisions of qualifying competition will tell you that to some extent, the club which you come from does make a difference. Just like Irina and Evgeni WILL have an advantage to compete at Worlds on home ice, and we're not just talking about the fact that it's familiar to them. That's the way it is, many people close an eye to it or simply don't know about it, but it doesn't mean it isn't there.

Meanwhile, Andrei Griazev is coached by Tatiana Tarasova, not Priscilla Hill, to whomever asked. I must ask though- whatever happened to Miki Ando moving there? There was news of that a while back, but I'm pretty sure it never happened? Updates?

[flippet]

And according to a recent article, he offered to marry Tanith so she could get her citizenship quicker. Tanith said that she wanted to get her citizenship the right way. Good for her!


Aw, but you can't fault a guy for trying! Who wouldn't want to marry Tanith? :D :D :D

[skateflo]

There is one other issue about club affiliation and that is the amount of support, especially financial, that a club may provide to a rising star. There is a certain loyality to that club as well. There are also some training sites that require you join their club to use their ice and others might make deals that if you perform x times in their local shows, they will give you free ice for practice.

Representing the better known facilities does have media advantages (print, TV, shows, etc.) and being connected to a club that has a long history of producing champions.....

It is also easier to stay with one club for paying annual dues and the USFS keeping biographies up to date. The home club is like a home base although your training may take you to many different places over the years due to coaching, partners, facilities, personal and family finances, housing, ability to get a part-time job, education, to be near good global airports, equipment/costume makers, etc.

[Stormy]

However, I don't think you are very familiar with elite skater dealings, so you don't understand why a bigger, more well known club might be advantageous- it's okay, and I'm not about to air the USFS's dirty laundry here, but anyone who's been through (or is going through it now, as I am) the upper divisions of qualifying competition will tell you that to some extent, the club which you come from does make a difference.

Thanks, stardust, that's exactly what I was going to say. So so so true. Many elite skaters will represent a big name club (SC NY, SC of Boston, Los Angeles FSC) to gain a possible advantage over a skater from the Podunk FSC. That's the logic, pure and simple. If that bothers you, trust me, there's a LOT more in skating that will bother you even more! Ye be warned! :)

Also, sorry to be a little nitpicky, but I ususally don't read/reply to your posts Sue123 because of the lack of capitalization, it makes the posts harder to read when they aren't formed properly. Didn't know if this was bothering anyone else. JMO.

[fadedstardust]

Many elite skaters will represent a big name club (SC NY, SC of Boston, Los Angeles FSC) to gain a possible advantage over a skater from the Podunk FSC. That's the logic, pure and simple. If that bothers you, trust me, there's a LOT more in skating that will bother you even more! Ye be warned! :)


Haha, no kidding!!! :)

[sue123]

Also, sorry to be a little nitpicky, but I ususally don't read/reply to your posts Sue123 because of the lack of capitalization, it makes the posts harder to read when they aren't formed properly. Didn't know if this was bothering anyone else. JMO.

Sorry, I'm not so big on capatilization (sp?) when I'm typing. I consider it a bad side effect after talking to too many people on AIM at the same time. It's carried over into my typing for papers for school too, which should be a bad thing, but then MSWord has that automatic capitalization thing, so it's just enforcing bad habits. Sorry, I'll try harder next time.

[Lurking Skater]

I'm not sure if all this talk about representing larger clubs is just general info or being used as a reason or why Johnny Wier represents SCNY. If you're just talking in general, then you can ignore the rest of my post.

From what he's said in intervires/his website, Johnny left the University of Delaware and their club because of personal issues. It wasn't a strategical move, since UDFSC is a pretty powerful club themselves, plus, when he made the switch, qualifying for Nationals wasn't a huge concern. He said that he chose SCNY since he loves the city so much.

[Phuket]

Has anyone ever looked up the SCoNY online? Caused me to take a deep breath....until I found the right website. 8O

[Stormy]

Haha!! That happened to me a few times trying to find the SCNY website for Non Qual Easterns results!

[fadedstardust]

I'm not sure if all this talk about representing larger clubs is just general info or being used as a reason or why Johnny Wier represents SCNY. If you're just talking in general, then you can ignore the rest of my post.

From what he's said in intervires/his website, Johnny left the University of Delaware and their club because of personal issues. It wasn't a strategical move, since UDFSC is a pretty powerful club themselves, plus, when he made the switch, qualifying for Nationals wasn't a huge concern. He said that he chose SCNY since he loves the city so much.

Well personally, I was just talking in general although I'm sure it applied to Johnny at one point too, because he skated for Skating Club of New York even when he was at Udel. Udel has its own club which I don't believe he was ever a part of, and he switched to the Pond which is down the street, still in Delaware- Johnny's primary training rink has never been in New York. He's been skating for SCNY for a long time though as far as I can remember, and the switch from one rink to another had nothing to do with it. Many skaters belong to a club whose rink they NEVER train at- I happen to be one of them. I live fairly close, and I joined because it is a very reputable club which benefits me in many ways, but the home rink of that club is an absolute dump so I never skate there, plus my coaches don't teach there. The two aren't related. I'm sure he picked SCNY in great part because he loves New York, but hey, why didn't he join The Skating Club of Harlem, then? ;) I'm just saying, he might have picked the city cause he liked it, but THE Skating Club of New York means more than that, and while he doesn't need it now, maybe he did when he was Novice. And considering that club is twice as expensive as any of the others in the area, if it brought him anything at all that another club wouldn't have brought him, more power to him. Who really cares? Skating is all about politics and affiliating yourself with the right people. You can play by the rules or ignore that they exist, but then you would only be screwing yourself over. He's not doing anything the rest of the figure skating world isn't doing, and I really don't feel that it's even slightly unethical.

[Sylvia]

Well personally, I was just talking in general although I'm sure it applied to Johnny at one point too, because he skated for Skating Club of New York even when he was at Udel. Udel has its own club which I don't believe he was ever a part of, and he switched to the Pond which is down the street, still in Delaware- Johnny's primary training rink has never been in New York. He's been skating for SCNY for a long time though as far as I can remember, and the switch from one rink to another had nothing to do with it.
Actually, Weir joined SC of NY in the 2003-04 season -- he represented Univ. of DE FSC before then. LurkingSkater's post above seems accurate to me.

[fadedstardust]

Actually, Weir joined SC of NY in the 2003-04 season -- he represented Univ. of DE FSC before then. LurkingSkater's post above seems accurate to me.

Hmmm, then I stand corrected!! :D