Skating on thin ice
PS Magazine, March/April 2009 It is not a question of whether our sport is skating on thin ice or not… the question is will there be anyone around to save us when we fall through? The U.S. Figure Skating Strategic Planning committee, of which I am a member, has been hard at work, focusing on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing U.S. Figure Skating and the industry in general. My sources also tell me that ISI has been meeting as well. But as we all work to discover an achievable solution to the current issues at hand, they are quite honestly, issues that no one has been able to identify with any certainty. We know the symptoms, but we have not yet discovered the cause or cure. It reminds me of a recent e-mail going around. “Due to the current economic issues - high oil prices, high cost of electricity, plunging stock prices, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off. We regret the inconvenience.” My opinion is that there are three distinct issues tha...