….Go Figure!

I am sure you are all familiar with the Hockey Dad, you know the guy that spends his winters in a small town arena, living off coffee and that dream….some day my kid is going to play in the NHL. Well there are many of those dads out there across Canada, but there are also another bunch of gents know as Figure Skating Dads. Much like their counterparts, they spend plenty of evenings and weekends in the small town arena.

The Figure Skating dad however, may not have his sights set on the NHL, or even the olympics, but in arenas across Canada there thousands of boys and girls that are privelidged enough to have made the sacrifices it takes to support these sporting activities.

As for being a Figure Skating dad, I have to admit I was a bit out of my league at the start; my wife has always been an avid Figure Skater and to this day still skates mainly for leisure and exercise but at a competitive level too; my three daughters have also taken to the sport and love it. But as a guy, what do I know about figure skating? Well when you have a wife and three daughters that have all embraced the sport you quickly learn what it’s all about. Yes there a lots of frilly outfits, make-up and hair glitter….(well that last one might not be new to me), there is an entire language to the sport that I was totally unfamiliar with.

Over the years I have learnt about edges, toe picks, spirals, spins and some technique named after the elusive and mysterious flying camel, there are flips, toes and the lutz that seem to come in a variety of denominations, from single to double and even the occasional triple or quad. But the technique that I haven’t figure out yet is definitely the Salchow jump, pronounced SowCow, confused with a notorious swine-bovine creature, but is obviously named after Ulrich Salchow the Swedish born Olympian.

So looking past my lack of knowledge on the sport, I find myself blessed that my wife and three daughters all share a common passion, they all skate in the same arena in the same town, and for the most part on the same night of the week. Yes we partake in the odd competition or invitational, which for the girls isn’t just about skating, it’s a weekend away….perfect I say, as long as they are having fun, meeting new friends and staying active, this sport has plenty to offer.

So when I see one of my daughters complete a routine they have been working hard on, or they earn a badge or ribbon it makes me proud to know that they are participating in a past-time that they enjoy while gaining important life skills.

As for me, I will continue to brush up on my knowledge of the sport and maybe someday I will be able to tell the difference between an Axel a Flip and a Loop, even though it all sounds like an Evel Knievel routine.

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