Laura Steele was one of my ice skating coaches and she was also my last coach before I "retired" from skating. She was tough on me but not in a bad way. She expected 110% everyday. One of my favorite memories of Laura was when she was pregnant with her first daughter walking around the rink coaching. She was a very petite woman and it looked like she was going to topple over because of her belly. She wasn't my coach at the time, but I remember thinking what dedication it was to her students to still be coaching while so pregnant.
Laura became my coach years later and married a fellow skater, Jason Corley. Jason took me through my final pairs tests before I decided not to continue skating and Laura coached us. I enjoyed my time with Laura as my coach, I still remember when she sent me to Atlanta to work with the coach she had trained under. I came back understanding more about Laura as a coach and skater as well as knowing where she got her toughness from. When I made the decision not to skate anymore, telling her was by far the hardest thing I had to do, I just remember crying when I was trying to tell her. She Laura and Jason are still married and are coaching together at the Philadelphia Skating Club & Humane Society. I definitely owe some of my competitive nature to Laura, thats for sure!
No comments:
Post a Comment