Skating Fridays

Humbled

Being humbled

Many of you know that the skating community is quite small. You will often run into the same skaters and coaches wherever you go. When I attended the Brian Orser and Doug Haw seminar a few weeks ago, I saw some familiar coaches.

During one of the breaks on the second day, one of the coaches came up to me. He and I had never chatted before, but we’ve run into each other many, many times at competitions. In fact, one of his students is an adult skater that has been very kind to me. This coach said (and I’m paraphrasing here), “I admire you for getting out there and doing exactly what you’re being asked to do. You look comfortable out there. Many adult skaters look like adult skaters, where they are scared and hesitant. You just go out there and execute and do not skate like a kid. Like that lutz exercise that Brian had you do… it looked like a technique you hadn’t tried before, but you just went out and did it. No hesitation.”

I didn’t quite know what to say, as this was something that I was not expecting at all. I find it amazing that I’m making an impact on this coach and that he use me as an example to help his adult student. All I really mustered to say was, “Thank you,” and that “Might as well go for it because you might succeed. What do you have to lose?”

This coach went on to invite me to come skate at his rink and to let me know the next time I was in town. I am humbled, for sure, and hope that my actions and words can continue to help others. Let’s all lift each other up and elevate one another!

 

4 Comments

  1. Luanne Meyer
    July 12, 2019 / 1:22 pm

    I’m very proud of you, Eva! You are excellent at whatever you do! So glad you’re my daughter-in-law!

    • evabakes
      Author
      July 12, 2019 / 2:08 pm

      Aw, thanks, Mom Lu!!

  2. July 12, 2019 / 9:22 pm

    What a lovely compliment! It’s especially nice to hear something not just about skating technique but also about general attitude. Sounds like you had a wonderful experience at the seminar–thank you for sharing this!

    • evabakes
      Author
      July 13, 2019 / 6:51 am

      Thank you for reading, Jo! While I didn’t learn as much as I wanted to (since my former coach was Mr. Haw’s student for many years so I learned his technique), it was still a great experience!

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