Team USA

[Moria Polonius]

5 hours ago, Xen said:

There are coaches nearby in Hackensack, NJ. He or the coach would still have to travel, but Hackensack does have Victor Petrenko, Morozov, and uncle Bychenko. East coast US does have decent coaches, though most of the recent champs have come out from west coast.

 

So perhaps he'd still have Rafael occassionally, during summer and breaks, maybe as an overseejng coach, and cooperate with some others closer by? Huh. 

 

If Nathan was accepted into Yale, he probably would have been accepted into other prestigous schools in the west coast as well. I wonder why he didn't opt for that. Maybe Yale did agree on some concessions in order to have an Olympian on the student list?

[Xen]

Just now, Moria Polonius said:

 

So perhaps he'd still have Rafael occassionally, during summer and breaks, maybe as an overseejng coach, and cooperate with some others closer by? Huh. 

 

If Nathan was accepted into Yale, he probably would have been accepted into other prestigous schools in the west coast as well. I wonder why he didn't opt for that. Maybe Yale did agree on some concessions in order to have an Olympian on the student list?

Possibly, and also heard that they have a nice rink, one of the best in the US, on campus. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingalls_Rink

 

[MajaHled]

1 hour ago, Xen said:

Possibly, and also heard that they have a nice rink, one of the best in the US, on campus. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingalls_Rink

 

Though per someone on GS, it's not open all year round and the schedule is quite packed due to ice hockey so I'm not sure it's the ideal rink for a skater of Nathan's caliber 

[Neenah]

 

[Katt]

The IN article didn't answer any questions. Nothing is in discussion yet, between Nathan and Yale/Raf/US fed. The thing with Nathan and his team is they often lack of long term plan. They didn't manage the OG plan right, now with the college schedule, its gonna be 10x harder. He's doing 7-8 quads in 2 programs, he need full time training to keep his form, let alone focus/improve other areas of his skating. I'm curious how he manage it, but at the same time, I'm not too optimistic.  

[Neenah]

1 hour ago, Katt said:

The IN article didn't answer any questions. Nothing is in discussion yet, between Nathan and Yale/Raf/US fed. The thing with Nathan and his team is they often lack of long term plan. They didn't manage the OG plan right, now with the college schedule, its gonna be 10x harder. He's doing 7-8 quads in 2 programs, he need full time training to keep his form, let alone focus/improve other areas of his skating. I'm curious how he manage it, but at the same time, I'm not too optimistic.  

I agree, he seems to be very optimistic about arranging things as he wants them to be, which may not be realistic. There are so many things that they will need to work out and I am not sure how he will manage it without burning out or hurting himself. I guess this year is the perfect time to try it and test his limits, but it would be prudent to have other plans in place in case this did not work  

 

I laughed at the "happy scheduling coincidences between the 2018-19 Yale academic calendar and the competitive schedule next season" because that is only few days commitment that would not really hurt his schedule. Training to stay in form and keep his quads is another issue entirely that would have huge effect on his studies.

[Katt]

4 hours ago, Neenah said:

I agree, he seems to be very optimistic about arranging things as he wants them to be, which may not be realistic. There are so many things that they will need to work out and I am not sure how he will manage it without burning out or hurting himself. I guess this year is the perfect time to try it and test his limits, but it would be prudent to have other plans in place in case this did not work  

 

I laughed at the "happy scheduling coincidences between the 2018-19 Yale academic calendar and the competitive schedule next season" because that is only few days commitment that would not really hurt his schedule. Training to stay in form and keep his quads is another issue entirely that would have huge effect on his studies.

Well, he's very young and ambitious so it make sense that he think he can do it all. You never know how hard to balance both until it get you. When I found out he would go to Yale, I thought he already had all detail plans with his coach/us fed but it turn out all of them are confuse and don't know what to do as well. And don't forget that plans are just... plans, unexpected things always happen (just ask Yuzuru ). 

I laughed at that scheduling (especially the GPF one, as if the pre final is not enough to stress out )  Its not like he could appear 5 mins before the SP/LP and skate and win. He need to be in the comp for the whole week, for practice, register, draw.... And practicing without main coach before any comp is also a big no.

 

(Seem like they delete that part about Nathan's mom )

[Neenah]

11 minutes ago, Katt said:

Well, he's very young and ambitious so it make sense that he think he can do it all. You never know how hard to balance both until it get you. When I found out he would go to Yale, I thought he already had all detail plans with his coach/us fed but it turn out all of them are confuse and don't know what to do as well. And don't forget that plans are just... plans, unexpected things always happen (just ask Yuzuru ). 

I laughed at that scheduling (especially the GPF one, as if the pre final is not enough to stress out )  Its not like he could appear 5 mins before the SP/LP and skate and win. He need to be in the comp for the whole week, for practice, register, draw.... And practicing without main coach before any comp is also a big no.

 

(Seem like they delete that part about Nathan's mom )

I am a lecturer and have taught and did research with undergraduate students for the past seven years. I have met many young students who think they can do anything and overload themselves only to burn out. It is quite sad since it is the most promising and ambitious ones who are usually the victims of this. For Nathan, I think it is doable but he is going to need a lot of help. He will need the University to give him special consideration and scheduling. His coach and team need to figure out how to fit skating into his new life without over burdening him, and most importantly he will need the support of his family to be able to mentally cope with the load.

 

Nathan is clearly smart but may be a bit over confident which is understandable considering his age and what he achieved so far. It is essential for the more experienced adults in his life to help him manage expectations of himself. The last thing he needs is cheer leaders (like his coach was during the season) pushing him to commit to things beyond his abilities.

 

I do wish him the best of luck, he is truly is an exceptional young man and he deserves the best

[Katt]

1 hour ago, Neenah said:

I am a lecturer and have taught and did research with undergraduate students for the past seven years. I have met many young students who think they can do anything and overload themselves only to burn out. It is quite sad since it is the most promising and ambitious ones who are usually the victims of this. For Nathan, I think it is doable but he is going to need a lot of help. He will need the University to give him special consideration and scheduling. His coach and team need to figure out how to fit skating into his new life without over burdening him, and most importantly he will need the support of his family to be able to mentally cope with the load.

 

Nathan is clearly smart but may be a bit over confident which is understandable considering his age and what he achieved so far. It is essential for the more experienced adults in his life to help him manage expectations of himself. The last thing he needs is cheer leaders (like his coach was during the season) pushing him to commit to things beyond his abilities.

 

I do wish him the best of luck, he is truly is an exceptional young man and he deserves the best

Yeah, I work in university I've seen alot students think they could take up as many course as they can in one sem and graduate real fast. Sadly most of them burn out after the first year. I agree that Nathan will need a lot of help from various parties (Yale, US fed, Raf....) What I'm worried is his schedule will be tight and if one unexpected thing happen, thing will be a mess. How much freedom Yale is gonna give to him ? Is Us fed willing to give him all the support and protect his #1 US man's status in the next 4 year ? Can a long distance coaching situation work out ? And from what I've seen, his team's bit inexperience. IMO Its impossible for Nathan to reach his full potential in skating and education had he does both at the same time. 

[beki]

In my opinion, combining Yale and elite skating isn’t doable. But I doubt Nathan is blind to the problem. He’s chosen school, and this announcement amounts to semi-retirement. I’m not surprised at all that his heart lies more with his off-ice future, because that was the vibe I got all along. His level of talent and his level of skating obsession/dedication don’t match up.

 

When Yuzu said he wanted the OGM more than anyone, he wasn’t boasting, just stating a fact. Crazy people like Yuzu and Aljona are more intense. Naturally, they’re a tiny minority, and it’s also unrealistic to expect other people to be like them. It is valuable to live a balanced life, even though as a fan I most admire the singleminded ones.

[yuzupon]

That was an interesting read. They quoted some retired skaters that went to Ivy League as well. But, I am with the people who are rather pessimistic about this.

Chen specifically mentioned Paul Wylie, who wisely also cautioned him that back then, it was a different era for figure skating. Beside, no offense to Wylie, but his results weren't top either.

 

For a more contemporary example, we could perhaps take a look at the Finnish Doctor, Valtter Virtanen. Bearing in mind that Finland has among the best education system, which, at the very least, does not kill students (financially, mentally, energy-wise, you name it).

 

I wish Chen the best. He truly wants to pursue an academic career, good for him. I am not going to hold my breath for a good figure skating career onwards, tho.

[Neenah]

1 hour ago, beki said:

In my opinion, combining Yale and elite skating isn’t doable. But I doubt Nathan is blind to the problem. He’s chosen school, and this announcement amounts to semi-retirement. I’m not surprised at all that his heart lies more with his off-ice future, because that was the vibe I got all along. His level of talent and his level of skating obsession/dedication don’t match up.

 

When Yuzu said he wanted the OGM more than anyone, he wasn’t boasting, just stating a fact. Crazy people like Yuzu and Aljona are more intense. Naturally, they’re a tiny minority, and it’s also unrealistic to expect other people to be like them. It is valuable to live a balanced life, even though as a fan I most admire the singleminded ones.

I wonder about that.. The thing is, it is very possible that he thinks it is doable. Nathan is an overachiever, he managed to be a top skater so quickly and won many medals while also being a top student. So it is very possible that he thinks he can continue doing the same with college because he lacks the experience to look ahead and plan. As I said before, I have seen this often with smart students who are used to success. They come to University expecting the same results as school and are usually unprepared to how different the whole experience is. Those students would usually burn themselves out because they take on too much thinking that they are capable of handling it since they have never failed before. It is a very sad thing when it happens and while most of them recover, some end up really badly.  

I still believe that he can do it but not on his own. He really needs the support of everyone around him to manage things or it may have a very adverse effects on his health and mental state (which is really more important than his studies or skating career). This is a very serious issue that I hope his family at least is considering and are prepared for.

 

I really don't want this to sound like I don't think he is strong or I don't believe in his abilities and commitment (been accused of that by some of his fans) but I have seen very painful things happen to students in somewhat similar situation (one if them is very close to me) so I can't help but worry. I really hope he makes the correct choices for his own good

[yuzuangel]

I think it can be done but I'm super optimistic. But Nathan is a world champion now, which is far more than what any other American skater has done in years and years, so even if he were to up and retire or to take it easy, he'd still have made a huge impact on the sport already.

 

Yale is obviously an elite school, and most people will have gone in having studied most of their lives and excelled at it. Some may even have been taking actual college classes already (and not "fake" college classes like APs). It's not hard to coast by if one decides to pursue a lighter major, but Nathan is premed, so most of his classes (and possibly his major) will be in STEM. To keep up as STEM major, he'll have to put in more hours for sure than he probably did in high school. Not to mention, Yale is a very prestige-oriented school, and Nathan is entering as a semi-celebrity. He'll be getting lots of attentions, bids from all the fraternities and secret societies, etc. As an 18-year-old, it's hard not to get enticed by all of that. 

 

Add in long distance coaching, and it's gonna be difficult. It's possible he'll try it for one year and decide to defer; most colleges will let you defer almost indefinitely after all. But if he decides to do both, I'm not very optimistic about him keeping his level of being Olympic and World champion contender. Not that he'd need to, to stay in the top 3 and make the US team every year, though.

[ralucutzagy]

 

[yuzupon]

Just now, ralucutzagy said:

 

Wait, no Nagasu?