All Roads Lead to Israel

Born in Odessa and nurtured by the local skating tradition that prides itself on  a whole ensemble of top-podium stars, Slava Uchitel came to Israel in early 90s, relocated to the US in a few years and is now coaching Jenna Syken, who represents Israel in junior ladies. Slava began skating at the age of 5, was trained in both freestyle and ice dance, and gained the title of Ukraine's National Champion in ice dance.

-Slava, after we have learned about your background a bit, please, tell me about the start of your coaching career.
-I started coaching in Israel in 1992.
-What ice skating styles do you coach?
-I coach skaters who do freestyle and ice dance, and they have qualified for USFSA Regional, Sectional, National, and Junior National figure skating competitions. And I coach Jenna, of course, who has been representing Israel internationally in junior ladies.
-Could you define your coaching philosophy in one sentence?
-It is a hard thing to do, but I will try: "If you believe in yourself, so will I; if you work hard, so will I; as long as you try and give it all, I will do the same.
-It emphasizes mutuality and the flow of communication between the trainee and the coach. I can also join the club and say that's something to adhere to not only in sports, but in life in general. And what is the most important character trait for a coach?
-This is even harder to pick from, so I will name a few that I feel are quite important (no hierarchy of order) – honesty, passion, accountability, patience, confidence.
-That's a whole line of traits – sounds like a steps sequence to me. And what about the traits an athlete needs?
-athletes need determination, attitude, confidence, and a love for what they do.
-Speaking about attitudes, how can you characterize Jenna's attitude to skating?
-I have known and watched Jenna her whole skating career. I have seen her grow up on the ice. In August/September 2007, when she injured her back, we all thought her skating career was over, and surgery was even being considered at one point. The best way to describe Jenna is: she has the love for skating with attitude and determination, and her confidence is coming back along with her skating form.
-What have you mostly focused on since you began coaching Jenna?
-Keeping her on track, because Jenna does not like to wait. It is very hard for an elite level athlete to have to start from scratch, as she has done, but she had no choice. For example, 6 months after her back injury she was allowed to jump double axels again, and she landed them as she had done it before – cleanly, with a nice stretch and flow out on the landing. That double axel has proved to Jenna that everything takes time and she needs to have patience. We are both working on it.
-Well, it looks like Jenna is learning your coaching philosophy, and you are successfully applying it to your tutelage of her. We are looking forward to seeing your next season's programmes.