The world's top ice dancing teams will remain training in Canton, Michigan, according to the Detroit Free Press. One of their coaches, Igor Shpilband, was fired by the Arctic Edge Arena and kicked out of the skating club the other day. Marina Zueva is the other coach and she is staying on at the club.
US Figure Skating has confirmed that American teams Meryl Davis and Charlie White and Maia and Alex Shibutani will continue training in the club. And according to Zueva, Olympic champions from Canada Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir will stay on as well.
Charlie White's mother has been responding to public comments that accuse the skaters of being "spoiled brats." From the Free Press article:
On Sunday night, Jacqui White, Charlie’s mother, posted a comment on the Free Press Facebook page that appeared to confirm the tension between the coaches at the rink.
In response to a comment from a reader who had called the Canton dance teams “spoiled brats” in a post, Jacqui White wrote: “...I’m afraid you don’t know what you are talking about. This wasn’t initiated by the skaters, they are obviously only trying to hang on by the skin of their teeth to continue training while the coaches battle to the death and when convenient, use them as pawns in the fight. This is an old story of ‘who has control,’ where egos come into play and team cooperation erodes. The skaters in this scenario are not brats, but victims caught in the crossfire.”
In an e-mail to the Free Press on today afternoon seeking comment on Shpilband’s dismissal, Mike Slipchuk, Skate Canada’s director of high performance, said he hadn’t yet discussed the situation with Virtue and Moir.
Veeery interesting.