by NICK MCCARVEL When the phone rang at the Extreme
Ice Center one day in 2006 with the rink still under construction, there was no expecta- tion for a former Olympic figure skater to be on the other end of the line. “Hi, this is Paul Wylie,” the voice said.
“I’m wondering if I can come see your rink at some point.” When a colleague told Danielle Loga-
no, now the figure skating director at Ex- treme, about the call, she had no idea Wylie had recently moved to the state. But not only was Wylie a new North Carolina resi- dent, he also had interest in working at the rink Logano’s family owns in the historic town of Indian Trail. “I said, ‘Well, OK then!’” Logano re-
membered. “I mean, what are the chances of that?” Nearly 10 years later, the 1992 Olym-
pic silver medalist has become a mainstay at the rink where Logano has kept him on as a coach and advisor. Wylie is serving
Olympic silver medalist Paul Wylie will once again lace ‘em up as the honorary chair in Greensboro.
again as honorary chairman for the 2015 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Champion- ships, the same role he took on in 2011. “My role in skating is to be an ambas- sador and do whatever I can to broaden the scope of the sport,” Wylie explained. “The South is a hugely sports-oriented place and I believe skating is growing here.” “Nationals is near and dear to my
heart,” added Wylie, who celebrated his 50th birthday last fall. “I think it’s such a great showcase for skating. You get to go for a week and see the state of American skating in one sitting. It’s usually very en- couraging to go and see the skaters chal- lenged by the competition and rise to the occasion. It’s what I love about skating.” The same affinity has slowly spread
across this basketball- and race car-mad part of the country, said Hill Carrow, the man who headed up the local organizing committee responsible for bringing the U.S. Championships back to North Carolina. “Every club in this state reported that
their enrollment in learn-to-skate pro- grams went up dramatically, often over 100 percent,” after nationals in 2011, Carrow ex- plained. “When we were awarded the 2011 U.S. Championships, the figure skating blogosphere kind of went ‘Huh?!’ But when we were announced this time around for 2015, figure skating social media was virtu- ally unanimous in its acclaim.” And there was no hesitation from Wy-
lie in regard to his role as honorary chair- man. He’s shaken plenty of hands, appeared at plenty of events and was even under the direction of Logano for the opening cere- mony program, which she choreographed. “To have Paul as part of our skating
community, well, it’s huge,” remarked Lo- gano, whose parents opened Extreme in 2006. “It’s great that I can call him and ask him for advice and he always puts his two cents in. He’s a great guy and he has a great family. We couldn’t be any luckier. Everyone looks up to him.” Including Carrow, who didn’t hesitate
in asking Wylie to take on the role for a sec- ond time in just five years. “Keep in mind that Paul is a volunteer.
He still works fulltime as a coach, broadcast commentator, consultant and spokesper- son to support his family,” reasoned Carrow. “So as you would expect, he has to fit his support of our host committee efforts into his spare time, which he generously does, but by the nature of it, there are limits. He gives it 110 percent.”
24 JANUARY 2015
Wylie signs an autograph and takes a photo with an ice sweeper at the 2011 U.S. Championships.
Wylie, Carrow and Logano — as well
as a whole community of skating enthusi- asts — want to see the sport continue to make strides in the area. “This year we had six Carolina skaters
compete at sectionals, which is the highest we have had in recent memory,” Carrow said. “As a result of the 2011 U.S. Cham- pionships, all the skating clubs in North and South Carolina have banded together and have arranged their home rink events into a Carolinas Season Schedule that has attracted skaters from across the mid-At- lantic region, which has, in turn, raised the competitiveness of our local skaters.” At Logano’s Extreme Ice Center, there
are two full-size ice surfaces, a puddle rink, a full-membership gym, a multipurpose room and more than a dozen coaches.
PHOTO BY MICKEY BROWN
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68