rinkside
Students, friends throw party for ‘Luddy’ Skating students, colleagues and friends of Ron Luding-
ton gathered at the Newark Country Club in Newark, Del., on Sept. 8 to celebrate the coaching great’s 80th birthday. The Pond Figure Skating Club sponsored the festivities
that included several guests who were among Ludington’s students in the 1960s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and 2000s; there was also a Skype contact with longtime friend Kerry Leitch and an impromptu group dance by Pond FSC skaters. The evening also featured a video of Ron and Nancy
Luddington’s bronze medal-winning performance from the 1960 Olympics. Ice dance great Judy Schwomeyer Sladky led an enter-
taining mini-roast of the guest of honor. Others in attendance included Suzy Semanick-Schur-
Gill, Hamilton, Predators back new skating opportunities in Nashville Legendary coach Ron Ludington celebrates
his birthday with family and friends, including Judy Sladky and Natalia Linichuk.
Life is often about opportunities. That’s precisely why country music singer
Vince Gill believes it’s important to give kids choices. “If you give a kid the opportunity to make
a good choice, they won’t disappoint you,” said Gill, who’s sold more than 24 million albums, won 20 Grammy Awards and 18 CMA Awards in a career that began in the 1970s. “I found that to be true forever.” It was 31 years ago that Gill had an oppor-
tunity of his own to pursue a solo career when he moved to Nashville, Tenn. In 2007, that op- portunity culminated with his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. That’s precisely why, according to a recent story in
The Tennessean, “ Gill has agreed to pay for scholarships, so needy children and adults can skate and play hockey at the new Ford Ice Center” located southeast of downtown Nashville. Financial details are still being worked out, but Nashville Preda-
tors CEO Jeff Cogan, who approached Gill, said the NHL club will con- tribute $50,000 to scholarships for people for whom “money would have been an obstacle to playing.” “When they asked me about this,” said Gill, at a recent press con-
ference, “I said, ‘Man, this is a no-brainer. I would love to help out any way that I can.’”
Kova and Ross make history
Kassy Kova and Justin Ross reunit- ed last summer to become the fi rst Afri- can-American ice dance team to pass thei r senior free dance test. The team representing San Diego had
skated together for six years at the juvenile through junior levels, but parted ways in 2010 to pursue college and professional skat- ing careers. With a one-month break in their sched-
ules over the summer, they decided to join forces once again and try to pass their se- nior dance test. With the help of choreographer Jon
46 NOVEMBER 2014 Olympic champion Scott Hamilton is also involved locally with
his academy. Hamilton, who lives in nearby Franklin, described the Ford Ice Center as an “extraordinary opportunity.” Hamilton said his involvement with the Scott Hamilton
Academy is about bringing joy, fun, happiness and means to “teach (students) how to skate.” For more information, log onto
www.fordicecenter.com. — Keith Cartwright
Nichols and a demanding training schedule, they were able to accomplish their goal on Aug. 11. “It was uncanny how natural it felt,”
Ross said after their fi rst few days back training together. “Many of the elements and footwork sequences just came back to us, like we had performed them yesterday.” Kova has returned for her second year
performing as Princess Tiana with Disney on Ice and Ross, who also had a stint with Dis- ney on Ice, resumed his dance and choreog- raphy college classes. They have left the door open for a re-
turn to competitive skating. — Suzan Cioffi
man, Pam and Scott Gregory, Natalia Linichuk, Diane Agle, Uschi Kessler, Igor Yaroshenko, Irina Romanova, Tiff any Scott, Natalia Gudin, Chris Pottenger, Tommy Kaine, Natalie Seybold-Catron and Jeff Czarnecki.
PHOTO BY JULIE MARKS
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