Last Saturday we had my 50th birthday party at our local squash club which is actually a great venue to hold such an event. It was only 2 months too late due to Jacinda putting Auckland in that Level 3 lockdown back in Feb. The night was perfect – the weather was awesome, the food was great and I was surrounded by my friends. As a surprise I did a dance routine for my friends as a way of saying thank you to them for being the most thoughtful, warm hearted and loving friends any girl could wish for.
The thing is, it was supposed to have been a skating routine as you probably know I used to be a figure skating instructor. Emphasis on the ‘used to be’. It was not my choice to stop coaching. It was because of one very self- entitled woman whose father happens to own both of the ice rinks in Auckland. She is the Head of the Kiwiskate program and in charge of hiring and firing any staff who work there – including coaches. —- 13 yrs ago when the rink introduced contracts onto the coaches we all disputed them in our own ways and the father of one of my students was a lawyer and on some the coaches’ behalf he wrote to the Commerce Commission outlining what these autocratic contracts were and how they were being imposed onto the coaches. Anyway, I didn’t sign the contract at the time and quit so my 5yr old daughter would not have to endure 9 hr days Mon-Frid as all our private coaching time was after school.
I did not know that would be the end of my coaching career for the next 14 yrs. This woman didn’t tell me that she would never let me back into the rink to coach. Since then I have tried 4 times to approach her – very amicably may I add – and she still hasn’t had the decency to explain herself. Jump to current day. Not only with the obvious financial implications that it has affected us a family but also the loss of the career path I had chosen for myself and the mental and emotional strain we, as a family, went through because of this woman’s decision, I felt I had totally lost my identity. I was a darn good coach. — Anyway, let the dance speak for itself. This is a friends video of me doing it. Another version will be up on my FB page from tomorrow.
