"I want my students to do better than I did"

Galit Chait began navigating the deep blue sea of coaching a couple of years ago finishing a longer-than-decade career in competitive skating that brought our country bronze at Worlds 2002 (the only medal so far at international events of this caliber), numerous medals at Grand Prix series and the title of one of Israel's 60 sporting heroes awarded by the Jerusalem Post and dedicated to the country's 60th anniversary.

A smooth transition?

-Galit, basically, when a skater finishes one's career in eligible skating, he or she has 3 options – to continue skating professionally or in shows, to start coaching, or to leave the skating world and do something else. You chose coaching, probably, the toughest option of the three. Why?

-Even when I was skating I always knew that coaching would be the future. I had always wanted to do it.
-But couldn't it have been better and perhaps easier to do shows that are so popular now. You and Sergei have always been the audience's favourites.

-Shows are fine, but I like competitions more. It also brings you so much satisfaction to take a student and bring him or her to new levels, to create some new skating qualities in them.

"You have to be tough when you have to be tough"

-All elite athletes have to deal with mind and body-blowing pressure and it is likely to make them less sensitive to the weaknesses of others. I remember one episode that just struck me. It was a couple of years ago when I accompanied you to a TV show in Israel, and I had to carry a box of envelopes for our federation, which I picked up on my way. You came up to me obviously very concerned asking if I would be able to carry it. And even when I assured you it was all right, you asked me again about it. We were hardly acquainted then. How are you able to combine that kind of sensitivity to the needs of others with the need to be strict towards your trainees?
-I think you have to be tough when you have to be tough and caring when you have to be caring. If a coach is strict all the time, then training becomes a prison.

A Hebrew saying goes off well

-In Hebrew we say: "Mi col milamdai hiskalti", which means:" I have learned from all of my teachers". You have trained under several world-class coaches. What have you added to your coaching "tool-kit" from this experience?
-I've basically benefited from working with all of them, and I can't really single out what in particular I learnt from a certain coach. Now that I've started coaching on my own, my goal is to respect the individuality of each student, and use it to their advantage.

To achieve more
-You've been coaching for a couple of years now. Could you say you have already formulated a coaching perspective of your own?
-It's still too early to say so. It's more like trial and sometimes error now. I want my students to do well at competitions, to enjoy training, and achieve more than I've achieved.

-What have been the happiest and the most difficult moments so far along your coaching track?
-I haven't been coaching that long, and so far, but it's definitely been Sasha and Roman's [Zaretsky] top-ten finish at this year's Worlds in Gothenburg. And, basically, every day brings a happy moment when your students manage to do something better than they did before. The difficult moments are when your students are tired and you have to push them to do things according to plan. It's tough because I care about them, but I have to get them to carry on.
-Not during competitions?
-Not so much. Competitions are an inevitable part of coaching, but the moments when you have to be strict and you want to let up on your trainees because you feel for them are harder to cope with.

Choreography or technique?

-What do you like more – doing the choreo of the routines or working on the technical side of them?
-I like working on both the choreography and the technical part of the skating programmes. I passed an ISU exam to qualify as a technical specialist not long ago. But I would still prefer the choreography part – it's more creative.

Marital Status

-You got married in August, and two days later you were back on the ice working with our team at test run-throughs in New York. Have you already made plans for your honeymoon, which you had to hold off?
-Yes. Francesco and I are planning to go to Aruba after the 2009 Worlds.
- Oh, such a romantic place. Enjoy it!  Also, I've noticed that Francesco is being quite involved with figure skating now. Had he been interested in it before you met, or did you introduce him to it?
-It's been basically through me that he got interested in figure skating. He also helps me a lot with the logistics of coaching and being so supportive of what I do.