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The Coaching Years On November 26, 1946 the Galbraiths
first child was born in San Francisco. Jeannie Irene Galbraith, first of
five. Two weeks later his wife Jeanne agreed to his traveling to Ottawa, Canada
at the request of the Minto Club who was without an instructor. There he
met and became coach and trainer to a young skater named Barbara Ann
Scott. Several things were needed when he arrived on the scene and he
immediately set about correcting them for Barbara Ann." In school figu As far as her free skating was concerned there were things he contributed from show business to aid in this particular project. Barbara Ann needed changes in music not only just the music itself but also in the interpretation of music. In show business they used music in its entirety. Every beat, every measure and the theme would be woven into the skating. They did this because they recognized the effect this had on the audience. An audience is what judges are too! We tried to strike up the meaning and clarity of the work and present a picture that was proven to be successful in show business . We hunted to find music that was more suitable for a beautiful young woman and brought to the skating scene a new source of programming and performance. Sheldon skated her program with her in the parts where it would be useful to stretch her and give her more power and speed. "Skating solo one uses what they have as a feeling and development, which takes over time". Making her skate a pair with him side by side, especially in the footwork areas Sheldon comments "When you skate alone, there is no guide as to what is fast, what is slow and what are the controls that one has within the dimensions of their power range. "Skating in a pair that remains side by side in synchronization gives you some experience on finding power in various places in a skating stroke". As a result it allowed Sheldon to visualize where new changes could be introduced into Barbara Ann's skating performance. Her costuming was also redesigned to compliment her higher speed of rotation and jumping. In order for Barbara Ann to
continue her training and having attended a summer skating school the year
before in Schumacher, Ontario she asked that Sheldon be added to the
staff. He was given a temporary job teaching as her coach. Some of the coaches
working there also gave Sheldon students to work with. His first summer in
Schumacher, Sheldon earned $484. The Macintyre Community Building management,
being sympathetic with his situation assisted by offering to pay him $500 to
skate 3 exhibitions of which he was only able to perform two as test days
interfered with the third. The fee was paid in full and added to
Jirina Nekolova from Checkoslovakia came over with Barbara Ann after the 1947 championships to train for the summer at Schumacher. Spins were the major contribution to the excitement of the ladies program and as a result full skirts that rippled up and down and had a big rolling flair like waves on the ocean where the skating fashion of the time. As ladies skating progressed with more jumping the skirts detracted from the new development because they hampered jumping getting the rotations in the air easily. Jirina had excellent control in figures and was able to perform under pressure. She needed choreography, music and costuming that would be beneficial to executing things in the program. Sheldon also worked on stretching her out and giving her new concepts with modern skating skills and techniques. Barbara Ann having her most successful season ever, traveled to Europe to defend her 1947 European and World titles and to win the 1948 Olympic gold medal, then came home to regain her title for the 1948 Canadians in Calgary, Alberta. When they were in Calgary she received an award from the Sarsi Indians and they made Sheldon a chief. It was quite a season of awards for the gifted skater from Ottawa. While away attending the 1948 Olympics with Barbara Ann, Jeanne Galbraith gave birth to their second child, Brian John Galbraith, February 17, 1948 in St. Louis, Mo. When Barbara Ann retired from amateur skating and turned professional in June of 1948 and his work with Barbara Ann done, Sheldon and his growing family moved to Seattle, Washington to coach at the Civic Ice Arena. While in Seattle Sheldon worked with Korol and Peter Kennedy, a pair team training them for the upcoming World championships. They were very strong skaters for the period with lots of ability and talent with an excellent program put together by Gene Turner. Sheldon worked on improving their discipline but was unhappy that the longest practice session they had was twenty- two minutes due to school studies and other demands on them and it was not suitable for world-class training. Having footage of previous
championships was beneficial by allowing them to view what standard they needed
to achieve to compete with the leaders in the pair events. Seeing films of
their program and replaying parts let them see where improvement was needed and
sped up the training process. Getting the symmetry in the program and both
performing in a synchronized manner was one of the benefits of Sheldon's pair
experience in show skating. In synchronized pairs unison is one of the chief
measuring values and the standard for pair skating at the World championship.
This particular year Sheldon was not able to afford and attend world
championships with Carol and Peter who ended up with a second place finish.
They following season they moved to Colorado Springs and won the World Pair
Championship while training under the famous Austrian coach
Eddie Scholdan. In 1949 Sheldon was invited to skate the Rotary show in Toronto produced by Stan Reid. Stan assembled different skating clubs who already had carnivals to perform their best group numbers and specialties in a benefit show for the Rotary Club. Sheldon performed a demonstration of school figures and jumps and then a routine to music. Barbara Ann Scott performed two numbers and Dick Button also gave performances in that show. While spending late spring in St. Louis before heading back to Schumacher for the summer of 1949 Sheldon discovered a lady who worked for a record firm and was keen on figure skating and ballet. She saved titles and new music albums for him to listen to in his off-season period. That would entail five hours a day for two weeks at a time. He would then purchase these albums and bring them to his work in Canada. When in Schumacher that summer, Sheldon was contacted by
the That first season at the Toronto Skating Club Sheldon started training a pair program for Donald Gilchrist and Marlene Smith. When he was performing with Ice Follies in Toronto, Donald Gilchrist liked some footwork Sheldon did with his brother and invited them to the Toronto Skating Club (now known as the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club) and later met Don in Montreal for a refresher on the footwork. Don was the one who recommended Sheldon to the Minto Club and TCSCC. Throughout the years Donald was a great friend of figure skating and he and Sheldon remain friends today. Sheldon acknowledges the wonderful support of the TCSCC and its memebers aiding him throughout his 39 years at the club as well as the skating association. He trained them in the
musical presentation of the program under the watchful and helpful assistance
of Once settled in Toronto the next three Galbraith children came along. Katherine Cameron Galbraith born November 29th, 1950,Barbara Jane Galbraith December, 20th, 1952 and Mary Louise Galbraith November, 7th, 1955. |
res she had no peers. She was the top".
his income
substantially.
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