Walking into the Shenoy Nagar Children’s park at 6.30am one cloudy morning to meet a figure skater coach, who may well be the youngest in the country, one wonders why there aren’t more skaters in the rink. “Skating is a seasonal sport,” he smiles. “And right now, it is exam season.” With five students under his wing, (or should one say wheel?) Aaron Saldanha, all of 26, has been a competitive skater for 15 years — to international championships and back. He recently led his students to gold at a State level competition held in Chennai. He reveals, “One of the areas I focus on, that most coaches leave out, is the mental aspect.” This, he elaborates varies from a boost of self-confidence to nipping even the slightest conflict in the bud. “Pair skaters especially tend to fight a lot, but at the end of the day, this contest (pair) spells the difference between some crucial score points or none.”Sessions begin at 5.30am and go on till it is time to get to school. While eighth standard student, Pranamya Rao glides forward with ease, performing an Inverted Camel (back arched all the way back while spinning) with her partner, her mother proudly lists out her schedule. “Her school has given us permission to come by 9 am, so she can practice.” She adds, “And apart from her studies, she also goes for bharatnatyam and jazz dance classes on the weekends. So, it keeps us quite busy!” When asked if these school-goers require a special diet, their coach responds without hesitation, “Not a strict one. The number of activities these kids fit into their lives is crazy. Sometimes, I tell them to just eat!”However, he brings up an important point. “More than weight at this age, it’s height that could come in the way.” He gestures over to his pair skaters — Pranamya and Aswin, “Height plays a major role when it comes to pulling off the lifts and turns to impress the judges.”The grooming sessions include everything from specialised choreography for each routine to watching video recorded films of themselves, every time one doesn’t a get a move quite right. Six-foot tall Jagadeeshwar admits that for him, the most difficult of all is something called ‘The Broken Ankle’. Thankfully, it doesn’t look as painful as it sounds, “The biggest problem with Indian skaters is not their lack of discipline, but their lack of posture,” Aaron admits. “Abroad, students take ballet lessons sometimes even before they can put on their skates.” So dance classes off the rink are often a skater’s best bet for fluid freestyle on wheels.For the 26-year-old, the sport of ‘being coach’ is just beginning and he insists that student-wise, ‘small is always better’. “I don't want to take more than eight students in a batch,” he says. “Focussed attention always helps skaters grow much faster.” Especially with nationals round the corner in January, next year.
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