2022–23 Canadian Ice Dance: News and Updates

[Jeanine]

I think this is a great way to grow the sport in Ireland. It gives the officials from Ireland opportunities as well. I know my daughters friends competed for Ireland and it was a great experience for them.

I think we actually talked about this in Milan; I was saying I was amazed that someone (probably an American!) hadn't looked for Irish ancestry to represent us... I'm hoping that this goes well for them!

 

[Wyliefan]

Piper Gilles: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cr9CEdvA4NX/

A little bit of a personal update

The last 6 months have been a bit of a roller coaster! I’ll be sharing a bit more of my story tomorrow on World Ovarian Cancer day. I’m so incredibly thankful for all the people who supported me throughout all of this. I’ve always tried to be as authentic & real as possible on social media, but this was something I felt I needed to share when the timing was right. Life is full of ups and downs, all we can do is keep pushing forward
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#worldovariancancerday #ovariancancerawareness #thankful #feelinggrateful #ovariancancer

Oh, so that's what Carol Lane was hinting at in that one interview. My gosh, poor Piper. So thankful she's come through it strong.

 

[euterpe]

My son-in-law has Irish citizenship through his grandfather, and my grandchildren have Irish citizenship, as well.

 

[4rkidz]

Oh, so that's what Carol Lane was hinting at in that one interview. My gosh, poor Piper. So thankful she's come through it strong.

How frightening for her with her mom passing from cancer. Ovarian cancer has taken a few of my friends, Piper seems awfully young to deal with that.

 

[Barbara Manatee]

How awful for Piper. Good luck to her.

So thankful she's come through it strong.

She hasn't come through it, she's only started. But I hope she's gone through the worst of it.

 

[kwanfan1818]

I'm guessing that @allezfred is delighted at this.

They don't need to earn TES mins for either Euros or Worlds as they already have them - recall Lauriault/Le Gac didn't need to re-earn them after they sat out their year when switching from France to Canada, same for FB/Soerensen.

A CS Could help them to get WS points, though, before Euros. Not to mention getting their feet wet.

Plus if they go to Europe early, there will likely be some internationals in Europe before Euros.

 

[Sylvia]

Former Canadian Press journalist Lori Ewing shared Piper's video in her tweet:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1655304753977651200

ETA link to the thread with the Globe & Mail article:

Piper Gilles opens up about her frightening experience with ovarian cancer

Piper's own video today: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cr9CEdvA4NX/ The last 6 months have been a bit of a roller coaster! I’ll be sharing a bit more of my story tomorrow on World Ovarian Cancer day. I’m so incredibly thankful for all the people who supported me throughout all of this. I’ve...

www.fsuniverse.net

 

[Dobre]

He survived Muramoto/Takahashi. He'll be fine.

Soucisse & Firus could easily be a problem in the long run for Komatsubara & Koleto as well. (We'll have to take a good theoretical look in the Dance Hall this off-season at the teams/countries trying to make that Olympic top 24).

----

Best wishes for Piper. I have a friend that had doctors find cancer when they were performing her appendectomy, which was ultimately a blessing as it meant the cancer was found early. I had wondered a little after Piper's comment about a more serious health issue if something similar might have happened with her; but it sounds like in this case, the cancer was detected first. What a tough thing to deal with emotionally & still skate out the season.

 

[exNyer]

Wish her all the best health. Screening BRCA gene testing for her female relatives should be done. According to the article, it took approximately four weeks(!) to receive biopsy results.

 

[morqet]

I think this is a great way to grow the sport in Ireland. It gives the officials from Ireland opportunities as well. I know my daughters friends competed for Ireland and it was a great experience for them.

Unless S/F are secretly also planning to build a permanent rink in the ROI, I'm struggling to see how this benefits Irish skating... Staying in Canada with their Canadian coaches and turning up once a year for Nationals in Dundee isn't going to do anything. Great opportunity for them to get consistent championship assignments, but lets not pretend it's anything more than that.

 

[alexikeguchi]

Wish her all the best health. Screening BRCA gene testing for her female relatives should be done. According to the article, it took approximately four weeks(!) to receive biopsy results.

I would guess they were tested in relation to her mother's diagnosis, and that's why they were able to catch Piper's cancer at stage I. Most ovarian cancer patients presenting with symptoms are stage III. Her prognosis is therefore excellent, but what a frightening experience for her to go through. Huge respect to her for even making it to Worlds, let alone winning a medal. I wish her, her family, and her team all the best.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Great opportunity for them to get consistent championship assignments, but lets not pretend it's anything more than that.

They would hardly be the first to switch countries in order to get opportunities to compete in championships, and this is likely their only chance to make it to the Olympics. So good for them: it's not like they're going to bump out an up-and-coming Irish team, although I do love the brother and sister who get to train about 10 minutes/week and competed in JGP.

The only disadvantage I can see would be giving up Canadian funding. I'm not sure how deep the funding goes based on Canadian Nationals results, but they placed 4th at Canadian Nationals without Gilles/Poirier there and Bashynska/Beaumont skating in juniors, which won't be the case next season. If G/P can and want to be back next season, they very well could be bumped from the Top 5.

 

[Dobre]

What will/would the citizenship process be like for Soucisse? (I'm assuming via the comments above that they qualify to compete for Ireland via Firus's ancestry only).

 

[Trillian]

What will/would the citizenship process be like for Soucisse? (I'm assuming via the comments above that they qualify to compete for Ireland via Firus's ancestry only).

From a quick skim through Wikipedia, it looks like there’s a five-year residency requirement (reduced to three by marriage to a citizen) for people who can’t claim citizenship by descent. Apparently the president can also grant honorary citizenship, which functions almost exactly like regular citizenship, but they’ve only exercised that power 11 times. So probably not super likely to happen in this case, but possible in theory?

On the other hand, I believe Ireland is famous for being relatively generous when it comes to citizenship by descent - one Irish great-grandparent can be enough. Who knows, maybe they both have enough ties.

 

[Dobre]

Thanks. So not to be counted upon unless we hear that she has ancestral ties. Regardless, it is good for S&F as it gets them a very likely shot at Europeans and Worlds. They lose the advantage of having a GP host country at their back (albeit they still have the connections), but if they are going to continue to grow as competitors at the major international level, this gives them that opportunity. Better than an early retirement, which I feared after Lauriault & Le Gac showed up well-trained for this season. Ireland obviously, wouldn't have the push that Canada does; but competitive-wise, S&F placed above Orihara & Pirinen, Wang & Liu, Van Rensburg & Steffan, and Holubtsova & Bielobrov this season. It would be good for S&F to be able to compete with those teams on the larger stage.

 

[yurokis40]

Thanks. So not to be counted upon unless we hear that she has ancestral ties. Regardless, it is good for S&F as it gets them a very likely shot at Europeans and Worlds. They lose the advantage of having a GP host country at their back (albeit they still have the connections), but if they are going to continue to grow as competitors at the major international level, this gives them that opportunity. Better than an early retirement, which I feared after Lauriault & Le Gac showed up well-trained for this season. Ireland obviously, wouldn't have the push that Canada does; but competitive-wise, S&F placed above Orihara & Pirinen, Wang & Liu, Van Rensburg & Steffan, and Holubtsova & Bielobrov this season. It would be good for S&F to be able to compete with those teams on the larger stage.

Good move for soucisse and firus saves them the embarrasement of losing to their junior training mates bashynska and beaumont right of the bat, Now Piper i am glad she is doing fine and kudos to her for divulging this cancer diagnosis at the right time and not before worlds, they didn`t want an excuse if they didn`t win , unlike Virtue and Moir who constantly reminded everybody about Tessa`s legs and surgeries whenever they lost to davis and white.

 

[4rkidz]

Unless S/F are secretly also planning to build a permanent rink in the ROI, I'm struggling to see how this benefits Irish skating... Staying in Canada with their Canadian coaches and turning up once a year for Nationals in Dundee isn't going to do anything. Great opportunity for them to get consistent championship assignments, but lets not pretend it's anything more than that.

It does grow the sport, it allows their officials and volunteers the opportunity to Judge and attend events (you are required athletes competing to attend). It can plant a seed for little boys a girls watching from Ireland. It can highlight the fact that Ireland needs a permanent rink.

 

[flatfoot]

Pasted from the Irish Department of foreign affairs website

You are automatically an Irish citizen if one of your parents was an Irish citizen at the time of your birth, and was born on the island of Ireland. You don't need to apply to become an Irish citizen in this case.

If you were born outside of Ireland, you can become an Irish citizen if:

1. One of your grandparents was born in Ireland, or;
2. One of your parents was an Irish citizen at the time of your birth, even though they were not born in Ireland.

In these cases, you can become an Irish citizen through Foreign Birth Registration.

Once a person is entered onto the Foreign Births Register they are an Irish citizen and entitled to apply for an Irish passport.

 

[flatfoot]

Maybe they both have Irish grandparents or if only one of them has citizenship through birth I think the other will need it through naturalisation.
Not skating but I found this on the Irish swimming site

“Any athlete who has previously represented another nation and/or athletes who wish to apply for citizenship via naturalisation must prove that they have lived on the island of Ireland for at least three years preceding an event where they seek to represent Ireland.”

Perhaps because that is an impossibility in relation to skating as there are no permanent rinks in Eire and whichever partner is not Irish is critically important then this may not apply so there may be a waiver for this

If so the perhaps they will lead the way for a lot more pairs and ice dance teams to switch to Ireland and with more international success maybe there may be more chance of finally getting a permanent rink in Eire

 

[Frau Muller]

Former Canadian Press journalist Lori Ewing shared Piper's video in her tweet:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1655304753977651200

ETA link to the thread with the Globe & Mail article:

Piper Gilles opens up about her frightening experience with ovarian cancer

Piper's own video today: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cr9CEdvA4NX/ The last 6 months have been a bit of a roller coaster! I’ll be sharing a bit more of my story tomorrow on World Ovarian Cancer day. I’m so incredibly thankful for all the people who supported me throughout all of this. I’ve...

www.fsuniverse.net

Sad news from Piper. Her mom died of cancer. The subject of her FD (Eva Peron) died of cancer at a very young age. Wishing Piper the best in her treatment and recovery.

 

[barbarafan]

S/F's last international was GP Espoo that ended on Nov. 26, 2022: http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00101515.htm

ETA: https://isai.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Section-100-General-Rules.pdf

103.2.3 Competitive Partner Member
This category of membership is for any individual who has a critical partnership with a
ISAI member in Ice Dance or Pairs participating on skating programs, competitions, and
events of the ISAI and other ISU member federations. A Competitive Partner Member is
entitled to enter club competitions or higher as per these Rules and Regulations. It
entitles the member to receive notification of meetings of the Association as per the
Constitution but does not allow the member the ability to speak or vote at such meetings.
Such a skater who is vital to a competitive pair and/or dance team will be deemed a
member ONLY as long as they are vital to the competitive pair or dance team. The
criteria to join as a Competitive Partner the individual MUST
-Be part of a competitive Pair or Ice Dance team, where the other skater is
either a Full or Youth member.
-The partner must comply with ISU Rule 109.
-Be released from their national federation at no cost to the ISAI.

To be eligible to compete internationally for Ireland, Shane would have to hold Irish Citizenship and Skate Canada would need to release them "at no cost to the ISAI."

I do not know Shane' s family history but if one of parents from Ireland (or of course if Shane was born there) you do not have to give up your original citizenship to become a canadian citizen. It is a simple matter for the children not born in Canada to have both as well.

 

[Sylvia]

Ice Dance Elite's website is updated (S/F's and B/B's music listed in the profiles is old): https://www.icedanceelite.ca/meet-our-teams

2 new junior teams are listed there -- Emma Goodstadt & Christian Bennett and Sophia Gover & GBR's Billy Wilson French.

Emma & Christian (from USA) announced their partnership back in March: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp0QBdGLWHb/
They debuted their free dance to a James Bond medley (Goldeneye & Live and Let Die) - Emma shared clips: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsOlUM8t6qm/

Sophia & Billy skated to music from Beauty and the Beast.
An Instagram story shared by IDE's new Instagram account confirmed they will skate for Canada: https://www.instagram.com/ice.dance.elite.insta/

Nadiia & Peter skated a new program to Britney Spears: https://twitter.com/NBashynska/status/1657487759253045248

IDE teams' "play-by-play" from yesterday's gala is posted in the Dance Hall 2023-24 thread, starting here: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...in-on-up-2023-2024.110662/page-4#post-6432978

ETA links to some of Joren Romaniuk's photos from Scarboro FSC's Spring Gala featuring the IDE teams:

"2023 Canadian Novice Ice Dance Champions Charlotte Chung and Axel Mackenzie debuting their brand new junior free dance- Enchanted ": https://www.instagram.com/p/CsPiCqNL1Xy/

Photos of Gover/Wilson-French's Beauty and the Beast FD yesterday: https://www.instagram.com/p/CsPiX7zLvtD/

Bashynska/Beaumont's Britney Spears number: https://www.instagram.com/p/CsPlAtaLoac/
Nadiia also shared photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CsPiqz3Le8G/

 

[dramagrrl]

Carolane and Shane's new exhibition program (which I think they skated at the Scarboro gala a few days ago) is to Riverdance. That's subtle.