Compare-Contrast+Essay+(Alexia)

 “All [of my coaches] were talented, but Maribel stood out, especially as a coach. Smart, creative, disciplined, charismatic, fiery…”  These are the words of Paul E. George, one of approximately 4,000 of Maribel Vinson Owen’s students. Maribel was a very caring person and was loved by many; she was known as a kind-hearted coach and person, and would always stand up for what was right. However, for how loving and caring Maribel seemed to be, she was an extremely controversial character of U.S. Figure Skating. Here, we will explore the different sides of Maribel Vinson Owen: a loving, tender person who cared about every aspect of her students’ lives, and “a firecracker” coach who was tough and abusive.
 * __A Controversial Character: Maribel Vinson Owen __**

 In both “Recollections,” the //SKATING Magazine// article, and “The Day the Music Stopped,” the //Sports Illustrated// article, Maribel was described as a kind-hearted person who genuinely cared about her students. For example, the //SKATING Magazine// article states that “[Maribel was] kind. A worrier, too. Not a fretful ‘woe is me’ worrier, but one born of concern. Concern for our Axel, our loop change loop, our SAT scores, our choice of college, our greater aspirations.” She didn’t just focus on a student’s skating at the rink and leave it at that. She focused on shaping them into well-rounded people of character, and she worked around the clock. One thing Maribel was known for was housing skaters who needed a place to stay; in this way she openly showed her affection towards her own pupils and skaters in general. An excerpt from the //Sports Illustrated// article shows her unwavering devotion to her students: “’She’d wear herself thin from running around, picking up her skaters at four a.m. to drive them to the rink… All she cared about was trying to create a champion.” This is just another example of the extents she would go to for her skaters’ growth.

 However, this is where the controversy comes in: Maribel was not all love and tenderness. According to the Sports Illustrated article, Maribel was capable of being very abusive to her students; here is one clear example:

 Once she was kneeling on the ice, tracing the arc of one of [Frank] Carroll’s figures, and when she looked up she saw he wasn’t paying attention. “She smacked me on the face with her wooden skate guard so hard it gave me a welt that I was still wearing for days… She bought me a soda the next day, which was her way of apologizing. But she never said she was sorry. I was being disrespectful,” [Carroll said].

 Maribel was also known for an unusually bold personality, and did not behave like a proper lady of her time did. Frank Carroll provided an example of this in the //Sports Illustrated// article: “She’d say ‘goddammit’, or ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing? I’m out here freezing my butt off telling you the same thing over and over.’” In the 1950s, when Frank Carroll was a student of Maribel, it was very inappropriate for a woman to speak that way, and some of her other students actually left her for that use of language.

 Maribel was somewhat of an outsider in the skating community, even with her nine national titles and high coaching status. She was very ahead of her time, and most people were reluctant to associate with someone who had such “outrageous” ideals, such as Maribel’s beliefs that everyone was equal, no matter what race or gender you were, or what religion you practiced. She showed this multiple times throughout her career. One student of hers spoke about this in the //Sports Illustrated// article: “When someone said something about Jews, Maribel said, ‘How would you feel if I told you that I was Jewish?’ She wasn’t, but she wouldn’t put up with any nonsense. She stood up for what was right – always.”

 Maribel also taught one of the very first top African-American skaters in the history of the sport: Mabel Fairbanks. Mable wasn’t allowed to skate at several rinks due to prejudices, but Maribel would sneak her in to skate the early morning sessions, and coached her for free.

 One article described Maribel as a tender, warm person that cared about her all of her skaters’ individually, wanting to nurture their development in any way possible. The other described her as a tough-loving, intimidating coach that showed her affection through mild curses and lashes. But, what you can take from both articles is that, no matter how she showed it, Maribel Vinson Owen cared. She only wanted what was best for her students and for others, no matter how she showed it. Despite some of her rash and harsh actions, Maribel showed her pupils that she cared about them. She touched each and every one of their lives. With her loss in the 1961 plane crash, figure skating has missed out on a very special coach. But her legacy will be remembered, and as skaters, we will continue her memory and attempt to transform figure skating the way she did.