Utah is losing its Olympic speed-skating coach, and Stan Klotkowski may be taking more than a suitcase with him.
Parents of young Utahns who've been under the former world champion's tutelage for the past two years fear the coach's departure - forced by continuing problems with the speed-skating oval at Kearns - will cause their children's Olympic dreams to vanish."It means there will be virtually no hope of producing an Olympic speed skater from Utah by the year 2002," said Jeff Juhlin, whose 12-year-old son Patrick has visions of becoming just that. "It's tragic because here we're suppose to have this world-class facility and they can't even open it."
The national governing body for the sport, frustrated because managers of the Kearns facility cannot guarantee it will be open for at least 90 days next season, has ended its two-year developmental program designed to cultivate homegrown talent for the 2002 Winter Games.
The executive director of the U.S. International Speed Skating Association confirmed Wednesday that the organization will not renew Klotkowski's contract when it expires Tuesday. Katie Marquard said Klotkowski was doing a fine job here and the decision had nothing to do with his performance as the association's western regional coach.
"His job description was to get as many skaters on the ice and as many people interested in speed skating as possible," Marquard said from the association's office in Ohio. "If there is no facility currently operating or if it's operating on a very limited basis then there is really no job for him to do.
"The first season there was no ice. The second season (1995-96) there was a very limited amount of ice. We've tried to work with the facility as best we could, but the situation doesn't seem to be improving."
The oval, part of a $4.1 million outdoor skating complex at the Oquirrh Park Fitness Center, was scheduled to open Nov. 24. But unseasonably warm temperatures and mechanical problems with the compressors used to make and retain ice delayed the ceremony several times. It finally opened to the public on Jan. 12.
Several big snows also shut down the facility temporarily. And even when it was open, the ice surface was less than desirable, according to parents and athletes.
"The place doesn't even look like an Olympic facility," said 16-year-old Brian Stewart, a Kearns High School junior who placed eighth overall in last weekend's Junior National Championships in Milwaukee. "It's dirty. The ice had mud on it, had hay in it, sand particles in it, oil leaks from the Zamboni. It would snow and we'd have to wait two weeks for the snow to be removed."
It wasn't that bad, according to David Howick, director of the Oquirrh Park Fitness Center. And the Olympic dream is hardly shattered, Howick said, just because the association is pulling its coach.
"That doesn't mean we're not going to have a developmental program," Howick said. "There will be a program because over the last two years there have been several (local) coaches that have become involved and are coaching presently."
Howick and Randy Montgomery, executive director of the Utah Sports Authority, said they hope Salt Lake City's recent designation as an Olympic Development Center will mean another top-notch speed-skating coach will be based at the Kearns oval as soon as next year. The U.S. Olympic Committee announced earlier this month it would spend $250,000 annually over the next four years on developmental programs here, although there is no assurance money would be allotted for a skating coach.
"I don't know if we'll find a coach that will have his qualities and be quite as in tune with what they need as Stan," said Deby Cox, whose sons Tyler and Jeremy are part of the developmental program.
Marquard said there's a slight chance the association would rehire Klotkowski or find another coach to come here when the facility's managers can guarantee 90 days of ice per season. But it would be hesitant to restart the program until a roof is placed over the oval, she said, since that would interrupt the program for a full year. And since that isn't scheduled to happen until the 1999-2000 season, that leaves just one season for a developmental coach hired by the association to get Utah athletes ready for the Olympics.
In the meantime, Sports Authority and Oquirrh Fitness Center officials are hoping to solve one of the speed-skating complex's problems by hiring a full-time manager for the facility. They are advertising for the position now.
They also hope to install $400,000 worth of donated chilling machinery.