Richard Callaghan: Making Estero a world skating Mecca

Richard Callaghan EVAN WILLIAMS / FLORIDA WEEKLY The 17-year-old Chinese girl does a camel spin as Richard Callaghan smiles and whoops, “Hoooooo.” It is all he can do to communicate. The worldrenowned trainer doesn’t know Chinese. She hardly knows English.

“You learn how to demonstrate a lot. And I probably use some abnormal sign language,” a warm albeit self-deprecating smile on his face.

Mr. Callaghan is a star maker. He has trained figure skating champions such as Olympic gold medalist Tara Lipinski and Olympic Champion Shauna Arakawa. With the arrival of Mr. Callaghan and the establishment of the Champions on Ice skating team at Germain Arena, Estero is poised to become a nexus of the ice skating world, known for turning out some of the sport’s major stars.

The man who has made a living on the ice recently moved to Estero for the year-round warmth. Southwest Florida may very well be the last stop for Mr. Callaghan who has been skating or coaching others around the world for all of his adult life.

He left his studies at Villanova University after just two years and joined the Ice Capades despite his parents’ protests. A solid, steady paycheck, the bright lights and audiences delighted to see him do what he loved most were too much to resist.

“We did about 10 shows a week, 45 weeks out.” He traveled the world, performing in flamboyant outfits on more-flamboyant stages loaded with pyrotechnics and festooned in bright shiny colors.

“Back in the old days (circa 1972), you had Ice Follies and Ice Capades. There were double-decker stages, people flying down from the ceiling.” Today, shows like Stars on Ice have toned down the productions. “Now they focus more on the good skaters.”

Leaving the university to pursue his passion was as risky a move as any double axel sit spin. It paid off. He met his wife of 41 years — also a skater — on the show. The connections and experience gained there served as a natural gateway to the world of coaching.

Mr. Callaghan long ago traded his extravagant outfits for the pressed shirt, tie and long coat he wears on the training rink. His garb, he said, is a product of his pre-Vatican II parochial school days where a crisp, clean uniform was always required.

On this day, he shows himself to be warm and reassuring on the ice. There are times however, when that strict taskmaster, the product of the Catholic schools, must rear his head. “There’s got to be a good mix. You have to be strong and demanding, but when anything is done right, you have to give a lot of compliments. But if you want success, you have to demand, you have to tell them, this is what you have to do to get there.”

Students and their parents wouldn’t expect anything less from Mr. Callaghan. He is hesitant to discuss his prices, but he concedes that hiring him as a trainer is not inexpensive. Parents, like those of the 17-year-old Chinese girl, YanFang Tiao, will often send their kids from their native countries to train in the U.S. by themselves in order to benefit from Mr. Callaghan’s expertise. In exchange, he dedicates about five hours a week to students and expects them to spend an additional 20 hours practicing. Every one of his students requires a different approach.

“You have to learn to bring out the best in the skater,” said Mr. Callaghan. “You have to learn them, figure out what makes them happy, what makes them work better, what technique works for them.”

Mr. Callaghan’s long coat is emblazoned with the Champions of America seal. It is the competitive skating team that he and his business partner Todd Eldredge have headquartered at Germain Arena. Mr. Eldredge is a world and U.S. champion and three-time Olympian who also trained under Mr. Callaghan.

Their company’s mission is twofold: to attract some of the greatest international talents to train in Southwest Florida and to expose and develop local talent. “There’s an open door here to make it work for local skaters,” he said. “I think I’ll bring in enough good skaters that the little kids can look up to.”

For Mr. Callaghan, the new venture is also a means to creating the perfect end to an illustrious career. He works sevenhour days. It is as close to retirement as he will ever come, he said. “I feel like I’m retired and it’s wonderful.”

From the 50-degree rink, it is just a matter of minutes for him to change outfits and hit one of the nearby golf courses. 