|
Post by Laura (Lori) on Dec 21, 2008 21:37:04 GMT -8
This thread is totally devoted to Eddy Alvarez, and is intended to be an archive of his skating career - as well as a place to chat about his accomplishments and encourage him as he pursues his goals both on and off the ice.
If you have any articles, photos, links and news about Eddy (past or present), we'd love to see them!
If you are a non-member who would like to contribute news, photos, archives or comments, please feel free to contact us at:
lori@rocker-u.net or michelle@therockerfund.org
|
|
|
Post by mtnme on Jan 27, 2009 14:03:46 GMT -8
American Cup III Eddy in front - and an 'unfortunate' episode for Robert Lawrence. Eddy and Joey Lindsey giving Anthony Lobello a run for his money. Eddy finished second overall for the competition - (second only to Anthony) with Joey Lindsey finishing third overall. Congrats to Eddy and all the Southern California boys! Eddy 'high fives' his S. Cal teamate Kyle Uyehara. Photos by Evan Siegle/Press-Gazette
|
|
|
Post by mtnme on Jan 27, 2009 22:58:38 GMT -8
Eddy Alvarez places third on the Junior US Championships 2008 and earns a spot on the Junior World Team Jonathan Sermeno, JR Celski, Eddy and Robert Lawrence
|
|
|
Post by mtnme on Jan 29, 2009 20:18:30 GMT -8
Eddie right behind Charles Ryan Leveille at US Championships 2008
|
|
|
Post by mtnme on Jan 31, 2009 18:09:16 GMT -8
Eddie sandwiched between Apolo and Anthony Lobello - but wow! check out that lean on that pivot! (photos by Jerry Search)
|
|
|
Post by mtnme on Jan 31, 2009 18:31:13 GMT -8
Photo and caption by Jerry Search
|
|
|
Post by mtnme on Jan 31, 2009 19:58:55 GMT -8
Junior Team USA at Junior Worlds in Canada, 2009 Front Row: Mary Grace, Lana Gehring, Vicky Labourdette and Alyson Dudek Back Row: (?) SCSSA Coach Wilma Boomstra, Robert Lawrence, Jonathan Sermeno, JR Celski, Eddie and USS Coach Laurent Daignault. The Junior Men's Gold Medal Winning Relay Team Robert Lawrence, Jonathan Sermeno, Eddie Alvarez and JR Celski Left to right, Robert Lawrence, Jonathan Sermeno, Alyson Dudek, Eddie Alvarez, Vicky LaBourdette, Mary Grace and Lana Gehring
|
|
|
Post by mtnme on Apr 7, 2009 13:45:35 GMT -8
Eddy just behind Barry Winslow Eddy finished 2nd overall for the American Cup season. Good Job, Eddy! All photos courtesy of Jerry Search, American Cup 4, 2009.
|
|
|
Post by Laura (Lori) on Apr 19, 2009 1:21:14 GMT -8
NEWSFLASH! Eddy has been invited to train in SLC with the National Team!
We'll miss you here in SoCal, Eddy, but it's a much-deserved honor, and we wish you all the best! Go-get-'em, Cowboy!
|
|
|
Post by mtnme on Apr 19, 2009 7:35:19 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by Laura (Lori) on Jun 3, 2009 21:35:18 GMT -8
Eddy at US Championships, December 2008 - St Louis Photo Credit - Jerry Search
|
|
|
Post by Laura (Lori) on Jul 2, 2009 16:28:16 GMT -8
Eddy's back in SoCal training for a bit: Looks like he's happy to be here! Photo credits: Jerry Search
|
|
|
Post by Laura (Lori) on Jul 26, 2009 12:31:32 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by Laura (Lori) on Jul 27, 2009 23:54:33 GMT -8
DID YOU KNOW?That Eddy played a small part in long-track Olympian Jennifer Rodriguez' decision to come out of retirement and try for another Olympics? See the full article on Jennifer's thread (Reply #2): therockerforum.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=lt&thread=389&page=1RICHMOND, British Columbia -- It was the ice, of all things, that caught her by surprise.
In January 2008, Jennifer Rodriguez, once America's top women's speedskater who hung up her skates after the 2006 Torino Games, visited the Kendall Ice Arena, where a local short-track club held practices run by Eddy Alvarez.
Rodriguez won two Olympic bronze medals in 2002. But she had no intention of returning to competitive speedskating, or even being involved in the sport in any capacity, after the 2006 Games. There, burned out and wrung out, Rodriguez had failed to win a medal.
But then she hit the ice again.
"I went just to see some of the kids and to hang around," said Rodriguez, 32, who went to Miami Killian High. "When I stepped on the ice, I immediately almost started crying. I realized how much I really missed speed skating."
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2009 20:56:21 GMT -8
Posted on Thu, Sep. 03, 2009 Local speedskater ready for liftoff BY LINDA ROBERTSON lrobertson@MiamiHerald.com
Said coach Wilma Boomstra of Miami's Eddy Alvarez, above, "He has a natural feel for the ice." As a kindergartner, Eddy Alvarez was known as ``Eddy the Jet.'' He would put on his inline skates and fly down the sidewalk. On weekends, he performed tricks and jumps to the delight of tourists on Ocean Drive. Thirteen years later, he has the same nickname but now he flies around the ice, in the combustible sport known as short track speedskating.
Alvarez is so fast he's among the favorites to make the U.S. Winter Olympic team during trials starting Tuesday in Marquette, Mich. He will be competing against two-time Olympic gold medalist and Dancing With the Stars champ Apolo Anton Ohno -- among others -- for one of five spots.
If Alvarez qualifies, he will follow Jennifer Rodriguez as the second Cuban-American from Miami to make the U.S. Winter Olympic team and set his sights on racing at the 2010 Vancouver Games in February.
``I'm excited, I'm confident, I'm ready,'' Alvarez said.
Anything can happen in the unpredictable races of 500, 1,000 and 1,500 meters. Skaters bump and crash as they churn around the track at 30 mph, using their pivot gloves to hold a sharp angle. The sport demands explosive acceleration, agility, endurance, a high pain threshold and keen tactical thinking. Disqualifications and bizarre finishes are common, leaving skaters and fans to shrug and say, ``That's short track.''
``Sometimes we're so close to the ice our knees hit it,'' Alvarez said. ``Once you see it up close, you understand the intensity. And you're hooked.''
UNUSUAL ROAD
This is the story of another kid from the subtropics excelling in a cold-weather sport. Like J-Rod, Alvarez switched from inline wheels to thin blades. But unlike J-Rod, who clung to the boards when she first braved the ice, Alvarez took to the slippery surface like a little Eric Heiden.
At age 10, with limited practice time at the Kendall Ice Arena under coach Bob Manning, Alvarez won national titles in inline, short track and long track.
``People asked me, `So, can he play hockey?' '' said Alvarez's father, Walter. ``He could do gymnastics, water sports, basketball. He's a great dancer and was invited to all the quinceneras. What if I had given him a tennis racket? There's a lot more money in tennis than in speedskating.''
He was popular at competitions because he was good and he was an oddity.
``They announced his name and hometown and people did a double-take and told me, `We didn't know you had ice in Miami,' '' said Alvarez's mother, Mabel.
Alvarez, 19, became friends with Rodriguez. Her father was born in Cuba. Both of Alvarez's parents were born in Cuba.
``Jen was an inspiration to me,'' said Alvarez, who grew up in Miami's Roads section.
``She told me any dream is possible.''
They see each other almost every day at the Kearns oval in Utah, where they are national team members. Rodriguez, 32, a Miami Palmetto High graduate who won two long track bronze medals in 2002, is making a comeback, hoping to join her fourth Olympic team.
``Two Miamians in Opening Ceremonies -- that's the goal,'' Alvarez said.
Alvarez is making a comeback, too. He took three years off from skating to concentrate on baseball at Miami Columbus High, where he played shortstop and second base. He broke his ankle one week before short track trials in 2005.
``While he watched the Torino Olympics he cried as if he was actually there,'' Mabel said.
BACK ON TRACK
Alvarez figured he would accept a baseball scholarship from St. Thomas University. But he couldn't get the 2010 Olympics out of his mind.
``I used to lie in bed and tell my sister, `I'm dreaming of ways to go faster,' '' he said.
His father didn't think he would resume skating.
``One day out of the blue he said, `Dad, I want to finish what I started, otherwise it will haunt me,' '' Walter Alvarez said. ``He can't conceive of anything more glorious than standing on the podium and hearing the national anthem.''
Fifteen months ago, Alvarez moved to Long Beach, Calif., to train with coach Wilma Boomstra, whose short-track team is best in the nation. He had a lot of catching up to do.
``We had four-hour beach training sessions and he could hardly last for 30 minutes,'' Boomstra said.
Alvarez also followed the advice of brother Nick, a trainer who played seven years of minor-league baseball. He got pep talks from sister Nicole, a disc jockey in Los Angeles. He gets his will from Walter, owner of Prestress Concrete, and his perfectionism from Mabel.
As for his smooth form -- he was born with it.
``He has a natural feel for the ice,'' Boomstra said. ``What he really learned was what true pain feels like and how to push through it. You train in that compressed, tuck position and produce tons of lactic acid.''
Alvarez joined the national team in April and has been training under coaches Jae Su Chun and Jimmy Jang, formerly coaches of South Korea's top-ranked team.
Alvarez thinks he could outdance Ohno, the most famous team member. Maybe next week in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, he will outskate Ohno, too.
Walter and Mabel will be in the stands, waving their U.S. and Cuban flags and cheering for Eddy the Jet, the Miami kid with an affinity for cold, hard, unforgiving ice.
|
|