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Home My WebLink AboutThe Huron Expositor, 1990-03-28, Page 8ry 8 — THE HURON EXP•QSITQR, MAR H 28, 1990 $y ritiLA Bev Eisler doesn't Watch„fter son skate. In fact, when Lloyd Eisler ant( partner Isabelle Brasseur captured the Canadian Pairs championships in Chicoutimi, Quebec, his mother was nowhere near the rinkside. She was in the. bathroom. "I get too nervous," she admits. His vic- tories are her victories, and his disappoint- ments are her own, as well. After almost 20 years of striving towards the same goals and dreams, it's not surprising. Seaforth's native son Lloyd Eisler is 26 years old now. Recently, he and Isabelle reclaimed their rightful place in the Cana- dian skating annals with a silver medal finish In the World Figure Skating cham- pionships. His is the story of hard work; determination and tong, cold hours spent on the ice since the age of 7. But it is also his family's story. Theirs is the story of long hours on the road and in of do�llars�t shelled out or privof ate h rivatesssois, hundreds of dollars spent on custom equip- ment It's a disjointed family life and a non-existent social life, in many ewes. But most of all, it's a story of V 1e and selflessness that rises above all of the obstacles. When Lloyd - "young Lloyd, as his mother calls him, or "Herbie" - was nine "SOMETIMES, people don't realize that these are real people," says Bev Eisler. Behind the success of her son, Lloyd, and partner Isabelle Brasseur lies years of hard work and sacrifice, for both of them and their families. Robinet photo (April '88). years old, skating started to become a big part of his life. Ile. was already taking lessons in Seaforth and Goderich, but a coach at the Canibnge Figure Skating Club in Preston was reputed to be very good. Lloyd had already spent the summer before away at a skating camp, and he wanted to take the challenge. "I thought he was too young (for the camp), but he said he wasn't," remembers Bev Eisler. Lloyd was enrolled in the Cam- bridge skating school, and the odyssey began. That year, he skated three days a week after school. The next year, his train- ing schedule had been upped to four days a week. By the time Lloyd was 11, he was skating five afternoons a week, eight hours a day, with Mom either behind the steer- ing wheel or in the arena every step of the way. rI think we own Esso gas," Mrs. Eisler chuckles. Lloyd's training demanded that he leave school and that she Leave work at 1 o'clock every afternoon to make the 140 mile round trip to Preston. The pair never missed a day, she reports proudly, except for a September afternoon when fog forc- ed them back. After Lloyd turned 16, he was able to drive himself to practices and the mileage stacketrUp. His 1982 Chevette had rung up over 345,000 kilometers by the time it threw in the towel a few years ago. Time and mileage weren't the only costs or the Eisler's. Lloyd's private lessons were eating into the family finances, and ustom-made skates were becoming a ecessity. Talent was becoming a costly thing. "It cost about $15,000 a year...and that's efore the boy eats," Mrs. Eisler points ut. His skates were costing "not much "r a paltry $3"'I' a pair, until Lloyd was bout 14 or 15 years old. Mrs. Eisler rolls er eyes in dismay. "He grew over a foot in one year, and s feet grew five sizes," she grimaces. We : d to buy him five pairs of skates." ow, ]Lloyd shells out $700 a pair for his gore skates. As a carded amateur athlete, Lloyd isler is subsidized by Sport Canada. His ending, however, only works out to about 0 a month, a r! op in the bucket com- red to expenses. This has always been e case, and the Eislers' were beginning feel the crunch as Lloyd's talent and ambition became more and more apparent. The pressinre increased in step with his 11. Coaching became more intense, and demands on Lloyd grew. But like the are few with his talent and determination, oyd thrived under the coaching discipline tat eventually drove younger sister Mary ne, now 21, away from competitive the were Bev Eisler ugh onL oyd, but that the- ained pragmatic. That's what we were paying them for," says simply. "He was the one that was g it, not me... I didn't have to be out re." If he didn't want to hear it, he could c n b 0 then a h hi N fi lE $45 pa th to ski the rar Ja skatiri coa m rr she takir► the 41 leave She also notes that her son has a certain special capacity for handling coaches and trainers and not letting the flak get to him. "He only hears what But younghe Lloyd wasobviously hearing what mattered, and was disciplining himself well. He was given a key to the Seaforth arena so that he could practice whenever he had a spare moment. Those moments usually only came at 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning, and either Bev or Lloyd Sr. were down there with him while he skated away the wee hours. "To this day, when Lloyd comes home, he can go to the arena and skate whenever he wants," says Mrs. Eisler. The Eisler household was essentially revolving around Lloyd's schedule by this time. Social life was non-existent, and much of the family's time - and money - was earmarked for skating. Unlike other teenagers who could support their hobbies with part-time jobs, Lloyd's hours were consumed by skating, And his hobby had become a way of Lire, "If you skate eight hours a day, when are releyou going to work?" shrugs Mrs. Schoolwork was another waterloo, but Lloyd's skating drive spilled over into his academics. The school's, reports his mother, were very good to Lloyd, and he finished his Grade 13 at the age off 18 with a 70's average. t he "Because ally worked nh it when he had te did all of the o," Mrs. Eisler recalls. "We always told him, `if the marks aren't good enough, the skates are hung up.'". Lloyd's sisters Mary Jane and Marie, now 31 and a horse trainer in. Seattle, are "..very, very supportive of him,." and always have been, says his mother. In spite of the demands that Lloyd's skating imposed on the family's time, the Eiders had their weekends. The girls "missed out as far as me not being home, but didn't miss out on anything else." And they both refer to him as their Turn to page 18 THE TEAM BEHIND THE CHAMPION Bev and Lloyd Eisler of Seaforth have stood together behind their son, Lloyd, for 19 years now, watching his rise to in- ternational figure skating prominence. Here, they model the 1988 Olympic jackets given to the parents of the athletes at the Calgary Games. Elliott photo. OIL CHAN GE 95 SPECIAL •UP T o 5 LIT R ES OF OIL •NEW FILTER (OFFER EXPIRES APRIL 13) MOST CARS AND LIGHT TRUCKS A TE TI N C S ERS! You don't have to drive out of town to get service and selection. 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