HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1990-03-28, Page 8ry
8 — THE HURON EXP•QSITQR, MAR H 28, 1990
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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
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hi
N
fi
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$45
pa
th
to
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the
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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.
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