By: Debbi Wilkes

For World Champion and Olympic Bronze Medalist Jeff Buttle, medals of any colour were decades away when he first stepped on the ice at the age of 2.

Photo credit: Skate Canada

Although Jeff was born in Smooth Rock Falls in northern Ontario, his home was in neighboring Kapuskasing where, as a two-year old following in his older sister Meghan’s footsteps, he loved skating from his first moment on the ice.

“So I’m told by my Mom,” Jeff recalls, “all the other kids were crying to get off the ice … I was crying because I HAD to get off the ice! I took to it like a fish to water.”

Jeff also remembers he was wearing hockey skates. “I think my Dad had visions of me becoming a hockey player but when Meghan started taking figure skating lessons, I wanted to do that too.”

Living in a small town, there were not a lot of activities to join but the town did host a ‘family skate’ on weekends. Jeff’s Dad was a good hockey player and his Mom was a former competitive swimmer, but Jeff describes them as being fans of sport rather than being overly sport focused. Still, the opportunity to skate as a family was an occasion they couldn’t pass up.

Jeff’s memories of those very early years are fleeting due in part to his Dad’s job with Ontario Hydro which kept the family moving around the province. Their next home in London found Jeff joining the local Forest City Skating Club where he started to get serious about skating with support from coach Carole Robinson.

“I wasn’t very good at figures,” admits Jeff, “and one day during a patch lesson, Carol left the ice and came back carrying a hockey stick. I wondered if she was going to hit me with it,” Jeff laughs, “but it was a technique she wanted me to use to keep my arms level.”

Jeff’s skills and commitment to skating were beginning to grow and when the family moved back to northern Ontario to Timmins, another major lesson became foundational for Jeff. It was his coach Laura Lebrun who taught him the value and importance of loving what you do. “That idea always stayed with me,” says Jeff. “She was such a fun and active coach that by the time I was 10 or 11 I’d already passed all my gold dances. I loved skating to music.”

Even at that young age, Jeff found himself particularly drawn to classical music, something which complimented not only his skating but also the piano lessons he was taking. “I loved the piano … but I wasn’t disciplined enough to practice,” admits Jeff. “Every week I’d go to my lesson and start doing my scales … and then my teacher, David Parisi, would ask how much I’d practised … I’d confess … almost nothing.”

Photo credit: Canadian Olympic Committee

Instead of reprimands, David took him in a different direction. “My teacher would pull out a cassette and we would sit and listen to classical music together. He’d explain the storyline behind a piece or discuss how the music was built … and I think that helped create in me an appreciation and an inquisitiveness about music. It began to play a much bigger role in my life.”

Jeff also remembers the car rides to skating events. “It’s a long drive from northern Ontario … and in those many hours, Meghan and I would alternate our choices to play on the car radio … mine classical, hers pop. I remember being so excited when my parents bought me one of those offers on TV where you get 10 CDs as a package … I memorized them all!”

His first skating competitions were local. “In northern Ontario, there were very few men competitors so I always won a medal,” Jeff recalls. He was 10 years old at his first national event … he was shocked to finish 13th … and suddenly realized the men’s field was much deeper in other parts of the country.

His reaction? “I want to do better than that!” He came back the next year and finished 12th. “It was a slow climb,” laughs Jeff, “but I was definitely catching the competitive bug.”

Part of that competitive ‘bug’ was nurtured at The Sudbury School of Skating working with coach Wendy Philion. “Wendy managed me through my terrible teenage years and got me to my first two years in Novice,” says Jeff. “I had a terrible attitude those days … thought I knew everything … but she had the patience to deal with me while instilling the importance of respect and goal setting.”

There was one particularly important lesson. “Wendy wouldn’t let me on the ice unless my t-shirt was tucked into my skating pants, saying ‘It’s a sign of respect’. I

thought it was unnecessary and silly … but to this day I always tuck in my t-shirt … and not just when I’m skating!”

Jeff attributes much of his positive progress to Wendy’s teaching on and off the ice. “She was a huge part of my success as a skater and was with my family and friends in the audience so many years later when I won my Olympic medal. She taught me to understand respect and introduced me to handling stress.”

As competitions became more challenging, the family knew Jeff had to make a major change if he wanted to continue to improve. “So a decision was made to move my training fulltime to Mariposa to work with coach Lee Barkell, the same coach who was standing with me at the boards when I won the world title in 2008.”

Everything changed for Jeff at Mariposa. Elvis Stojko, Takeshi Honda, Steven Cousins and Jennifer Robinson became his role models. “At first I was terrified. But sharing the ice with so many of the world’s best made me a better skater.”

Photo credit: Jeff Buttle on Instagram

It wasn’t easy.

At age 15, a stress fracture in his back forced Jeff to pay attention to Lee’s guidance to become more committed to his health, exercise, warm-up regimen, and the benefits of proper training. It was a major turning point in his upward climb. But despite those changes, Jeff felt he still wasn’t making much progress. “I was tired of being the one who would ‘win’ all the practices but would go out in competition and fall apart.”

Enter Sandra Stark, Sports Psychologist. With regular sessions, Sandra helped Jeff learn how to control his nerves at competitions, much of his disappointing placements due to his tunnel vision around getting his triple Axel. “Sandra gave me the view that admiring my other good qualities was important even if I never landed the triple Axel.” And with a helpful new perspective, the triple Axel appeared.

Looking at the walls of the Mariposa rink was also inspirational for Jeff. “They were covered with huge signs honouring the accomplishments of competitors like Elvis. That motivated me every day … I wanted to be up on that wall too!”

To that end, Jeff was already working with renowned choreographer David Wilson, a time when he feels his choreographic gene kicked in. “David made the process so enjoyable and instilled in me a passion for choreography … and for the integrity of every movement. Today, so many years later, we still talk regularly and exchange ideas about our own work while also appreciating the wonderful work of so many others.”

After winning Worlds and retiring from competition, the transition into choreography followed quite naturally for Jeff. “I was already doing some choreography and gradually picking up clients like Yuna Kim. The schedule worked perfectly … an intense week of work with a skater … and I still had lots of opportunities to perform.”

His choreographic philosophy today?

Photo credit: Jeff Buttle on Instagram

“It does a disservice if you come to a skater and try to force them into a certain shape. Every skater is different,” says Jeff. “The challenge in developing a program for THAT skater is for me to discover their individual strengths and characteristics and bring that out in their skating. It’s a wonderfully bonding experience creating something unique with someone … a collaboration … you’re the only two people speaking that language.”

During that process, Jeff is also generous in sharing some hard-learned bits of wisdom.

“Competing is hard. Staying motivated is hard. If you want to be the best you can be, take time to reflect on why you love the sport … and do it often.”