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We are very proud of you and grateful to have you as part of the Academy for Speedskating Excellence program at the Pettit National Ice Center!

It is especially gratifying to see you win this award when we know how many good coaches are out there, doing great work, that could be considered for this award!

You arrived in June of 2016 and have done so much in a short time, making a positive impact, not just on the skaters’ technique but on the culture of the program and the individual lives of the skaters in a personal way that transcends sport, sharing your concern for your athletes as people first, and being willing to teach life lessons and develop relationships that will endure after the time we share in sport has passed.

You stepped up and earned the trust of an Olympian and former coach making a challenging comeback, guiding them to a World Cup team and almost another  Olympic team.

You stepped in and earned the trust of a new team and then grew that team, mixing the veterans with the new into a cohesive group.

You used your experience as a member of many teams in China – the Junior World Team, the Senior National Team, the World Cup Team, and the University Games Team – to improve the technique, the strategy, the tactics, and the mental and emotional strength of your skaters in the United States.

You were able to achieve putting two skaters on the US Junior World Short Track Team – a first for the ASE Short Track program!

You were able to help the skaters who were struggling to recover from setbacks and disappointments to work through them.

You were able to achieve noticeable technical gains in your team and the skaters who regularly came to your camps or drop-in sessions.

You were able to help your entire group rise up and exceed their past performances by the end of the season at Am Cup Final/Nationals.

You work equally hard across a variety of ages and abilities – from your full-time training group, as well as the part-time training and club athletes who commute as often as they can from around the Midwest region and the country from coast to coast to learn from you at camps and drop-in sessions.

You take an interest in the growth of the sport and use your personal relationships to recruit brand new members to try speedskating and grow the sport, even working at public sessions to make it possible for novices at the very early grassroots level to learn and be inspired.

You have developed good working relationships with community partners inside and outside the speedskating world, from coaches and parents to officials and administrators, to make speedskating a better sport.

You have high standards and hold everyone to them, starting with yourself. You have high expectations and do everything you can to help us reach them. You’re a team player and willing to roll up your sleeves and jump in and do any job required.

We extend our gratitude and thanks especially to your wife, Kelly Liu, because we know no coach can ever do their job as well without support and encouragement from their spouse, and, because Kelly brings so much of herself to share with all of us through you and standing alongside you that makes you even better.

We also recognize and thank your colleague on the long track side, Coach Eric, who was instrumental in bringing you on board, and, stands by you as you both develop the vision for the program and work to secure the resources and athletes to make it succeed for the athletes and the sport in the USA.

It is exciting and speaks well of the program that the last two US Speedskating Development Coaches of the Year both are in the Academy for Speedskating Excellence program with Eric, the 2017 winner, being the Head Long Track Coach, and, you, the 2018 winner, being the Head Short Track Coach. To have two such honored coaches working together in cooperation bodes well for the athletes, the program, the Pettit, and the sport!

Once again, it is exciting and gratifying to see you all get some measure of recognition, as you do so much and endure so much that goes unseen. I speak for many when I say that I am pleased to be able to work with you and am very glad to see you receive this kind of recognition for your work.

Sincerely,

Carl Cepuran

ASE Program Director

The Pettit National Ice Center

630-640-4485mbl