Britney Simpson, one half of the 2013 U.S. Junior Pairs Champion figure skating team, has two moms—whose dedication to their daughter’s sporting career is pretty amazing.
The June/July issue of Skating magazine, the official publication of U.S. Figure Skating, profiles Simpson and her skating partner Matthew Blackmer. (See page 34; no direct link.) It happens to mention the 17-year-old Simpson’s parents, Sallie Simpson and Diane Blumenschein, who are both special-needs education administrators in Golden, Colorado. Britney trains in Colorado Springs, though, which is 100 miles away, so she stays in a townhouse and also goes to high school there (where she’s an honors student, according to IceNetwork.com). She’s not alone, though. The article tells us, “Each night, either Sallie or Diane drives 100 miles from Golden to stay the night with her.”
Remember that the next time you feel like complaining about taking your kid to the neighborhood park for soccer practice.
Simpson and Blackmer are making the transition into the senior skating circuit this year. Might we see them in the 2014 Winter Olympics? Could be—and if we do, I bet we’ll see all of their parents in the audience.
