Fall Sports
Best Dad Ever
WRITTEN BY JONATHON O'DOUGHERTY
Not that long ago, my family and I were living a very different life before becoming the latest California transplants to make Bozeman their home. Like many people who moved here from somewhere else, we had our reasons, but before I get into that let me share a little bit about our background. Pam and I were international professional ice dancers who represented Great Britain for 11 years. To date, I have said that sentence more often than I can remember and not once has someone said, “Me too.” Implying in a sense that we – at one point in our lives – did something extraordinary. Before becoming parents, that defined who we were. We were an ice dance team who won National Championships, International medals and then went on to tour the world as professionals. I grew up in a small town in Wales, and loved watching American TV shows, and of course all the movies that made California look like the most amazing place in the world. So, when Pam and I were ready to settle down and transition into coaching, we emigrated to America and made the Bay Area our home.
BARRY MITTAN 26
august 2022
Whoever was writing the story of our lives was doing a truly remarkable job. Pam and I were living out a fairy tale life in a city that we had come to love, and we were working for the San Jose Sharks. What more could we ask for? In truth, if you work in an ice rink, not much. I had been ‘California Dreaming’ since I was a child, and I was living that dream. But
