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.

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 even before the wildfires, riots and pandemic, something wasn’t feeling right.

Being a parent is an emotionally chaotic existence, as is living in a place that’s half the size of Gallatin County but has nearly 20 times as many people. It took a few beats to figure it out, but it became apparent that the main characters of our fairy tale story had changed. (We read a lot of fairy tale stories in our house.)

Becoming a dad had altered my perspective, but it wasn’t until I was given a mug that said "Best Dad Ever" that I realized what was wrong. The narrative had changed, and I hadn’t done enough to earn the title of "Best Dad Ever." Most people who have done anything competitive know what it’s like to chase titles, and as much as I hate to admit it, I’m not done competing. So, I asked myself, what would the best dad ever do in my situation?

As luck would have it, I got an email from the Professional Skaters Association about a job opportunity in the wonderful mountain town of Bozeman. I had never heard of the place, but a quick Google search piqued my interest. And just like that, problem met solution.

We came out to visit and it took all of five minutes for my family and me to fall in love with this place. Fortunately for me, the management team at Gallatin Ice thought that I was the right person to help them grow their skating programs, so in December of 2021 I started work as the Director of Skating at Gallatin Ice at the Gallatin County Fairgrounds.

Upon my arrival, I was greeted by a warm community of figure skaters who had been patiently waiting for the rink to evolve from its seasonal schedule to one that operates yearround. My children connected instantly with the skaters at the rink, which was overwhelmingly reassuring. This felt like the kind of place where I grew up, and these skating families reminded me of the folks in my first ice rink.

A few days after I started work, we experienced the annual Skate with Santa. It was amazing to see how many people got on the ice to share in this annual tradition. An event full of warmth that made me think I may become worthy of my Best Dad mug yet. Since then, I’ve had many wonderful experiences with the families that come into the rink, but by far the best was when I was shopping for donuts with my eldest and the lady behind the counter recognized us from the rink and thanked me for the wonderful classes her sons had been taking. I thought about that for a while afterwards. This year marks my 26th year as a coach, and that was the first time I’ve been spotted outside the ice rink and thanked, and it happened when I was holding my eldest daughter’s hand. That storywriter of ours sure knows how to keep the fairy tale going.

For my part, I’ll do my best to provide opportunities so that our local skaters can themselves do something extraordinary. But most importantly, I’ll keep trying to become worthy of my Best Dad Ever mug.

Jonathon O'Dougherty is the Skating Director at Gallatin Ice. For more information visit www.gallatinice.org.