'Really exciting' talent thrills Canadian speed skating coach
Crockett 'astonished' by progress as Pyeongchang Games approach
Like many young Canadian kids, Kevin Overland wanted to be a hockey player.
Growing up in Kitchener, Ont., he had dreams of becoming the next Wayne Gretzky. But circumstances got in the way.
"It wasn't financially feasible for my family at the time for me to play hockey," says the man who now goes by the surname Crockett (more on that later). "A membership for speed skating at the Cambridge (Ont.) Speed Skating Club was something like $25 a year."
At seven years old, Kevin laced up a pair of speed skates for the first time. Lending encouragement was his father, Ernie Overland, who has been a speed skating coach in Ontario since 1982.
For the next few years, Kevin spent hours skating laps around the ice in Cambridge. But he never really considered speed skating to be a part of his future. He simply loved the sport and loved skating fast.
"Speed skating just sort of became a way of life," he says, adding he didn't start realizing he was any good "until I hit puberty."
Kevin started getting serious about the sport in the early 1990s, when he would travel to Calgary to compete on the Olympic Oval.
"I considered myself to be a short tracker," he says. "But the provincial team in Ontario made us [do] long track for at least two weeks per year, and I realized I was pretty good at the longer distance."
By 1995, Kevin was the world-record holder in the 1,000 metres, and he added the 1,500-metre record in 1997.
Then, at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan, he won a bronze medal in the 500 metres.
In the process, he became one of three Overland siblings to skate in the Olympics. His sister Cindy competed in the 1998 and 2002 Games, and his sister Amanda won a silver medal in the 3,000m relay at the 2006 Turin Olympics.
What's in a name?
It was only later that Kevin started going by the surname Crockett — in honour of his paternal grandfather, Ernest Crockett, who became somewhat of a father figure after Kevin's parents divorced.
"My grandfather was blind and moved in with us," Kevin says. "My father had brought him to Ontario from Nova Scotia. He was a humble, wise man. A man of few words."
By the time Kevin began his pursuit of a medal in Nagano, Ernest was living in a seniors' home. Because Kevin had a different last name, some didn't believe Ernest when he told them his grandson was an Olympian.
"It was a real sore spot for him," Kevin says.
When Kevin returned from Nagano, bronze medal in hand, he went straight to the seniors' home to visit his grandfather. It's a moment he'll never forget.
"He was vindicated. He was legit. He was the grandfather of an Olympian," Kevin remembers.
It was shortly after that visit that Kevin changed his name to Crockett to honour his grandfather.
"It was probably the biggest smile on his face I'd ever seen," says Kevin. "He passed away not too long after that."
Coming home
After his competitive career ended, Crockett turned to coaching, and his track record has been impressive.
Crockett has worked with Mo Tae-Bum, a gold medalist in the 500-metre distance at the 2010 Olympic Games, and he did a two-year stint in South Korea, where he was the head coach of the long track national team for the 2014 Games.
Now Crockett has returned to Calgary, bringing his sprint coaching prowess back home to help Canada prepare for the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Just over a year into his work with four of Speed Skating Canada's top athletes, Crockett has a high level of optimism for the program.
"I'm astonished how well the team has adapted to my style," he says.
The coach has high praise for Heather McLean, Marsha Hudey, William Dutton and Gilmore Junio, who are all under his guidance.
"Gilmore made his name through giving up his spot [in the 1,000m to eventual medallist Denny Morrison] in Sochi. We all know that story. But I think Gil is going to bust out of that mold and make a name for himself internationally."
Crockett calls Dutton "very talented" and says "the sky is the limit" for McLean, who he thinks is "going to be on the podium week in and week out." He also likes what he's seen from Hudey so far this year.
"All four sprinters are really exciting to watch," he says.
With the season now underway, Crockett says the big test is coming at the world single distances championships in South Korea in February. The event is being held at the same location as the 2018 Olympics.
As he prepares his skaters for the biggest races of their lives over the next year, Crockett feels a different sense of pride than he did when coaching outside the country.
"I brought home hardware for other countries. I want my Canadians to bring home some hardware for Canada," Crockett says.
"There's no better feeling than to do that for your country. I think as a coach it might even feel better than winning a medal myself.