Skating passion of ice queen Gail
Gail McKnight Frame, head coach, Ayr Figure Skating Club
Abigail Findlay Frame (Gail) was born on March 7, 1944, the only child of Donald Skelly McKnight and Alice Milne Sproat (McKnight). She was named after her Aunt Abi, but she was always known as Gail.
At the age of 13, Gail developed a passion for ice skating: she began at Ayr Ice Rink but her dad considered her a natural talent and took her to Paisley Ice Rink, where she flourished.
Such was her talent, that she gained her inter gold medal by the age of 18, and won the Scottish Junior Championship twice.
In the late 1950s, a gala was held for the World Champion Skaters, Gail won and was awarded the Churchill Trophy, open to skaters from both Scotland and England.
In her teens Gail became something of a celebrity in Ayr because of her skating success, her winning of a beauty competition and some modelling. She frequently featured in the local papers. In 1972, the birth of her son Donald was featured in this very paper, the Ayrshire Post.
It is probably fair to say that Ayr Figure Skating Club was instituted for Gail. At the age of 21, the manager of the rink offered her a job in coaching. Turning professional at this time, in some ways, was a little premature, as three weeks later she received an invite to represent Scotland at the following years Commonwealth Games, which unfortunately she had to decline in light of turning professional a few weeks earlier. This appointment however marked the start of a very fulfilling and very successful coaching career spanning over 50 years.
She touched the lives of many pupils with a firm but fair hand and with the right amount of encouragement and challenge that fostered hard work and a strong mindset. Gail’s war cry was ‘anything is possible if you put your mind to it!’
She brought on many talented individuals in her time. Her coaching took her to France and Slovenia, with pupils who took part in international competitions.
Her daughter Lisa was one of her pupils, between the ages of eight and 20. Though definitely a much respected coach, mother and daughter shared many happy times together on the ice, in both training and competitions. Gail drove both herself and her pupils hard. She would begin at 6.30am at weekends and take any ice available during the holidays.
She was immensely competitive but she also had a very personal interest in her pupils, and would devote a lot of her own time to their welfare.
Gail was innovative in her work too. She was among the first to introduce conditioning work to her skaters off the ice, holding sessions in Wallacetown Church Hall with a qualified gymnastics coach.
She was the first to put together and coach a synchronised skating team, forming two teams, Ayr-O-Dynamic and Gael Force. Gail was very proud of both teams, they were both successful in competitions.
Gail was appointed head coach of Ayr Figure Skating Club, and she, along with her fellow coaches, have produced some fabulous skating shows with the pupils of AFSC every summer and Christmas. Gail also made sure that she always came along to the club’s fundraising nights and stalls at fetes, and was always at the skaters’ Christmas Party.
Such was her devotion to her passion, she only gave up coaching in October 2017, due to her ill health; a decision she found heartbreaking.
Sadly Gail lost her courageous fight on Easter Monday 2018. She fought with dignity and strength.
Ayr Figure Skating Club and all who knew her will miss her tremendously, but she will always be a huge part in AFSC, the skating world far and wide, and everyone of her pupils’ lives that she touched.