CINCINNATI (WKRC) - You may have never heard the name Tony Kissing, but the world-class skating coach churned out nearly 40 national champions from a skating rink in Colerain Township.
On July 30, 2019, Kissing, a lifetime Cincinnati native, was inducted into the National Roller Skating Coaches Hall of Fame in Spokane, Washington.
Kissing pioneered the sport of roller speed skating throughout the '60s and '70s. Hall of Famer Marcia Yager is one of his students.
"I could hardly cross my legs. I could hardly skate. I would fall all the time. And so, he just worked with me, and then years later, I became a 14-time national champion," Yager said.
Yager says Kissing helped her during a tough period in her life. Her father had recently died.
"Luckily, he saw something that I didn't see and he just molded me into believing that I could be a national champion. He was more than a coach; he was a father figure," Yager said.
Kissing couldn't go to some meets when he was a kid, so, once he started coaching, he vowed to make sure all his students could go to theirs.
"I took so many kids and loaded them up in my station wagon. We went to a big meet in Alabama. We rented a Greyhound [bus]. Everybody threw in some money and we could take 50 [people] down on the Greyhound and everybody got to go. There was nobody that was ever left behind. We always made a way that they got to go to their meet," Kissing said.
Nearly everyone gave Kissing a hug when they saw him. Yager says she's not the only one helped by Kissing and his family.
"He's helped many, many kids who came from broken homes go into an area where they could just come and be themselves and get away from whatever was going on at home," Yager said. "He would save his money and take us to nationals. He would buy us skates. They would feed us. I mean, him and his wife were just so instrumental in giving us what we need to do the things to just be kids."
Yager says a lot of credit goes to Kissing's wife as well. Unfortunately, she passed away before she could see him inducted into the Coaches Hall of Fame.
"She was the glue. She kept him together. She always fed the kids. She always held their skates. She would always be supportive and she worked here at the rink at the front desk. She was more than just what Tony had done; this is kind of like an award for both of them," Yager said.
Despite turning some of those kids into national champions, Kissing never thought he'd make it to the Hall of Fame.
"I had my champions. I had enough of them, but [the USA Roller Sports Coaches Hall of Fame] had a stipulation that it's not how many champions you have, it's what you do for the sport." Kissing said.
It wasn't just skaters, Kissing helped other coaches too, including his friend Eforrest Allmond, a championship skater.
"With his knowledge, it could pass on from coach to coach. So, it passed from him to me to help pass on to my kids and learn how to be a coach. I'm thankful that I know him. He's really special to me," Allmond said.
Allmond says the honor is way overdue.
"In that period of time, he made so many champions that he should have been in years and years ago," Allmond said.
source
