For three decades, Canadian figure skater Jodeyne Higgins could always count on Sean Rice – her partner at the rink and at home – to lift her up and catch her on the way down.
The pair have been inseparable since they teamed up for the first time at the Preston Skating Club in Cambridge in 1991, but Higgins – back in her hometown of Stratford on Saturday to accept the city’s Bronze Star in recognition of her skating career – visited family and friends this week with a heavy heart.
Rice unexpectedly died in January at the age of 49, sending family, friends, and the international skating community into mourning.
Suddenly, Higgins was without her safety net.
“It was a shock,” she said a few hours before Saturday’s ceremony in Market Square. “You wake up one morning and your life is completely different, but you’ve got to keep going and you’ve got to find ways to still love life. I’ve got a daughter and she’s eight and she’s amazing, so you keep going for her and keep (helping) her fulfill her dreams.”
Stratford awards its Bronze Star to individuals who have contributed profoundly to the city or achieved national or international status. Higgins, who learned to skate on a backyard rink before joining the Stratford Figure Skating Club, was able to share the news of her award with Rice last year, though the celebration was postponed because of the pandemic.
Higgins said the honor left her “speechless.” She remembers Rice’s excitement.
“I know he’s always been very proud of me,” Higgins said. “I know today he’ll be there holding my hand even though he’s not here, because that’s just the way we’ve always been.”
Both skaters were looking for new partners in 1991 when they stepped on the ice as a team for the first time.
“The moment that we tried out together, it just clicked,” Higgins recalled. “You could just feel that it was right and we could create something special. (There’s) something (about) when you join hands with somebody (and) you just know. We had that.”
Their intuition turned out to be right, both professionally and personally.
After winning bronze at the 1992 Nebelhorn Trophy in Germany, Higgins and Rice, who was from Oakville, repeated the feat at the 1993 Canadian Figure Skating Championships. The accomplishment allowed them to travel to the World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, Czechia that year, where they finished tenth and created a career highlight.
“I think that was probably the most special moment, seeing all those Canadian flags flying before (we) stepped onto the ice to compete,” she said. “That whole series of events from nationals through to worlds was pretty special.”
The pair represented Canada on the world stage again in 1995 following their second national bronze medal. They also finished third at the 1995 Skate Canada International and would continue skating competitively for another four years.
After they retired from competition, Higgins and Rice stoked their love for skating in other ways.
Besides coaching, they toured professionally on Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines before taking part in popular reality TV shows both in Canada and the UK. Higgins was a contestant on CBC’s Battle of the Blades in 2009, paired with former pro hockey player Ken Daneyko. Two years later, both Higgins and Rice appeared on British television’s Dancing on Ice in 2011 and 2012.
Not long afterwards, Signey was born.
Offering professional figure skaters an avenue to perform turned out to be another passion Higgins and Rice would also develop together. After their stints on television, Higgins and Rice began offering their expertise to various live figure skating productions including Christmas on Ice, an annual event at Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls.
“It’s really important,” Higgins said. “A lot of times kids grow up in the competitive part of skating … and there’s no avenue for them to go into when they’re finished. We’re trying to create avenues and create space for these skaters to enjoy careers way past their competitive (years) and I think that’s been something super beautiful.”
Stratford Mayor Dan Mathieson embraced Higgins Saturday following the presentation of her Bronze Star, a moment she also shared with Ontario’s lieutenant governor, the Hon. Elizabeth Dowdeswell, who was in town celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
“She’s represented Canada, she’s a medalist, and she’s always remembered Stratford to be home,” Mathieson said. “Sometimes we need to celebrate some of the achievements of our residents so that the rest of us all remember that the humble beginnings that start here can have lasting and long term benefits, not only for themselves but also for our community. Jodeyne has never forgotten that Stratford was an important part of her development and for that we’re very thankful.”
Higgins’ trip to Stratford this week was her first in nearly three years. She said she’ll spend time with her parents, Barb and Wayne – still Stratford residents – and her sisters Judy and Janis.
Afterwards, she’ll return home to Florida, where Signey is a competitive Irish dancer, and continues the production company she started with Rice.
He always used to say, ‘Live to inspire, inspire to live, live life to the fullest, and never lose your dream.’ I’m trying to keep going with that,” Higgins said. “We have the production company, something that we created together, and so I’m going to keep that going and keep moving forward and not stop creating things that we loved.”