Dorothy Hamill

Both Hamill's father and brother skated but were not serious about it. Hamill herself began skating when she was about eight years old. She used her brother's hockey

Dorothy Hamill

skates that were too big for her until she received a pair of inexpensive skates for Christmas. Hamill taught herself to skate forwards on a local pond, but could not teach herself to skate backwards. She also saw someone spinning on television, and thought it looked cool.

This led Hamill to convince her parents to take group lessons at a local rink. She soon became obsessed with skating and was very good. Hamill skated under USFSA (United States Figure Skating Association), moving straight from juvenile to novice, skipping intermediate. Her mother drove her to New York City and other locales to train. One of her first coaches was Sonya Dun-field (née Klopfer), who won the U.S. ladies singles championship in 1951.