Doing the Time Warp

Whenever the topic of the ice show theme comes up, I always wish I worked somewhere that we could actually do my number one choice: Rocky Horror Picture Show. You have to agree, this would be a fantastic ice show; watch it sometime; it is an ice show, they just forgot the skates. Of course, you probably couldn't bring the kiddies, but why Johnny Weir hasn't bought the rights is completely beyond me.

My daughter always wanted the High Freestyle number in the spring ice show to be Doing the Time Warp from Rocky Horror; it's a great ice show number, and I still have it in the back of my mind for a theater-on-ice program. I thought of it because I was watching her on the ice with her dance training partner a couple of days ago and had one of those parental flashes of a little 5 year old girl watching, eyes like saucers, while the big girls skated, with me right there with her wondering how your child got to be that girl.

Well, that child is that girl, and now I watch 21st century 5 year olds (yes, that was in the last century) watching her with serious hero worship in their little faces. I'm not embarrassed to say that I got all choked up. I'm so proud of her, and so glad that we took this frozen journey together, because I think it has made us both better, more interesting people than we might have been otherwise. For me especially, doing something so completely off the wall as becoming a skating coach in my 40s gave me courage and confidence, and the blessed ability to pass on my enthusiasm to others.

And it being sort of a time warp day, it's the one year anniversary of Xanboni. Last year on October 6th, I wrote "I hope that parents, kids, skaters and other coaches can find something to help them". I think that goal has been fulfilled, and I want to extend it and hope that I can keep coming up with fresh topics about coaching, parenting athletes, and the joys of skating.

I've got some new goals for the coming year. I'm working on moving Xanboni to its own domain, Xanboni.com, with a fresh look and my own actual logo. To start the process, you can now send me questions or topic ideas to coachxan@xanboni.com. I'm also planning to start Camp Xanboni, a summer program for beginner skaters; watch for more information on that in the coming months. My graphic designer (an old friend) is on me about a Cafe Press store for Xanboni imprinted products. I'm hard at work on my Master Coach rating; I'll be finishing up an apprenticeship with Master Free Skate coach Nick Belovol, I'm getting students ready for Moves tests (my first Moves students ever) and I'll be doing one or two more apprenticeships before the ratings exam next fall.

In my spare time, I hope to take the Master Gardener course with the University of Illinois extension.

Whew!

Thank you so much to all my readers, and especially IceMom, Mr. Brown Thumb, Deb Chitwood, Allison Scott, Aaron Harris, IcePact, and my dear friend coach Christopher Hyland, who have been such an inspiration, resource and support.