Goodbye to the gag rule

In 2011, I stated that the Professional Skaters Association rules governing so-called "solicitation" were restraint of trade.  This did not make me popular at PSA seminars, where people in this insular industry could not be made to understand the singularity and bizarreness of the anti-soliciting rules.

Turns out the FTC agrees with me.

To review, the PSA had an anti-solicitation rule stating roughly that no PSA member coach can knowingly directly solicit another coach's student, or tamper with a coaching relationship either directly or indirectly. What this meant was that you could not approach a student who was already working with someone else. You had to be careful about talking to the parents and friends of someone else's student. If a student came to you privately about switching coaches, you were supposed to report this to the other coach if the student had not already done so.

Until a few years ago, when USFS and PSA colluded to impose membership on all coaches doing testing or competing, it wasn't even particularly enforceable, because if you weren't a member of PSA it didn't even apply to you. You could be as big a jerk as you wanted, and if you weren't a member, there was no one to report you to.

If you were a PSA member, it still didn't matter, because the unethical coaches ignored it, and the ethical coaches didn't need it.

There are all sorts of nuanced minefields to this. Kid's parent bragging in the stands? Better be prepared that you have told the parents that you do not encourage this. Got a talented kid in class? Don't praise them too much, either to the kid or the parent if someone else is their coach. Parents in arrears with fees? An "ethical" coach is supposed to refuse to take you until you pay up the prior coach. (Even if the other coach has actively encouraged parents to stay in arrears to keep them from leaving.) Kid in your class been taught incorrect technique on a skill? Careful how you tell the kid their technique is wrong-- that's tampering.

Coming from a business and music background, this sounded absolutely insane to me. Imagine if you had a contractor for your house that wasn't doing the job-- by the standards of this rule, if you went to someone else, they would be ethically required to report you to the guy who was messing up.

Further, it didn't stop unethical coaches, it was used to intimidate students and parents (I knew people who quit skating rather than have to tell a coach they wanted to switch) as well as less experienced coaches and made the whole coach switching thing a nightmarish balancing act.

At the urging of the FTC in another industry, the rules have been changed. It is now only considered statutorily (by PSA statute) unethical to solicit a student actively engaged in competition or a test session. I would call this the "don't be an asshole" rule. The new language is here.

Now, what this means is not that there are no more ethics in coaching. It means that the foolishness of expecting parents to know the esoteric ethical constraints of coaching is over.

In other words, now, if you actively solicit another coach's kid in secret, or start telling parents that you would do better, or bragging to them about how great your kids did at regionals, or telling the kids they would get farther faster with you, you're not strictly unethical according to the rewritten PSA definitions.

You're just an asshole.

The good news: coaches no longer have to report a parent (seriously wtf) to the old coach if they come to you about switching (not that anyone ever did this). The whole team-- parent, skater, coach-- no longer has to tiptoe around hoping that the other coach doesn't file an ethics complaint while you navigate the switch.

It means that skaters and coaches no longer have to fear PSA or USFS sanctioned retaliation if a coach decides to be a jerk about it.

Switching coaches will still be an emotional minefield and you still have to do it with a lot of thought and care, keeping the best interest of the skater at the forefront. There are still ethical issues regarding actively approaching someone else's student (seriously-- don't do this).

Try to work out the issues with the original coach.  Talk to the new coach off the premises. Make sure you're paid up. Don't flaunt the change-- no bragging, trashing, or airing of dirty laundry. If you're a coach, always ask someone who comes to you about lessons if they already have a coach, and if so why they want to switch. Give it a week between the final lesson with the old coach and the first lesson with the new one. Keep it friendly with the old coach.

And goodbye to the gag rule. Now we all get to be civilized because it's the right thing to do.

Getting into coaching, Part 2- learning to teach

There are several routes to getting credentials and experience as a coach.

Actually having a clue how to teach a skating skill is something else.

I recently stood in a Beta class and had to listen to the young coach tell the class that there are three pushes in a backwards cross over. (There are not. Imaginary Internet Points for telling me how many pushes in a cross over.)

Here are some ways to learn how to actually impart the skills.

Re-teach yourself
Literally go onto the ice and figure out what a swizzle, and a stroke, and a cross over are. Most coaches have been doing the lower level skills since they were 4 or 5 or 6 years old. They don't know how to teach a swizzle or a one foot glide, because they can't remember not having that skill. So pretend you're just learning and break down those basic skills.

Work with an experienced coach
Many ways to do this-- either just shadow a coach (essentially apprentice yourself to them) and observe their teaching methods and tricks. Do this at the tot and learn to skate levels. These are no less difficult to teach than high level jumps, and you'll find kids who have had good coaching at these levels have a much easier time higher up the levels.

Another thing you can do is join the PSA and actually contract with a Master rated coach to be a formal apprentice. This gets the Master coach educational credits that they need, and gives you the right to receive actual instruction, and not just observation. Some Master coaches will do this for free (thanks, Nick!), some may charge you a lesson fee.

Hire a coach to teach you how to teach. I did this-- actually took private lessons where the coach taught me teaching techniques. This also reassured that coach that I was serious about learning proper technique; she remains a friend and advocate to this day.

Student teach
If you've already been hired, think of yourself as a student teacher and ask for classes as the assistant with a coach whom you admire.  Some rinks actually have formal student teacher or associate programs. I frankly don't understand why EVERY rink doesn't have a program like this, but then they never seem to consult me about this stuff.

Coaches' continuing education
ISI, USFS Basic Skills, and the PSA all run local, regional and national seminars, which you can find out about from the various websites (see the Resources page). You do not always have to be a member to attend (although you will pay a premium if you're not). Many are free to members. Coaches love to gripe about these, but I've never been to a continuing education event where I haven't learned something. Always be open to hearing new skills, tricks, and teaching techniques. If you didn't grow up skating in the district where you're teaching, this is also a great way to meet the coaches, and skating directors, in your area.

It's teaching, not skating
So many coaches do not understand this. When you're on that ice at the head of a class, you are not a skater. You are a teacher. Being a good skater and/or having a really good grounding in skating technique, do not make you a good teacher. There are class management and student psychology skills that are as important as the skating technique. Look for seminars, read books about classroom teaching, talk to teachers.

Don't be arrogant
You are not God's gift to skating, even if you're Tarasova. Listen, learn. Don't snub the new coach, or the adult skater who's gotten into coaching. They are all resources. Assume that your first five years of coaching are your apprenticeship, and allow yourself the time to become a great coach.

Getting into coaching, part 1

In the late 90s, when I was still just a half-committed recreational skater, I was in a freestyle one class and was having murderous difficulty with the jumps. Years later a coach who was actually paying attention figured out that I'm a lefty jumper, but no one in that FS1 class was paying close enough attention to notice this.

Who cares about the stupid adult after all?

One day I asked the coach if she could help me figure out why I was having so much trouble with this jump. She asked me to demonstrate it, so I did, badly, and asked her if she could tell what the problem was.

She shrugged.

That was it. She shrugged.

I stood there and literally thought "I could not possibly be a worse teacher than this."

And that is how I started thinking about coaching.

Most people get into coaching because it's a pretty lucrative gig for a college kid who's spent her whole life inside a skating rink. This is the easy path-- many kids end up teaching at the rink where they grew up.  Move to a new city and there's bound to be a rink that needs a moderately credentialed coach.

And there's the rub. As I've written about before (although it's getting better since that was written), credentialing for coaching is a sad joke, namely, that you don't really need any credentials to be a coach.

Before all the coaches and PSA spies on here go ballistic over that statement, here's the rundown on steps to take to get into coaching.

Test
Through at least Intermediate, Moves and Freeskate, or ISI FS6.  If you test through Senior/FS8, that pretty much guarantees you a coaching job. In markets where practice ice is run by the local club there will sometimes be a minimum test level, usually Intermediate or ISI FS6, to be allowed to teach on the club ice. However, you don't need to be a "good" skater to coach-- plenty of less than stellar skaters pass these test levels, and I see lots of funky technique at coaching seminars (pot, meet kettle).

Ratings
While I was originally hired by a quite visionary (some would say crazy) skating director who had a "hire the smile" philosophy, my route into coaching was very unusual, as I actually did not have any reasonable qualification. If you are a low skater (FS3 or under) and want to teach, I highly recommend going the PSA Ratings route as I did.  Ratings are expensive to pursue-- I basically stopped testing so that I could afford the ratings, which is why I topped out testing at PreBronze/Prelim Dance, Moves and Figures, but you will learn how to teach through the seminars and other opportunities, and rink management like rated coaches.

Volunteer
Skating is one of the few youth sports where volunteer parents do not dominate coaching in recreational programs. That said, if you are a strong recreational skater, call up the skating director and offer to volunteer in tot and PreAlpha classes, or for ice show rehearsals, which always need extra hands for bathroom breaks, non-gliders and boys who can't stand still.  I volunteered at the Ice Rink of the Damned for three years before they hired me, which is how I learned how to teach.

These three routes give you the resume you need to be credible in applying for a coaching job. Getting the job is the easy part. Part 2 will discuss how to actually learn how to coach.

Skating standards

I've worked with  a couple of great skating directors-- creative and engaged, supportive of the staff, nurturing with the kids, firm but understanding with parents. Heck, they put up with me,  'nuff said.

I've also known several who have told me that the PSA (Professional Skaters Association) is bullshit, and that they don't need continuing education because they already know what they are doing. I've observed programs where the kids demonstrably are not skating to the passing standard, whether USFS or ISI.  And I've heard complaints about programs where they do insist on the passing standards as being "too tough."

This week I attended a Nationwide Seminar sponsored by the PSA. These are seminars staged annually and semi-annually, where all of the coaches across the nation are getting the same curriculum, in a largely successful effort to standardize teaching and outcomes across many diverse markets.  Years ago, when I was a baby coach and first started attending these things and others like them sponsored by USFS and ISI, there would be maybe maybe 20 people there-- I got amazing one-on-one coaching instruction from some very well known skaters.

Then PSA got serious about coaching education, using both carrots and sticks to encourage and even compel attendance at these things. There were more than 80 people at yesterday's event.

The main presenter, Diane Miller, spoke eloquently about her coaching methods, and the importance of instilling proper technique early. I believe she was talking, however, about kids who have already made that leap into competitive skating (not necessarily elite skating, but just kids who skate a lot, and do the non-quals and regionals).

And she made a statement that brought me up sharply. She said that "only 2% of skaters will ever achieve a double axel."

Now, there are all sorts of barriers to the double axel, starting with it's really hard. There are competing activities that take away from the level of commitment it requires. There are cultural barriers regarding hard work and focus. There's cost.

But there is one really key barrier that might help kids overcome all the other ones, and that is competent, consistent coaching by knowledgeable coaches at the real developmental level, that is, in learn-to-skate classes at skating schools.

Now. I have not met all that many coaches who don't know how to teach a proper cross over or three turn (I've met some, but mostly we're all pretty good at these). Nevertheless, I see lots of coaches who don't insist on the standards. Maybe they're passing their own students, since they're going to be fixing stuff in privates anyway (don't ask). Maybe they don't care about kids who aren't their students. Maybe they don't care about any of the students. Maybe they're "cuting" the kid up because they don't want to stand up to the parent, or because they're trying to solicit that parent.

And often, the skating directors let them get away with this stuff.

I seldom see the skating directors at these PSA events. A lot of them aren't even members. After all, what's in it for them? The coaches all had to join finally because USFS muscled them-- join PSA or you can't register your students for tests or competitions. It worked-- nearly every coach I know is now a member of the PSA.

Why not do something like this with the skating directors? You want kids from your facility to be able to register for tests and competitions? Then you have to join the PSA and/or attend continuing education.

But I would not make these educational events the same ones that the coaches get. These would be geared to skating directors, and cover things like staff management, safety issues, ice scheduling, and skating school testing standards. Especially skating school testing standards.

There is a skating management certification called iAIM, run by the Ice Skating Institute, and from all reports its excellent, but it's expensive and is not required by any of the federations. It can't be, because it's expensive. You could, however, require continuing education outside the iAIM certification at lower cost, but carrying a penalty for noncompliance. It worked brilliantly for the coaches.

Skating School directors are probably the least represented and most hidden part of the skating equation-- you hear lots about parents, kids, judges, and coaches. But you never hear about the person guiding all these efforts and herding all these cats.

It's time for USFS and PSA to professionalize this aspect of the industry, and give support to skating directors while also compelling these individuals to acknowledge that they are part of a nationwide industry that needs enforceable standards. Nearly all coaches are required to join PSA at this time, and not joining is pretty much tantamount to saying "I'm never going to have a student advanced enough to test." Why not have this same standard for skating directors? Give skating directors the tools and backup they need to enforce basic skills standards, and keep kids in the sport.

And maybe we'd see more kids getting double axels.

Who do we talk to?

I'm a squeaky wheel.  I also like to know stuff.

Which is a problem when you're a new skater or skating parent. Skating culture is very insular--people hoard information. Further, since so many people in skating have skated literally their entire lives, they often do not understand how mysterious it can seem to neophytes. If you unluckily stumble onto a rink with a poisonous culture like we did, they take your questions as evidence of either stupidity or overreaching, which discourages the inquiries. (And will punish your child in subtle ways in retaliation, not kidding.)

People are sometimes afraid to get information from rink management or the clubs, because they're afraid of looking stupid, they're afraid of retaliation, they're afraid of stepping on the coach's toes.

So they: Ask the Coach, Ask the Gossip Moms, hunt the blogs, try to navigate the USFS site, the PSA site, the ISI site, the CanSkate site. (Which doesn't seem to have a parents' page? Can this be right?)

And you end up getting the not-always-accurate info you need by the seat of the pants.

But each of these places actually have people whose job it is to talk to you. Remember to go in with an open mind, don't snark at them right off the bat; assume they are there to help you, which in fact, they are (unlike local rink managements and club leadership, where that is not always the best assumption you can make). Here are some people to contact:

Susi Wehrli-McLaughlin (swehrli@usfigureskating.org)
Susi is the Senior Director of Membership at US Figureskating.  She's also very accessible, extremely interested in your needs as a coach, skater or parent, and very responsive to issues.

US Figure Skating Parents Committee
They've just introduced a Parents Committee Facebook page. The website has email addresses for contacts in every region. If you're concerned about your inquiry blowing up in your face, contact the chair, or someone from a different region.

Professional Skaters Association 
While this organization is set up for coaches, parents and skaters can also get trustworthy, confidential advice from this organization. Plus, they're in Minnesota, and you just can't believe how nice they are. I think they put something in the water up there. For coaching issues, try talking to Elizabeth Peschges (epeschges@skatepsa.com)

Randy Winslip at the ISI 
This guy knows everything there is to know about skating in the US. While the ISI website is an utter nightmare, their staff is terrific. Randy's email is randy@skateisi.org.  If the ISI conference comes to a town near you, or just for a vacation, go.  (They usually take place in vacation destinations like Florida or Las Vegas.) They always have sessions for and about parents and you'll meet a lot of people who have no stake in your child's or your career, so they are trustworthy to talk to.

Nationals
If you're a competitor, Junior Nationals and the US Figure Skating Championships (which after this year will be one and the same), have seminars for parents and skaters. And I'm betting you don't have to be connected with a competitor to go. If you're at Nationals as a spectator, or they're in your town, call up Susi and ask her if you can attend any of the sessions for parents.

The worst thing you can do as a parent, and especially the parent of a legitimately competitive skater, is to get all your information from a single source. If your coach feels threatened by you trying to get information from people other than him, my advice is to start questioning everything he's telling you, because unless he's feeding you bullshit, why should it matter?

Long story short: educate yourself. Meet other people. Get out of the rink!

Should PSA membership be required?

I believe in the Professional Skaters Association.

Especially in a profession that comprises nearly universally self-taught "professionals," an organization that promotes continuing education, defines ethics, and sets national standards is vital.

No membership? You can sit in the stands and watch
PSA, partnering with US Figure Skating, has done an amazing job in the past five years basically forcing membership-meaning forcing acceptance (or at least awareness) of professional standards in teaching, ethics and continuing ed--upon people who coach students participating in the qualifying competitions. They've done this by establishing a credentials system. No membership? You can't get an ID allowing you to coach your student at the competition.

When I started in figure skating, just 13 years ago, and found out about the PSA, most coaches I talked to scoffed at the idea of a professional association for coaches. Thank goodness one of my early mentors was Jimmie Santee, who so believed in it that now he runs the place.

Now, all competitive coaches must be members, and they're working on extending that down to any coach who participates in any way in "sanctioned" activities. (A sanction is permission from US Figure Skating allowing competitors to skate in non-qualifying activities.) This covers local ice shows, programs, and competitions that includes skaters who participate in qualifying competitions.

Which is very nearly everyone.

Easy to sneak around the rules
But it's easy to not be a member. If you don't care about taking your own students to tests or competitions, or if you don't have private students, you don't have to join. I had a coach blatantly and knowingly solicit two of my students; when I called her on it and threatened to report her to the PSA, she smugly told me that she was not a member, so the ethical rules didn't apply to her.

This is how some coaches think--if I'm not a member, I don't have to be ethical.

Many coaches simply have friends who are members sign test and competition forms to get around the restriction. Clubs often don't enforce the credentials rule, especially for older venerable coaches, but or for young coaches if Daddy is a high level coach. Basic Skills competitions can also be very lax, and ISI has no rules whatsoever. I've had to fight off parents at the rink door at poorly run ISI competitions.

Skating directors are even worse. Many of them no longer disparage the idea of the PSA, but I know at least two who think that it is, and I quote, "stupid." Personally, I think if a rink wants its programs sanctioned by USFS, then the skating director should be required to be a member at the very least, and in fact should be required to have either a PSA rating or an iAIM certificate.

So what's the downside?
For elite coaches--the ones with the $125+ an hour fees and multiple students at Nationals, PSA membership makes sense. It professionalizes the job, and weeds out the less serious coaches. It protects you from solicitation at the elite ranks, where it really counts.  Plus, I'm betting that a lot of those coaches are having at least some of their fees covered by their programs.

For class coaches, maybe taking Suzy to a couple of local competitions a year, the benefits are less clear. The continuing education requirement is the main benefit, although nearly every coach I know considers it a burden and a joke. If you're not rated (the closest thing we've got to a degree in skating) the education requirements are extremely minimal-- 3 open book on line courses. Cheating is endemic. And the cost is considerable-- I once calculated that all my memberships and requirements cost me 2 months pay.

If PSA wants to be relevant down here at ground level, they need to have programs that help coaches and skating directors in local programs.  Support for unionization would be a nice start, or rating rinks according to the professional credentials of management, with real downsides for non-compliant programs.  Better scholarships for participating in continuing education, based on skating income and not on household income.  Extending the annual awards to local instructors, instead of just to coaches with a national profile.

I don't know what it's like up there in the Yuka Sato stratosphere, but down here in the trenches the profession is a mess.  Rife with poor management and incompetent instructors and plagued by low pay, completely absent any sort of employment benefits like paid sick or vacation days, pension or health care, you only do this if you love it. We need PSA so that at the very least no one in the profession can hide behind purported ignorance, or, like my colleague, claim that ethics are for the suckers who join.

As the Professional Skaters Association starts requiring more compliance with its rules, it needs to increase benefits to the vast majority of people in the profession.

Review: The Forgotten Art of Skating Etiquette

I purchased the new DVD published by the Professional Skaters Association, The Forgotten Art of Skating Etiquette. Complaints about skating etiquette are probably in the top 3 queries here--along with coaching changes and, lately, weeks-long discussion on underwear (just kidding).

The DVD hits all the standard rules: skating patterns, spin area, right of way, off-ice behavior. It talks about neatness, avoidance of cliques, proper attire and coaching suggestions. It's got some nice bits of humor and the kids in it clearly had a lot of fun making it. There's a great scene of a locker room tantrum, someone violating the 5-second rule (yuk), and a dreams-of-glory moment when one skater pushes another one over on the ice.  We've all wanted to do that.

The host is a young woman with a sincere delivery (although she needs to learn how to use a teleprompter without looking like she's reading) but I would like to see a host with more gravitas. Specifically, I think Jimmie Santee, the Executive Director of the PSA and the writer of the DVD, should have been the host. It would give the whole thing more a tone of "I'm sick of reading the grievances about shit that could be fixed with a little courtesy and common sense."  The younger, unknown person leading the DVD just makes you think of some sweet new coach who, gosh, just wants everyone to get along, 'kay?

Some of the common etiquette lapses it misses is dealing with divots, lefty skaters, and high and low skaters sharing practice sessions. It also entirely leaves out group lessons. I guess we don't have to be nice to each other in group.

It also doesn't address non-collegiality among coaches. I have seen coaches deliberately stand in the line of sight between another coach and her student; talk on cell phones during lessons, ignore class skaters whom they do not teach in privates, ignore private lesson students if their star student is also on the ice (or worse, ignore their own private student to watch and discuss someone else's star). I've seen coaches stepping off the ice to go talk to a parent (of another coach) or to talk to parents during a group class that they're supposed to be teaching.  I've seen group lessons in the lutz corner on practice sessions (in fact, large group lessons on practice ice at all), and coaches who refuse to discipline their own skaters, including a coach making jokes about one of their skaters injuring someone. You get the idea.

Not to mention trolling innocent bloggers.

What's missing from the script is any suggestions for fixing a program where etiquette has given way to every-skater-for-herself. Having just left a program like that, I can tell you, having everyone watch a DVD isn't going to fix problems. Every coach and high level skater I know understands these rules. The PSA should be helping coaches and programs with ideas to fix problems internally, and should be stating how the PSA can support coaches and skating directors who try to clean things up.

The package would also be stronger with printed materials-poster-sized print outs of the suggested practice patterns that are used in the video, and blank sheets for rinks to create their own (the practice pattern at my rink, for instance, is slightly different than the one proposed). A small booklet with the common-sense rules from the video would also be a nice addition; or even several, so any coach buying this could give one to each of his or her students.

This video is a great idea, and PSA is exactly the right institution to promote it. I call this a great start. The content needs to be more comprehensive, with some print extras, and it needs to be backed up by an actual project of the PSA to improve courtesy on the ice.

Finally, at $15, this 10-minute video is a little pricey.  I think the PSA would better serve the problem--the increasing loss of civility and common sense on practice sessions--by simply sending these out free to every coach in their membership as they renew.  That way, everyone in the industry would know that the PSA is serious about returning collegiality to the rink.

Master Rating in Recreational Skating and Beginners

No, there isn't one.

But there should be.

I've been struggling ever since I received my Senior Rating in Group Instruction from the Professional Skaters Association, about whether I should continue to the Master Rating.

There are compelling reasons why I should: personal satisfaction, confirmation of the levels I've achieved, the necessity to really stretch myself and my abilities in order to achieve that level.

But there are equally compelling reasons to stop at the Senior Level. Senior Group takes you through Freestyle 4/PreJuv Moves skills, which is also the level up to which I've taught a lot. At FS 5 and up I simply haven't had the face time that gives you glib comfort with the teaching techniques (and you need to be on point and very very glib and articulate at the Master exam). Part of this is cultural--most rinks operate on a seniority level, and I don't have the seniority to get assignment to these classes. Because I never tested these levels, to qualify for the rating I need to have a minimum number of hours teaching them. Some rink managers, supporting my desire to increase my skating knowledge and teaching ability, might be inclined to help me out by assigning these classes, but on the other hand, they have no obligation to accommodate my unusual needs when there are plenty of already-qualified instructors at hand.

Further, I don't really want to teach FS5 and up. It's neither my interest nor my strength. And in order to take the rating, I need to teach these higher levels, which would reduce the teaching time I'm able to devote to my first love: the beginners.

However, that Master Group rating is really the only Master level available to me. There are no other PSA Master levels that make sense for either my teaching goals or my personal satisfaction, or that I could qualify for based on my test history or students.

So where do I go?

I would like to propose the Master Rating in Recreational Skating and Beginners. This would encompass private and group instruction, some program director skills, knowledge of equipment and promotion, as well as some child psychology and pedagogy. It would cover all low disciplines: tots, learn-to-skate (thru the equivalent of USFS FS5), low dance, beginning hockey (including rules of play), low couples, speed skating, and team skating like synchro and show numbers. It would encompass both group and private instruction.

In other words, all the types of classes you would find filled at a typical recreational program.

To qualify for this you would need ratings up to the Senior level in two other disciplines, of which one must be one of the group disciplines (i.e. Registered Moves plus Senior Group, or Certified Group plus Certified FS or Senior Synchro plus Certified Choreo). The rating would have just two levels--Senior and Master.

There is a pervasive attitude among figure skating professionals that if you don't teach the highest levels, you aren't a good coach, or a "real" coach. This would be understandable if skating was like other youth sports, where parent volunteers make up most of the beginning coaching cadre, some with no training or credential other than that they played themselves as kids. But figure skating programs pride themselves on having professional staffs.

Since the vast majority of skaters are in the recreational and beginning levels, wouldn't it make sense to have a Master rating specializing in this? And in case anyone from the PSA is reading this, I would be thrilled to serve on the committee developing it.

Do you feel that a coach's PSA rating, and the discipline in which they are rated, makes a difference to their teaching and to your program?

The gag rule in action

As you know, I had to release all of my students last week because of moving to a different rink. All of them wanted to stay at the Ice Rink of the Damned, so they started looking for new coaches.

I got lots of calls from friends saying, "hey, Parent X called me about skating with Precious, is that okay? Also, what's going on?"

To review, what I call "the gag rule" is supposedly a protection against solicitation, defined as actively seeking to subvert a coaching relationship by suggesting a student move to a new coach. The Professional Skaters Association and USFS apply this rule rather broadly, encompassing pretty much all conversations around changing coaches. In other words, if a parent/skater is unhappy with their current coach, this rule makes it very difficult for them to quietly try to test the waters elsewhere, because other coaches are required to report the conversation to the current coach or face sanctions.

It apparently works, because several people called me.

Or maybe I just work for classy parents.

What will be interesting is to see if any of my students end up with coaches other than these, who followed the letter of the law and called me, highlighting another weakness of this rule: you have no way of knowing if someone is talking to your students unless they choose to self-regulate. In other words, in the hands of the unethical, the gag rule doesn't work, because they won't call. In the hands of the ethical, you don't need it. (Two of the people who called me are not members of the PSA and therefore not subject to this rule.)

As an opponent of these anti-solicitation measures, I appreciated getting these calls, but would not have faulted the coaches for not calling me. I would have liked calls from the parents,which I didn't get in every instance, because you should ALWAYS talk to your current coach once you've made the decision to move (okay to hunt around behind her back when you're deciding whether to move, but once the decision is made, common courtesy demands direct contact with the old coach).

One of the difficult things about bad situations like this one is having your convictions run right up against your emotional needs--I needed everyone to flip that place a giant bird and quit en masse. But my coaching philosophy says the most important person in the equation is the kids--their need for stability, adults who put their needs first, and a safe place to learn and have fun.

The Joy of Coaching

The Professional Skaters Association is putting together a book for their 75th Anniversary, coming up in 2013.

They're soliciting stories to include, and supposedly will include "grassroots" coaches (I guess that would be me).

Do you have a favorite post, especially one with a story, from the Xanboni blog? If so, put the date and/or title in the comments and I'll submit.

If you've got a coaching story, from coach's, parents' or skater's perspective, the link for submitting is here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JoyofCoaching. There doesn't seem to be a restriction as to who can enter; if you're on an figure skating forums, I'd say post the link!

The gag rule

UPDATE, November 2014: The gag rule is dead! The Federal Trade Commission got wind of it happening (across many professional associations, not specifically the PSA), and put a stop to it. PSA has changed their guidelines in compliance.

ORIGINAL POST:
Imagine a job where if someone else's client approaches you about switching, because they were unhappy with the current relationship, you are bound by your professional association to report this to your rival.

Imagine you're the client. If you are seen talking to the rival firm, you can yourself be reported for an ethical violation, you risk destroying your current relationship, and the current firm can, in fact is encouraged to, sabotage your ability to hire a new firm. Doesn't matter if the current firm is abusive, incompetent, or unresponsive. If you talk to another firm, even if you leave your issues out of the conversation, you are in violation of the ethical standards of the industry.

Imagine an industry that tacitly encourages its clients to stay in arrears, so that they can prevent the client, legally, from switching to another firm, based on unpaid bills.

Imagine an industry where your firm doesn't offer a product that's available at the rival firm, and that your client needs. The client isn't allowed to seek it, and the firm isn't allowed to advertise it to your client.

Imagine an industry where my client isn't allowed to tell your client how much they like me.

Welcome to figure skating.

The issue is Solicitation, Tampering and Promotion, and it's a big big topic of discussion in coaching circles. Famous coaches have lost their right to attend competitions over it. Skaters have ended careers rather than run up against the rules. Reputations have been destroyed over rumors of violations.

Solicitation is the Big Bad Wolf of the issue-- seeking to acquire a student who already has another coach. Of course, you don't always have control over it, because if the student or parent comes to you and you don't immediately shut down the discussion and report the student to the current coach, and it gets out, you are in career-ending trouble. Tampering is "undermining a coaching relationship" for instance by encouraging, or even by not discouraging your skaters from singing your praises to the skater of another coach or his/her parents. Promotion is just marketing--neutral advertisement of your services, like this website. Just be careful who you market to. Some rinks are so skittish that they don't even allow you to pass out business cards on the premises.

Coming from a performing arts background, I could not wrap my head around this when I learned of it. What do you mean, I can't talk privately to a different teacher if I don't like the current one? And they have to "report" me? It was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard.

If you're a serious competitor who needs to be with a different coach, you practically have to quit skating before you can switch. If you're in a small market, the dumped coach can make your life miserable.

If you just suspect that your coach is not what you need, you cannot ask around and find out. Other coaches won't talk to you. Other parents won't talk to you. You literally cannot get the information that you need to make an informed decision. It's patronizing, insulting and paternalistic, assuming that all coaches will try to steal students, and that parents aren't capable of recognizing good vs. bad information from their own or other coaches.

I have run up against this often. Because of the types of students I take (recreational and low level only), and because of the blog, parents do approach me looking for neutral advice. I'd give it, if I was allowed. I recently had to tell a parent, who in fact has an unqualified coach that is holding their skater back, that I could not talk about it.

I call it the gag rule.

So here's a career-ending opinion:

The gag rule is bullshit. If you can't hold onto your students, that's not my problem. If you let bills go unpaid, you're just a bad businessperson and it serves you right if the student leaves without paying you. The gag rule is unfair to the parents, allows incompetent coaches to thrive, and prevents young coaches from establishing themselves. Get rid of it.

PSA Code of Ethics

I thought you might be interested in reading the Tenets of Professionalism that Professional Skaters Association members are required to follow. If your coach is testing or has students in USFS competitions, they are required to be members. Group class coaches and coaches who only take students to ISI are not required to be members, but they should be anyway.

Tenets of Professionalism
The purpose of these tenets of professionalism is to provide a framework of conduct above and beyond the minimum standards provided by the Code of Ethics as set forth in the bylaws of the Professional Skaters Association. The Professional Skaters Association is aware that applicable rules of ethics covering professional responsibility generally provide only minimum standards of acceptable conduct. The Professional Skaters Association and its membership aspire to the highest ideals of professionalism and acknowledge that the following tenets of professional conduct should be followed in the performance of professional services provided to those with whom we have contact.

1 .As coaches of skating, we will conduct ourselves in a manner that demonstrates respect for the rules under which our skaters compete and that we will preserve with decorum and integrity of the testing program and competition.
2. Professional Skaters Association recognizes that professional courtesy is consistent with the role of the coach. As members of the Professional Skaters Association, coaches will be civil and courteous to all with whom we come in contact and will endeavor to maintain a collegial relationship with other coaches.
3. As skating coaches, we acknowledge that from time to time the students with whom we work may wish to leave us as the coach and seek coaching elsewhere. We acknowledge that we will cooperate with other coaches when conflicts arise and will be willing to make such changes on behalf of the students as will complement the further performance and progress of that student.
4. When competitions or testing situations arise, we agree to keep our students and the parents of those students well informed and involve them in the decision making that affects their interest while at the same time avoiding emotional attachment to our students and their activities both in skating and out of skating which might impair our ability to render professional service.
5. As professionals, and as members of the Professional Skaters Association, we will honor our promises and our commitments, whether oral or in writing, and strive to build a reputation for dignity, honesty and integrity in the skating profession.
6. As professionals, and members of the Professional Skaters Association, we will not make groundless accusations of impropriety or attribute bad motives to other coaches in bad faith or without good cause.
7. As professionals, and as members of the Professional Skaters Association, we will not engage in any course of conduct designed to harass another coach, skating organization official, another skater or the parent of another skater.
8. As professionals, and as members of the Professional Skaters Association, we will strive to expand our knowledge of skating and to achieve and maintain proficiency in our area of expertise.
9. We will never allow race, gender, religion, age or other suspect classifications of persons to improperly motivate our actions.
10. At all times and in all things when dealing with the skating public, officials and other members of the coaching profession, we will adhere to the proposition that our practices shall be governed by the principals of honesty and integrity.

Working with a Master Coach

As part of its coaches education program The Professional Skaters Association offers coaches the chance to work with top-level coaches through the Apprenticeship Program. As part of on going education, or in preparation for Ratings exams, a coach can seek a colleague with a Master rating in the desired discipline, and set up a mentor relationship. The project can include skating instruction, co-teaching, off-ice instruction, and observation.

To reach my Master rating, I have put together a plan to do apprenticeships in Free Skate, Moves, and Synchro at the Registered level, and Group at the Senior and Master Levels. I completed the Senior one two years ago, and passed the Senior Group rating. In addition to the free skate apprenticeship just completed, I have lined up apprenticeships in all these levels to pursue over the next couple of years, prior to taking the Master Group ratings exam. If I can meet the other qualifications of the ratings, I'd like eventually to have Registered ratings in Free Skate and Moves.

It’s just a matter of time and money.

For the Registered free skating apprenticeship, just now finishing, I worked with the only coach at my rink who has gotten the Master FS rating. Ratings exams are not easy to get, requiring a serious commitment of time, money, and continuing education and a serious degree of knowledge, as well as the ability to impart it in an oral exam before a panel of Master coaches. Of the 17 coaches on staff, we have just one Master-rated and one Senior-rated FS instructor, two Senior-rated Group instructors (one of whom is me), and one Master-rated Moves instructor. (There is no requirement to work with a coach at your facility, or even in your city. I was just lucky to have someone interesting to work with so close at hand.) Of the younger coaches, to my knowledge only one of them is starting the ratings process; most of them seem to consider PSA ratings useless at best. Inexplicable. Since there is no college degree or in fact any sort of required credential at all to teach figure skating, I consider it to be very nearly irresponsible to forego the ratings process.

I have known the coach I worked with for more than 15 years. I’ve watched many of his skaters start from Learn to Skate as tots and finish with the Senior test before heading off to college. His commitment to the sport, sense of humor, and affection for his students are obvious and unmatched, and it was a fascinating to work with him.

Because of his general approach using group lessons for free skate instruction, even among his private students, having him as my mentor was made-to-order. I was able to observe how specific teaching approaches and technical information could be imparted in a group setting that yet honors the individual skater’s needs and abilities. I was especially impressed with his ability to keep a class moving, using the whole ice, and with minimal standing around gabbing (the curse of close coaching relationships, such as this coach has with his students).

As with my Group apprenticeship, this coach was unfailingly generous with his knowledge, his students and his time. For much of the course of our time together, it was very gratifying to find out how similar many of our techniques, class management approaches, and coaching philosophy were. Because of my background as a skating mom and adult skater, I often have to overcome feelings of being not quite up to par. His patience and affirmative approach to mentoring have helped me to overcome some of this.

Right now I'm taking a break from the Master skating exam to focus on my Master Gardener exam (one thing at a time). Even if I never scare up the courage to take the rating, apprenticeships are worth the time and effort for someone committed to excellence in figure skating instruction.

PACE Day 3 and final thoughts

As I tweeted yesterday, it was a great event, with great participants, great faculty, great town, great presentations. I'm a PACE junkie, this is my fifth time, and I've had some GREAT experiences, so what made this one so special? Some thoughts and highlights:

• It really made a difference to be able to sleep in my own bed every night. Despite the commute and the 5:30 a.m. start, having the familiar surroundings each night was a boon. Three days, 160 miles round trip commute each day. I know there are people who do that everyday. How can they stand it? In sum it was about the same as driving to the PACE site in Ohio, but somehow, this seemed hard (and I like distance driving).

• I rode every day with my friend Molly, as well, so we got to debrief at the end of the day. It was useful as well as fun to share thoughts and impressions. This was such an important part of this PACE that I would recommend PSA try to come up with a way to offer a discount for two people who sign up together.

• The faculty just clicked. Now, these were many of the same faculty members that I've encountered before, but somehow the chemistry was just sizzling with this group. Furthermore, they checked their egos at the door, and approached the participants as peers. This is not always the case; I have encountered faculty whose mission seemed to be to prove either that the participants were idiots, or that they themselves were on such a high plain you could never hope to achieve it. None of that noise was at this event. (Except at lunch-- it was uncomfortable that the faculty segregated themselves from the participants. Just leave the building folks, that was a little weird.)

• It's easy to find free parking in downtown Milwaukee (in fact, for years we've joked that Milwaukee's tourism motto should be "Milwaukee: It's easy to park!") "Paid" all-day parking will set you back $2 to $5.

• Kern Center is beautiful, but man, their ice surface was poorly prepared. I guess hockey skaters aren't as picky as figure skaters.

• The three presentations on IJS by choreographer and national technical specialist/controller Scott Brown were worth the price of admission alone. It absolutely stuns me that any competitive coach EVER attempts to choreograph a program without attending Scott's sessions, and he does enough of them that they are pretty easy to get to. If ALL you can get to at a PACE are his presentations, it's worth eating the rest of the cost. I have pages and pages of advice for programs from Juvenile through Senior, and I don't even teach at that level. But it helps me in class, where all those skills start, to know what the judges are looking for.

• There were a lot more people doing the Group track this year, and they seemed to be people who weren't just collecting ratings (yes, there are these types), but rather coaches who really believe in Group and aren't just looking for the "easy" rating (it isn't, by the way).

But I think the most important thing that was different this year was my own attitude and expectation. I had a truly terrible experience at PACE last year, so bad that I left halfway through. In fact I decided not to continue seeking ratings because I just didn't need the humiliation (this after actually passing the rating that I took last year). But I came to my senses, decided not to let one bad teacher alter my career, and went in this year feeling like I was at a Master level. This made me act like I was at a Master level, which I like to think came through.

All in all, I'm inspired and excited, and looking forward to continuing the Ratings process through Master Group and, I hope, Registered at Moves, Free Skate and Synchro.

PACE Day Two

Long day, which started before 5 a.m. since we're driving to Milwaukee each day instead of getting a hotel there. (We being my friend Molly and me.)

The first presentation was a review of the ISU Judging System (IJS) by National Tech Specialist and Olympic choreographer Scott Brown. Scott's presentations are always great-- he's got a lot of personality and isn't afraid to be honest about how judging/calling works. With him was international judge Gale Tranger, also a really dynamic and honest speaker. They had lots of inside info about what's coming up in IJS, behind-the-scenes explanations of why certain rules changes were made (such as "we're tired of ugly spirals") and very clear and specific instructions to coaches about what should be in programs, such as don't have skaters do things that they can't do well. Seems obvious, huh? Apparently, you'd be surprised.

We moved out of the classroom and onto the ice for teaching and testing tips for Freeskate and Moves Pre-Pre through Juvenile. I didn't stay for the Intermediate through Senior levels because I don't teach those levels. Scott did an on-ice presentation about IJS, including tips on how to have your skater warm up at competition to make the judges sit up and take notice.

After a truly terrible lunch (who the heck puts mustard on tuna salad sandwiches. Is this a Milwaukee thing?) we started "mock exams" where the faculty puts each participant in the hot seat and makes them answer test questions at their level as though they are in the ratings exam. It's amazing how nervous you get even though it's really friendly and you're allowed, even encouraged to screw up (so that you can get the correction and not do it wrong when it counts).

The day finished with another draw class, and a discussion/mock test on ethics; PSA is adorably delusional sometimes about how ethical we all are and how well the system works, but it's nice that they're trying.

More mock exams tomorrow. It's been a great event so far.

PACE Day One

PACE: Professional Accreditation and Certifying Education, affectionately known as Practice Answering Concisely and Efficiently, is a PSA education event held in three different regions of the US every year. Unlike most coaching seminars and workshops, PACE specifically teaches you how to take oral ratings exams, rather than offering up coaching advice or technique (although you get some of that, too). This is my fifth trip to PACE, and so far it's one of the better ones I've been to.

To get rated, or credentialed, by the PSA, a coach goes through a series of exams from the Basic Accreditation (a written test) to Registered (the lowest oral exam) to Master (the highest) in any one (or more) of a dozen disciplines. I'm working toward my Master Group rating (currently hold Senior, the third of the four levels). Eventually I'd like to have the Master Group, plus a Registered Free Skate and Certified Moves in the Field.

The first time I came to PACE I did not get the whole "teaching the test" thing. I went looking for coaching tips. You get these at PACE, but that's not what it's for. PACE is where you practice answering coaching questions in front of the people who are going to be your ratings examiners. It's not the place to show off, to get creative, to hide in corners or to pretend you know more than you do. Show your strengths and your weaknesses, let the chips fall where they may, and learn confidence in a pressure situation like an oral exam.

The second time I went to PACE I met two of my group coaching mentors, Jan Tremer and Angie Riviello. It was their encouragement that helped me get over my self-doubt about whether I should even be a skating coach, and their guidance that helped me earn the Senior level rating.

And it really is all about the faculty at PACE. Last year I left early the second day, because the faculty's agenda seemed to be to belittle the students. It was so counterproductive that I actually decided to give up on the ratings, because I just couldn't imagine putting myself through the humiliation I experienced at the event.

Fortunately, I decided not to let the turkeys get me down, because this year the faculty is outstanding. Angie's there, and national dance coach Sandy Lamb, as well as national coach Tracy Poletis, PSA executive Carol Rossignol, and Olympic choreographer Scott Brown. The event was organized by another coaching mentor, Craig Bodoh.

I've attended sessions on Choreography (scary and hard!); a "draw" class, where you put pen to paper and literally draw the imprint of each Moves pattern, jump, and spin (I'm really good at this); two Group sessions (where I naturally completely and idiotically blew the first question I was asked!); and both a Certified and a Registered Moves session. I asked to be allowed just to audit the Certified one, which Sandy kindly acquiesced, but I went ahead and participated in the Registered, where I accounted myself just fine. I should remember that I actually do know how to do this and not to sell myself short.

Which is why you go to PACE. To learn confidence in your knowledge and the ability to share it, verbally, as well as you share it every day with your students on the ice.

I'll try to write up tomorrow's sessions as well but it's a 10 hour day with a 1 1/2 hour drive at either end, starting before 6 a.m., so we'll see.

Coaches-- have you been to PACE or other PSA seminars? Let us know your experience.

PSA Education, the editorial

The biggest benefit of the Professional Skaters Association is also the thing that you'll hear coaches complaining about the most-- the continuing education requirement.

If you have a "rating" (i.e. a coaches' certification in a range of disciplines, acquired through both written and oral exams), you must garner a certain number of credits over any given 3-year period. These credits can be obtained by attending numerous local, regional and national seminars, conferences and meetings, sponsored by USFS, ISI, and PSA.

If you take students through either testing or to USFS sanctioned competitions, you must also take the on-line CER (Continuing Education Requirement) exams annually or you cannot get credentialed to stand with your student, or to list yourself as the coach of record.

It's time consuming and expensive. For extremely experienced coaches it can seem redundant. But I for one consider it extremely important.

I like to joke that I'm Exhibit A in "anyone can coach." When I started coaching I had zero teaching experience, was barely a Freestyle 1 level skater, and had never taken a USFS test or been in a competition. I asked if I could help with tot classes as a volunteer, and to my shock was simply assigned several tot and the beginning adult class to teach, on my own.

No training. No experience. No insurance.

No clue. It was scandalous, really. I kind of just don't even know what they were thinking. Fortunately I'm an ethical person and started going to every coaching seminar I could find.

In the absence of college programs that treat figure skating coaching like the serious profession that it is, (I don't know of even one. The way you start coaching is your coach gives you her run-off. I'm not kidding.), it's good that USFS and PSA have stepped in and made these requirements. I personally think that 100% coach's membership in PSA should be a requirement for a rink to be certified by whoever does that.

There can be problems with PSA education. They can be dogmatic. It's a small, closed world, and, again in the absence of other programs, they are the only game in town. Individuals within the ranks can be suspicious of people like me with non-traditional paths into the profession. As I said, on top of the nearly $500 annually in fees, memberships, insurance and online testing, it's expensive.

But I've also met wonderful coaching mentors and learned how to be both a better coach and a better person.

This week I'll be attending PACE Wisconsin, an annual 3-day seminar where they literally teach you how to take the ratings exams. Unfortunately, the new website does not have a description of PACE anymore, just a commerce link to sign up for it (um, guys, you want to fix that?) so I won't provide a link. I'm going to try to tweet from the seminar, and blog it each evening, although I'm driving back and forth Chicago to Milwaukee every day, so we'll see.

Who gets to teach figure skating?

Short answer--anyone that can get hired by a rink.

One of the things that all US Coaches must have in order to get "credentialed" (i.e. have permission to be rinkside with their skaters) is a membership in the Professional Skaters Association, or PSA.

Because no university, as far as I know, awards a bachelors degree in figure skating coaching (and you really have to wonder why not), PSA is the only game in town for a coach that wants to demonstrate training credentials in coaching.

For a profession that discourages the kind of parent coaching common in just about every other youth sport, the requirements for coaching figure skating are a scandal. Basically, there are none. Rinks are "accredited" not by the qualifications of their coaches, but by which type of curriculum they choose--ISI, USFS or none at all. In other words, there is no accreditation. Just membership fees. And anyone, anyone at all, that the rink will hire can teach figure skating. I know, because when I started coaching I had no teaching experience, was a very low level skater, and had never taken any test or coaching education.

Fortunately, I'm an ethical person, and I set out to get the credentials I felt I needed, and now have a Senior Rating in Group Instruction from the PSA and am also credentialed by the Ice Skating Institute as a gold level judge. For the PSA rating, this means I have passed three of the four levels of coach's credentialing in my chosen discipline of Group Instruction. To keep it active, I must attend an average of at least 9 1/3 hours of continuing education classes every year for as long as I want to keep the rating. You can get rated in numerous ice skating disciplines, including Group, Free Style, Moves in the Field, Choreography, Program Director, Figures, etc. I earn my hours by going to an annual 3 day seminar, by attending every ISI, USFS, and PSA seminar offered in my district, and through annual accreditation in Red Cross First Aid and CPR. (More about the ratings exams here.)

But it's not required. I never heard of a rink where you need to be rated to teach. Incredibly, not all rinks require First Aid or CPR training. You don't even need to be a member of US Figure Skating or the PSA to teach (although now you must be a member of both those organizations to sign your students up for tests and competitions). No rink I have ever worked for requires that coaches attend continuing education. I know of coaches who have never taken a single figure skating or coaching test nor skated in any competition. Rinks with formal programs to help Junior coaches learn the profession are few and far between; it's all watch and learn. Coaches that I have spoken with about this almost universally tell me that kids who can skate can coach. So, I can read, I guess that means I'm qualified to teach second grade! I can't imagine another profession where you jump from student to pro with no training in between.

I have a few problems with the PSA--I think that at the Master level the Group rating should be divided into developmental and freestyle; PSA seems to think that the higher your students are tested, the better you are. Which may be true for competitive skaters, but completely misses the point about group classes, where the vast vast majority of skaters are in the lower levels. For me, the Master rating in PSA, where they focus on questions about teaching the higher levels, is like asking someone who wants to teach grade school to pass a PhD level exam in particle physics. My specialty is beginners, and PSA should recognize the value of the skills needed for teaching beginning skaters by giving people like me our own rating exam.

It's a problem that PSA has no competing program; like I said, kids should be able to get a PE or Recreation degree with a focus on teaching figure skating or managing figure skating programs.

But PSA is the only game in town, and a PSA rating is a good indicator that your coach takes coaching seriously, understands that there are ethical guidelines, regards it as his or her profession, and does continuing education to stay on top of the sport.

I have asked Jimmie Santee, president of the PSA, to offer a comment for this post, but have not heard from him yet.

How to change coaches

An anonymous commenter despairs that they left what they felt was an ineffective coach, "now she's mad at us. How do we let her know there are no hard feelings?"

This is, hands down, the toughest thing in skating. Unlike other sorts of lessons and teachers, where when you leave, you leave-- you physically go somewhere else, and you don't have to see that person again, in skating, it's rare to actually leave the rink when you change coaches, so you have to keep dealing with that person.

So, first, be kind. Coaches invest a huge amount of ego (the good kind), time, and emotion in their kids. We get extremely attached, very quickly; most coaches I know feel actual affection if not love for their skaters approaching a parental feeling. Unless there is actual abuse or criminality going on, or the coach isn't showing up for lessons, try not to make it about the coach. Make it about you, or the progress, or life changes, whatever. Don't shut the door on a coach if you don't have to. Your skater is still going to have that coach for class, will have to interact with his or her other students, etc. Some good reasons to switch-- Schedule doesn't work. You want a coach with kids that are more/less competition-oriented. You want to work with a Pairs or Dance coach. You can't afford it (be prepared for some coaches to offer you a deal; this does happen). In other words, there are lots of ego- and relationship-saving ways to change coaches.

Usually people change coaches because they feel the current one isn't helping the skater progress. But never make this the reason, because unless you are the skater, you just don't know what it is about the coaching relationship that isn't working. Sometimes a new coach will say the exact identical thing to a kid that the old coach was saying, and for some reason, the kid does it for the new coach. So sometimes it's not something the coach has done or not done. And at any rate, you probably don't know enough about skating technique to make that judgment. Don't even bring it up.

Do it slowly. Tell the coach if you have a problem. "Mary's not progressing as quickly as other skaters," "Mary doesn't seem to be responding to you." (Even if this is what you mean, do not say "as quickly as I think she should." Unless you are a skating coach, the first thing that coach will think, is how do you know how fast she "should" be progressing?) Let him or her explain. Then tell them that you are considering a coaching change. Give them a chance to redeem themselves.

If you have already decided who you want to move to, talk to that coach privately, and tell them that you will talk to your current coach. An ethical coach will also speak to the current coach before taking on a new student. There are no secrets at an ice rink, and competitive and PSA rated coaches are bound by ethical rules that require us to disclose when a skater talks to us about switching coaches. Make sure both coaches know what is going on every step of the way. Don't be seen talking to the new coach if you haven't told the old coach yet.

Pay any outstanding bills. Do not skip this part. Please do not skip this part. Not paying the final billing is the single most effective way to ensure that your child will never again be given the time of day by any coach at the rink, because believe me, word will get around.

If the coach stops talking to you or your child, explain to the child that she's sad about the change, then tell the coach you understand if she doesn't want to talk to you, the parent, but please don't take it out on Mary, because she feels very hurt. This happened to my daughter, and it took a couple of years for us to make the old coach understand that we did not harbor any ill will. (She basically decided that lessons were for fighting with him, and I was paying $60 an hour to watch them argue.)

Don't let a coach drive you out of a rink, or worse, out of skating. I have seen this happen and it breaks my heart. Sometimes coaches don't know they're doing it, sometimes they do it with malicious intent. Don't give in. At worst, it builds character. You are the customer, you have a right to skate where you want to skate, and your child has a right to a safe and friendly environment. But the best way to avoid this is to listen to the coach. I recently was subjected to first, an overheard argument between a parent and a coach, and then both parties came to me separately to complain. Basically, the coach had been telling the parent for a year that the child needed to skate and practice at a certain level, which she was not doing, or this coach was not the right match. But she was a "prestige" coach and the parent didn't want to hear it. Eventually the child got so discouraged that she quit skating entirely. She was a recreational skater with a competitive coach. That girl would still be skating if the parent had heard what the coach was saying, namely "I'm not the right coach for your child."

Here is an overview of the PSA Guidelines for coaches when approached by a skater/parent about a coaching change, and an excellent pdf of Proper Procedures for Changing Coaches. More on coaches' and parents' ethics in a future post.

If I ran the ice rink

It's a favorite pastime of skating coaches-- griping about the clueless management. Of course, the management isn't clueless, but some decisions, or non-decisions seem puzzling if lines of communication aren't open.

So here's what I would do if I ran the circus skating rink:

Listen to my staff. Better still, ask them for input, on a regular basis. At the end of every class session (generally 6 to 10 weeks depending on the rink and time of year) sit down with staff and ask questions. What worked, what didn't. What did you hear from parents? What are your ideas for keeping our students engaged and in class (or better yet in multiple classes). If you can't get them to come to a meeting, meet with them individually.

Know what your coaches are doing on the ice. Watch a few classes. Sit in the stands with the parents. A certain type of coach left on her/her own will default to What's Best For Number One. The most notorious example of this is the coach who only teaches his or her own students, even in class, ignoring everyone else. Before long, only his or her students will bother to sign up for that class, because kids and their parents figure this out and will stop wasting their money and their time. Wondering why no one signs up for Freestyle 6? That's why.

Listen to my customers. Find out who didn't sign up for a subsequent session and send them an "exit survey." Find out what kept them out. Look for trends and address them in the program. Get out of the office and talk to parents during class. Just go up and introduce yourself and ask them how it's going. You'll get an earful, and most of it will be good. You'll find out which coaches are the beloved ones, and it just might surprise you. The paperwork needs to get done, but well done paperwork won't grow your program.

Reward skaters and coaches publicly. Whenever a skater passes a USFS test, or competes in any competition (let alone wins a medal), put up a sign, congratulating not only the skater, but the coach as well. If a coach passes a ratings exam, or competes or performs, put up a sign. This gives that student extra incentive to keep skating, gives the coach validation for continuing education, and it also starts the education of new parents and skaters, who are likely to ask someone what that means. At my rink there are huge signs lauding the hockey program and speedskating. The hockey program painted a giant sign on the ice surface. Hockey and speedskating TOGETHER account for maybe 20% of the ice time. The speedskating program is a private club. Eighty percent of the hockey program is rentals and travelling teams. Where is this kind of promotion for in-house figure skating, at one of the largest figure skating programs in the area? When I asked the rink manager this, I was told "it's not always about the money." Well, with all due respect, yes. It is.

Know what my coaches are doing. Whether taking PSA ratings exams, or attending a lot of continuing education seminars, or taking your rink's students to lots of competitions, coaches who immerse themselves and their students in the sport, and who are out in the skating world promoting your program through their presence, should be rewarded. Despite my recent Senior Rating in Group Classes from the PSA, I am in a lower salary range than 22 year olds with high USFS tests. Those kids skate better than me, but no way do they teach better than me. I, and others like me, should be rewarded. Don't confuse ability to skate with the thing that is really important to your program-- a coach that inspires skaters to continue.

Mix it up. Within the limitations of the schedule, don't always put the same coaches on the same classes. Some kids (or parents) don't like a certain coach and you will lose them forever in that class unless they know that they might draw a different coach. Currently most rinks assign classes on a seniority system-- the longer you've been at a rink, the more likely you are to get the "desirable" classes. We have a joke, that you can always tell when the freestyle coaches are feeling nervous about how many private students they have, because they suddenly turn up teaching the Alpha class, where they skim off the best students before disappearing back into the freestyle black hole. The seniority system means not only that gifted new coaches have difficulty getting assigned to high freestyle, but also that your most experienced coaches never teach in the lower levels.

Have after school practice or public ice for all levels of skaters. Some rinks have only public skating after school, so they lose all the freestylers and high level skaters. Some rinks only have free style practice sessions after school, so your beginners never come to practice. Again, mix it up. Make sure your rink has something for everyone. (And, after school means 3:45, not 6.)

Stay tuned for "If I ran the rink, Nutcracker edition"!

Edit: here's a discussion sparked by this post, at Skating Forums.

*full disclosure: I do NOT want to run the rink. I just want to complain about it.