That's right. This is not a "how to teach" post. It's how to support your child's budding career, and it's a great one. Coaching has gotten many a former skating princess through medical school, because there are always jobs, and it pays more than minimum wage (as much as double minimum wage, in fact), even more if you pick up private students.
Kids can start teaching (as opposed to coaching) as young as 12, and depending on your state's laws, can be hired as regular staff at 14 or 15, and anywhere at 16 (labor laws). I hunted around on the PSA and ISI sites last night and could not find any guidelines for starting young coaches. The closest I found was PSA's Intern membership level. PSA also has the apprenticeship program which is a great option for learning how to teach. (See my posts about learning to teach here and here.) Here's the USFS guide for coaching.
But this post is about you.
I would (and did) encourage, even push, my skater to try coaching. As I said, for the age group it's lucrative. Your skater may decide she or he hates coaching (mine did), but that's okay. It's important to keep this option open while they need it.
So how young?
The one rink I've ever encountered that does it right, Northbrook Ice Arena in Illinois, allows kids to junior coach as young as 12, and has "buddy" options in the ice show younger than that, based on skating level and audition. Most of the girls (it's all girls at Northbrook) start at 14.
So you just throw them on a class and hope for the best?
Sadly, at many rinks, yes. And they always seem, inexplicably, to put them with the tots, the absolute hardest level to teach. If your newly minted coach is teaching a class by her/himself, complain. This is not appropriate for so many reasons-- skill, trust (i.e. why should parents trust your 14 year old with 8 tots), and not least, liability.
Wait, liability?
Young coaches who are on staff, or junior coaches in a formal program, are covered by the rink's insurance. In a rink where junior coaches are just sort of "at discretion," it's less clear. Your skater cannot get their own liability insurance until they are 16, and they must be members of the PSA to get it.
What's the first step
If your skater is already 16 and skating at least FS4 (arbitrary level choice, but I wouldn't go any lower with a young skater), and has not expressed an interest in coaching, or been asked by the rink, bring it up. If you know that there are opportunities at the rink, push it. I really believe kids should do this. Then have the skater (not you) talk to their coach, a coach on a class they'd like to teach, or to the skating director about how to become a junior coach.
Pay
If your skater is actually hired, they must receive the same pay as any other coach hired in their category (it will vary from rink to rink and municipality to municipality, but is a statutory limitation based on H.R. categories. This is a legal thing.) They MUST receive at least minimum wage; it is against the law to hire someone for a regular position and pay them less than minimum wage.
If it's part of a junior coaching program it might be for pay (again, if they are on payroll this must be at least minimum wage), it might be quid pro quo, it might be "point building" towards a regular hire. This will vary hugely; no two rinks are the same. This is a place where you as a parent can ask. If the answer is vague, or worse, "oh I don't know we'll think of something" or if you find out that your arrangement is different from the next junior coach over, complain. This is one area where I would say you don't have to let your skater take the lead.
Learning to teach
Teaching is not skating. Knowing how to skate does not mean you know how to teach. My daughter pointed out that she had no idea how to teach a swizzle, because she'd been 4 when she learned it. Encourage a high degree of humility. Let your skater know that a coach instructing them in teaching tips is no different than a coach instructing them in how to do a sit spin-- it's just another skill. Nothing sets my teeth on edge more than a 16 year old acting like she knows teaching better than I do.
Your child's coach
Lots of coaches will use their older or more advanced students to help with younger skaters working with the same coach, sometimes for pay, sometimes for quid pro quo (i.e. free lessons)
Instruction in instruction
Check your ISI District and the Basic Skills website for free seminars-- coaches can go to either, it doesn't matter what curriculum the rink uses. Don't go with your skater; you wouldn't want her at your professional continuing ed either. This is the arrogance thing again-- even experienced coaches learn something at these; a young coach shouldn't assume that because she can skate, she can teach. Plus, there's a lot of bad technique being passed around out there-- it might be your skater who is getting it. Seminars are great places to learn about good technique. And they often have superstar cred-- I learned how to teach flips from Tom Zakrajsek, and have seen Jason Brown, Gracie Gold, and Evan Lysacek among others as demonstrators.
But the most important thing you can do for your young coach is the same for all aspects of their lives-- be vigilant, but stay out of the way. (After pushing them into this, that is.) Don't stand in the rink door. Don't harass the pro on the class about giving your child more opportunities to teach; don't nag the skating director for "better" classes or more coaching time. Don't offer advice unless you are asked. (This is especially hard if you are also a skating coach.)
Don't be a "coaching parent" anymore than you should be a Skating Mom™. You know that Olympic dream your skater has? Coaching is another way to get there.
Showing posts with label classcoach. Show all posts
Showing posts with label classcoach. Show all posts
Feb 10, 2014
Why I do this
Overheard at the class next to mine:
Skater to coach: How do you have such good ideas!?
Coach: Oh, I guess just because I've been a teacher for a long time.
Skater: But they're so good!
Coach: Well, why do you think they're good ideas?
Skater: Because it's really helping me!
Skater to coach: How do you have such good ideas!?
Coach: Oh, I guess just because I've been a teacher for a long time.
Skater: But they're so good!
Coach: Well, why do you think they're good ideas?
Skater: Because it's really helping me!
Jun 26, 2013
Ain't Misbehavin'
As far as I'm concerned there are no bad kids, there are only mismatched (I won't say bad) teachers.
Any group of children, even one with no behavior issues, is hard to manage and control. As I mentioned in a previous post, a 16 to 1 student teacher ratio is not unheard of in a skating class, and there are no chairs to put them in so they stand still. On skates, you can move and a lot of kids really really want to.
Move.
Constantly.
Especially boys.
If you luck into a Learn to Skate level class with a lot of sweet girls who stand and listen when you speak, hooray. It does happen, but it's pretty rare.
More common are classes where about half to 2/3s are kids who can focus and stand still even on the ice. The rest of the kids will be what I call noodles (no muscle control), exploding brains (Must. Say. All. Words. Constantly.) and astronauts-- they're in outer space. You have to radio them to get their attention. "Earth to Suzy! Come in Suzy!"
I recently watched a coach explain at length how to create beautiful stroking using the entire blade and stretching then pointing the toe to create power, grace and line. It was a brilliant description of the art of stroking.
Delivered in monotone, with no eye contact, to a group of 8 year olds.
Who all wanted to just watch the tots next door playing some sort of boisterous and obviously engaging game.
I've seen sweet young coaches make kids stand still for 5 or 6 minutes while taking attendance. Five or six minutes is an eternity in a skating class, especially for a child with what I call the "exploding brain"-- they cannot stand still. Cannot. Not "will not." Not "don't want to." They Cannot Stand Still.
Don't make them. Let them move. Give them something to do that isn't "oka-ay. Let's do one foot glides. Oka-ay. Let's do that again. Now lets do swizzles! I'm not going to offer any specific advice for those of you struggling with this, we're just going to keep going back and forth until Xan claws her eyeballs out!"
Like the trope says, you don't teach the skating class you wish you had, you teach the skating class you get. If you get one with an astronaut, two noodles, an exploding brain and a kid with oppositional defiant disorder, you better have strategies ready to keep that class engaging for all of them.
Any group of children, even one with no behavior issues, is hard to manage and control. As I mentioned in a previous post, a 16 to 1 student teacher ratio is not unheard of in a skating class, and there are no chairs to put them in so they stand still. On skates, you can move and a lot of kids really really want to.
Move.
Constantly.
Especially boys.
If you luck into a Learn to Skate level class with a lot of sweet girls who stand and listen when you speak, hooray. It does happen, but it's pretty rare.
More common are classes where about half to 2/3s are kids who can focus and stand still even on the ice. The rest of the kids will be what I call noodles (no muscle control), exploding brains (Must. Say. All. Words. Constantly.) and astronauts-- they're in outer space. You have to radio them to get their attention. "Earth to Suzy! Come in Suzy!"
I recently watched a coach explain at length how to create beautiful stroking using the entire blade and stretching then pointing the toe to create power, grace and line. It was a brilliant description of the art of stroking.
Delivered in monotone, with no eye contact, to a group of 8 year olds.
Who all wanted to just watch the tots next door playing some sort of boisterous and obviously engaging game.
I've seen sweet young coaches make kids stand still for 5 or 6 minutes while taking attendance. Five or six minutes is an eternity in a skating class, especially for a child with what I call the "exploding brain"-- they cannot stand still. Cannot. Not "will not." Not "don't want to." They Cannot Stand Still.
Don't make them. Let them move. Give them something to do that isn't "oka-ay. Let's do one foot glides. Oka-ay. Let's do that again. Now lets do swizzles! I'm not going to offer any specific advice for those of you struggling with this, we're just going to keep going back and forth until Xan claws her eyeballs out!"
Like the trope says, you don't teach the skating class you wish you had, you teach the skating class you get. If you get one with an astronaut, two noodles, an exploding brain and a kid with oppositional defiant disorder, you better have strategies ready to keep that class engaging for all of them.
Jun 11, 2013
Sharing the class
Fifteen to one.
That's the generally accepted maximum ratio of students to teacher in learn to skate.
For tots it's 8 to 1; for the 3 and 4 year olds four to one.
Some municipalities base the ratio on statutory classroom ratios, some on their own metrics, and some just fill classes until no one else wants to sign up. In practice, most rinks will try to keep the ratio low, with multiple coaches on a single class.
Personally I like a higher student/teacher ratio. I find the class flows better when you have to deal with more kids. (I had 27 all by myself in a PreAlpha class once. That was a bit much.)
Multiple coaches are helpful not just to keep the student/teacher ratio reasonable, but also because if one coach can't be there on any given week due to scheduling conflicts or illness the students still get a "regular" coach rather than a sub. Back in the day, when coaching staffs were larger however, you'd sometimes get the agonizing phenomenon of 2 teachers on a class with only 4 or 5 kids.
It can be tricky to find a rhythm with a second teacher. There are rinks with rigid week-by-week syllabuses (syllabi?), but generally you're sort of making it up as you go along within the general constraints of the USFS or ISI curriculum.
So how do you "share" the class?
Defer
If I'm new to a program, or the other teacher is the 'main' teacher, I 'll let them set the stage. Just tell me what to teach, and for how long.
Assign
If I'm the main teacher, I'll sometimes tell the other teacher what to do, or just turn the class over to them for some period each week. (I'm really bad at this; I always want to jump in.)
Double Act
When you've been on a staff for a while, you start to know the other coaches well enough to really develop a rhythm, and they know enough to trust you. This is the best way to share a class; where you understand each other's strengths, and know when you can jump in and when you should hold back.
One-on-one
Once the kids are skating, competent teachers, however many there are, will simply move from student to student and give personal advice. If I start to see common errors or questions, I'll stop the class and bring up the point for everyone to hear.
Student teachers
At rinks with serious student teaching programs, you get to teach the student teachers as well, letting them know when to jump in, when to help kids individually, and when to take over. I feel that from the stands, parents should not be able to distinguish student teachers from staff coaches by the level of involvement-- every coach on the ice should be engaged in the class.
Planning
Hang on, have to pick myself up off the floor, where I fell down laughing. You could actually sit down with your co-teacher and create a syllabus, although I've never seen this happen in the regular classes. (I actually do have syllabuses for every level through FS4, which I pull out mostly when I'm teaching a level I'm less familiar with, or when I have a class that's struggling.) In specialty classes like dance or power, however, this is fairly common.
That's the generally accepted maximum ratio of students to teacher in learn to skate.
For tots it's 8 to 1; for the 3 and 4 year olds four to one.
Some municipalities base the ratio on statutory classroom ratios, some on their own metrics, and some just fill classes until no one else wants to sign up. In practice, most rinks will try to keep the ratio low, with multiple coaches on a single class.
Personally I like a higher student/teacher ratio. I find the class flows better when you have to deal with more kids. (I had 27 all by myself in a PreAlpha class once. That was a bit much.)
Multiple coaches are helpful not just to keep the student/teacher ratio reasonable, but also because if one coach can't be there on any given week due to scheduling conflicts or illness the students still get a "regular" coach rather than a sub. Back in the day, when coaching staffs were larger however, you'd sometimes get the agonizing phenomenon of 2 teachers on a class with only 4 or 5 kids.
It can be tricky to find a rhythm with a second teacher. There are rinks with rigid week-by-week syllabuses (syllabi?), but generally you're sort of making it up as you go along within the general constraints of the USFS or ISI curriculum.
So how do you "share" the class?
Defer
If I'm new to a program, or the other teacher is the 'main' teacher, I 'll let them set the stage. Just tell me what to teach, and for how long.
Assign
If I'm the main teacher, I'll sometimes tell the other teacher what to do, or just turn the class over to them for some period each week. (I'm really bad at this; I always want to jump in.)
Double Act
When you've been on a staff for a while, you start to know the other coaches well enough to really develop a rhythm, and they know enough to trust you. This is the best way to share a class; where you understand each other's strengths, and know when you can jump in and when you should hold back.
One-on-one
Once the kids are skating, competent teachers, however many there are, will simply move from student to student and give personal advice. If I start to see common errors or questions, I'll stop the class and bring up the point for everyone to hear.
Student teachers
At rinks with serious student teaching programs, you get to teach the student teachers as well, letting them know when to jump in, when to help kids individually, and when to take over. I feel that from the stands, parents should not be able to distinguish student teachers from staff coaches by the level of involvement-- every coach on the ice should be engaged in the class.
Planning
Hang on, have to pick myself up off the floor, where I fell down laughing. You could actually sit down with your co-teacher and create a syllabus, although I've never seen this happen in the regular classes. (I actually do have syllabuses for every level through FS4, which I pull out mostly when I'm teaching a level I'm less familiar with, or when I have a class that's struggling.) In specialty classes like dance or power, however, this is fairly common.
Do the classes at your rink use more than one teacher per class? What successful (or failed) strategies have you used or observed?
Apr 14, 2013
It doesn't have to be boring
There is nothing worse in the day of a figure skating coach than 15 minutes before the end of a Pre Alpha class.
More than any other level, Pre-alpha (Snowplow Sam 4, Basic 1) is going to have wildly divergent speeds and engagement from the students.
Once they get into the true Learn-to-Skate levels, most kids can at least "keep up"-- that is, move at the same speed as everyone else. By the time they get into low freestyle, they've self-selected to just kids who are really motivated to skate.
But at Pre Alpha there are days when you just know you shouldn't check the clock because you have another 15 minutes of trying to get the whole class across the ice together.
As far as I can tell, it's worse for the kids.
They get this glazed look.
They start looking wistfully at the Beta class next door that seem to be having so much fun.
They have to go to the bathroom, or give their hat to their mom.
They're tired.
And the classic clue that you are being boring: "how much longer?"
Here's the thing-- if coach is bored (boring), the kids are bored.
And why do that to yourself? There is simply no reason to run a boring class. Every time I'm helping in a class with a teacher whose lesson plan is "okay one foot glide, right foot. Okay, let's do it again. and again. Couple more times! Now let's do the other foot." For. Forty. Minutes.
I want to poke my eyes out with a skate.
Put the kids on a circle. Have a contest. Make up a pattern. Play a game. Do a challenge. Sing a freaking song. Make up a program.
It's not only boring to the kids. It's boring to you-- if you're boring them you're also boring yourself. Being boring, or disengaged, or unimaginative is not going to make Pre Alpha class go away. So you might as well have fun.
More than any other level, Pre-alpha (Snowplow Sam 4, Basic 1) is going to have wildly divergent speeds and engagement from the students.
Once they get into the true Learn-to-Skate levels, most kids can at least "keep up"-- that is, move at the same speed as everyone else. By the time they get into low freestyle, they've self-selected to just kids who are really motivated to skate.
But at Pre Alpha there are days when you just know you shouldn't check the clock because you have another 15 minutes of trying to get the whole class across the ice together.
As far as I can tell, it's worse for the kids.
They get this glazed look.
They start looking wistfully at the Beta class next door that seem to be having so much fun.
They have to go to the bathroom, or give their hat to their mom.
They're tired.
And the classic clue that you are being boring: "how much longer?"
Here's the thing-- if coach is bored (boring), the kids are bored.
And why do that to yourself? There is simply no reason to run a boring class. Every time I'm helping in a class with a teacher whose lesson plan is "okay one foot glide, right foot. Okay, let's do it again. and again. Couple more times! Now let's do the other foot." For. Forty. Minutes.
I want to poke my eyes out with a skate.
Put the kids on a circle. Have a contest. Make up a pattern. Play a game. Do a challenge. Sing a freaking song. Make up a program.
It's not only boring to the kids. It's boring to you-- if you're boring them you're also boring yourself. Being boring, or disengaged, or unimaginative is not going to make Pre Alpha class go away. So you might as well have fun.
Have you had a boring coach? What has a coach done with basic skating that made it interesting?
Jan 8, 2013
Tales from the front
My friend Bree posted this amazing "note" on her Facebook page today, and I had to share it.
But then I went to teach at a different rink and there were 30, that's right, count 'em, 30 tots the first class between 2-3 yrs old. I love this job. It is hilarious and makes me feel so much better about all the bullshit. Those damn kids are so awesome. There's at least one character at every rink, and usually they are the little boys who want to play hockey. I still remember my first teaching gig ten years ago and this little boy in my class was just sassy. I kept telling them, "stop on the balls of your feet" and he goes, "the only balls I know about are the ones down there." I was in high school but I was supposed to act like I was an authority figure and be good. I had to put the clipboard over my face to keep from showing them how hard I was laughing. And then I waited for like half a minute and was like, "honey; that --- is, inappropriate!" oh, my gosh. I really just wanted to tell him that was so clever and I was mad I didn't think of it first.
So things usually aren't like that now but sometimes my favorite part of teaching, well, always, what can I say, is when little kids want to just tear up the ice and go as fast as possible and I end up just playing tag and chasing them around and letting them chase me around. There's this little boy, cooper, at national sports center, and he comes all decked out in his hockey gear every week, even a mouth guard, so I can not ever understand a word out of his mouth, but he is super chatty and loves to go fast. We'll be doing some skill and going really slow and he'll just randomly take off and yell, "let's go!!" and be off and running. I don't ever get upset. I love it. I try to rein him in until there's only five minutes left, just so they sort of learn and retain something useful, but man, when you are a kid that age, you don't even really need that much discipline in sports--- just time and fun.
Then there's those days we just hang out at maple grove and throw the ball around with tots for half an hour. Just chuck that sucker as far as it will go and then go chase it down and do it again. Sometimes I'll get the limbo stick out or do a bean bag toss and we'll "go fishing" (or, "go tishin'" as Olivia calls it), but mostly just make huge messes on the ice with toys and go whirring around cleaning up for half an hour increments with kids. It's awesome.
So one night, I'm hanging out and this little boy at maple grove, porter, is chasing the ball with me. He stops real abruptly and puts his hands on his hips, turns, and faces me. "What's up, porter?" he looks thoughtfully up at me. "You know somethin’? That jacket makes you look really tough." "You think so?" "Yeah. You look like a power ranger!" "Well, thanks porter. You know that was kind of the idea."
Tonight was no exception. Usually week one of a session is hell week because tots don't like skating sometimes and want to be with their mom and dad.
This little boy, Brayden, is so cute. He comes every week, on time, in his helmet, Spiderman jacket and snow pants. He wears good hockey skates and matching black Spiderman mittens. And he can actually skate out on the ice by himself, march to the middle of the ice with no help, and then what does he do? For 8 weeks he will do this little routine and then just sprawl out on his back like he's sun bathing in Cancun. He's happy as a lark doing it though, so i can't really be mad. I go over there and peer over him like a giant, say, "Brayden, what's up? What're you doing over here?" and he just smiles at me with this mischievous, goofy, all knowing grin.
We sing this goodbye song every week at new hope. I love it, these damn corny songs. And i cannot sing or carry a tune in a bucket. Those poor kids. But i will sing and do the little hand motions and stomp my feet and shake my tail feathers because kids eat that shit up. They love crazy grown ups and i would say i safely fit that profile. ;) so we sing the song and played blast off tonight, which basically teaches kids to go backwards but they don't know it until they did it already. It's so slick, i love it. So i told the kids they could go home and tell their mom and dad they learned how to go backward. And Libby comes up to me and tugs on my sleeve. "I don't have a dad," she whispers. I kneel on the ice next to her. "Well, that's ok, honey. Do you have a mommy at home who loves you?" "Yes." "Well, that's all you need then." and she puts her wings out and i fly her to the door to meet her mom. Before she goes, I set her down and face her to me. "Oh, Libby. I'm so happy to see you again. I missed you." I give her a big hug.
This boy Keene wears a baby blue Nike sweatshirt and a hockey helmet and is legitimately talented. He is a good little skater and I love it because he is fearless. He falls but he will like, somersault as he falls, and then I'll be like, "whoa, Keene! That was so cool!" and he'll look up at me as he pops up onto his feet and just grin from ear to ear, giggling. It's so good to be a kid. I love their free spirits and i love they don't care how they look.
***
I skated like sh*t today. Then the 2 year olds made everything ok again.
So things usually aren't like that now but sometimes my favorite part of teaching, well, always, what can I say, is when little kids want to just tear up the ice and go as fast as possible and I end up just playing tag and chasing them around and letting them chase me around. There's this little boy, cooper, at national sports center, and he comes all decked out in his hockey gear every week, even a mouth guard, so I can not ever understand a word out of his mouth, but he is super chatty and loves to go fast. We'll be doing some skill and going really slow and he'll just randomly take off and yell, "let's go!!" and be off and running. I don't ever get upset. I love it. I try to rein him in until there's only five minutes left, just so they sort of learn and retain something useful, but man, when you are a kid that age, you don't even really need that much discipline in sports--- just time and fun.
Then there's those days we just hang out at maple grove and throw the ball around with tots for half an hour. Just chuck that sucker as far as it will go and then go chase it down and do it again. Sometimes I'll get the limbo stick out or do a bean bag toss and we'll "go fishing" (or, "go tishin'" as Olivia calls it), but mostly just make huge messes on the ice with toys and go whirring around cleaning up for half an hour increments with kids. It's awesome.
So one night, I'm hanging out and this little boy at maple grove, porter, is chasing the ball with me. He stops real abruptly and puts his hands on his hips, turns, and faces me. "What's up, porter?" he looks thoughtfully up at me. "You know somethin’? That jacket makes you look really tough." "You think so?" "Yeah. You look like a power ranger!" "Well, thanks porter. You know that was kind of the idea."
Tonight was no exception. Usually week one of a session is hell week because tots don't like skating sometimes and want to be with their mom and dad.
This little boy, Brayden, is so cute. He comes every week, on time, in his helmet, Spiderman jacket and snow pants. He wears good hockey skates and matching black Spiderman mittens. And he can actually skate out on the ice by himself, march to the middle of the ice with no help, and then what does he do? For 8 weeks he will do this little routine and then just sprawl out on his back like he's sun bathing in Cancun. He's happy as a lark doing it though, so i can't really be mad. I go over there and peer over him like a giant, say, "Brayden, what's up? What're you doing over here?" and he just smiles at me with this mischievous, goofy, all knowing grin.
We sing this goodbye song every week at new hope. I love it, these damn corny songs. And i cannot sing or carry a tune in a bucket. Those poor kids. But i will sing and do the little hand motions and stomp my feet and shake my tail feathers because kids eat that shit up. They love crazy grown ups and i would say i safely fit that profile. ;) so we sing the song and played blast off tonight, which basically teaches kids to go backwards but they don't know it until they did it already. It's so slick, i love it. So i told the kids they could go home and tell their mom and dad they learned how to go backward. And Libby comes up to me and tugs on my sleeve. "I don't have a dad," she whispers. I kneel on the ice next to her. "Well, that's ok, honey. Do you have a mommy at home who loves you?" "Yes." "Well, that's all you need then." and she puts her wings out and i fly her to the door to meet her mom. Before she goes, I set her down and face her to me. "Oh, Libby. I'm so happy to see you again. I missed you." I give her a big hug.
This boy Keene wears a baby blue Nike sweatshirt and a hockey helmet and is legitimately talented. He is a good little skater and I love it because he is fearless. He falls but he will like, somersault as he falls, and then I'll be like, "whoa, Keene! That was so cool!" and he'll look up at me as he pops up onto his feet and just grin from ear to ear, giggling. It's so good to be a kid. I love their free spirits and i love they don't care how they look.
May 2, 2012
Getting the class coach you want
It's (relatively) easy getting the private coach you want-- you identify her/him, you work out the schedule, you pay the fee, done.
But class coaches are another problem. What if you want a particular class coach, or DON'T want a particular class coach? Are there options?
Don't sign up until you know the schedule
If you're in a program that keeps registration open, then just wait until they post the schedule so you know who is teaching what. If your rink doesn't post the coaches' schedule, just ask the coach you want. They will know a couple of weeks before the session starts.
Ask
There are three ways you can ask: A "will you please assign Coach Wonderful to X level class at [time] or, B "who teaches X level class at [time] or C "when does Coach Wonderful teach X class" (or what classes does Coach Wonderful teach). Good luck with A.
There are all sorts of reasons that Coach Wonderful can't be assigned to Class X. They might not have that time available, or may want, or be needed on, a different level at the same time. They may not have the seniority to get assigned a class if someone else wants it. The Skating Director may be unreceptive to customer requests of this nature (even multiple customer requests, and especially if the SD doesn't like the coach in question or the parent doing the asking). This is especially common with the obverse-- "please stop assigning Coach Arschloch to Class X, everyone hates him, that's why no one ever signs up for that class."
But you can always ask.
Reconsider
What's the cost vs. benefit. Is it better to be in a large class with a beloved coach, or a small class with the coach you don't know?
Don't move up
If you really love a coach and you/your skater moves up but the coach doesn't, just stay in the class. There is almost no skater who can't benefit from another round at any level, and if they love the coach that much, they might be receptive to this.
Get over it
Your child is going to have to deal with a lot of people in his/her life that they don't click with, or that they in fact don't like, and certainly that they don't know. They're going to have to deal with people in authority who don't like/get them. Shyness/discomfort with new people is not an excuse, because it's completely unrealistic to control your child's contacts to that extent. So to some extent this is not just a skating, but also a parenting issue. Unless it's a question of abuse, inappropriate behavior, or actual shirking of responsibility on the teacher's part, a skater (child or adult) who refuses to get something out of a class because they don't like the teacher is not a disatisfied consumer, but rather a spoiled brat.
It's wonderful to have that teacher whom you love, but not always possible. Go ahead and ask, but then just take the class with the new teacher. You might discover that they are wonderful, too.
But class coaches are another problem. What if you want a particular class coach, or DON'T want a particular class coach? Are there options?
Don't sign up until you know the schedule
If you're in a program that keeps registration open, then just wait until they post the schedule so you know who is teaching what. If your rink doesn't post the coaches' schedule, just ask the coach you want. They will know a couple of weeks before the session starts.
Ask
There are three ways you can ask: A "will you please assign Coach Wonderful to X level class at [time] or, B "who teaches X level class at [time] or C "when does Coach Wonderful teach X class" (or what classes does Coach Wonderful teach). Good luck with A.
There are all sorts of reasons that Coach Wonderful can't be assigned to Class X. They might not have that time available, or may want, or be needed on, a different level at the same time. They may not have the seniority to get assigned a class if someone else wants it. The Skating Director may be unreceptive to customer requests of this nature (even multiple customer requests, and especially if the SD doesn't like the coach in question or the parent doing the asking). This is especially common with the obverse-- "please stop assigning Coach Arschloch to Class X, everyone hates him, that's why no one ever signs up for that class."
But you can always ask.
Reconsider
What's the cost vs. benefit. Is it better to be in a large class with a beloved coach, or a small class with the coach you don't know?
Don't move up
If you really love a coach and you/your skater moves up but the coach doesn't, just stay in the class. There is almost no skater who can't benefit from another round at any level, and if they love the coach that much, they might be receptive to this.
Get over it
Your child is going to have to deal with a lot of people in his/her life that they don't click with, or that they in fact don't like, and certainly that they don't know. They're going to have to deal with people in authority who don't like/get them. Shyness/discomfort with new people is not an excuse, because it's completely unrealistic to control your child's contacts to that extent. So to some extent this is not just a skating, but also a parenting issue. Unless it's a question of abuse, inappropriate behavior, or actual shirking of responsibility on the teacher's part, a skater (child or adult) who refuses to get something out of a class because they don't like the teacher is not a disatisfied consumer, but rather a spoiled brat.
It's wonderful to have that teacher whom you love, but not always possible. Go ahead and ask, but then just take the class with the new teacher. You might discover that they are wonderful, too.
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