I can't afford lessons!

When you get to the jumps and the competitions, you can't do it on your own any more.

You literally cannot compete without a coach-- it's against the rules. Jumps and advanced spins are complex and sometimes counter-intuitive. Trying to figure them out on your own is ineffective and not safe. Having another skater who is not a coach help you is, um, ineffective and not safe. Having another skater who is a coach help you is exploitive. Here are some options:

Take every class you can find
This is easier, obviously, in a large market. In any market, if you're an adult skater you're likely to have to take Freestyle 2 with a bunch of 8 year olds. Unless the rink specifically prohibits it, (some do), just go for it.

Share lessons
Every rink I know allows coaches to do lessons with two kids at a time; many allow 3, and some even allow four or more.

Space the lessons out
And ask the coach for week-by-week goals and to designate some milestones in between. You might be able to get away with a lesson every 2 to 3 weeks. Be prepared to be extremely flexible, however, as the coach is going to give priority to her regular students.

By the minute
See if a coach will give you ten- or fifteen-minute single-skill lessons. It will be slower, but this is actually remarkably effective.

Barter
Do you have a desirable skill? Set up the coach's website, or do his books, or I don't know, mow his lawn. 

Get another job
People do this, but it doesn't have to be drive a bus on the overnight shift. It can be make skating costumes, or work in the concession stand a few hours a week.

Make the kid get a job.
Many teenaged skaters do this.

Save up 
And then blow it all at once-- spend six months saving for three months of lessons. In the interim, do some or all of the things above.


It's an expensive sport
Finally, there is actually the option of not taking lessons. This is an especially difficult decision to reach if you have to tell a talented child who loves to skate that you can't afford it. But it's another reason that I love skating-- it's an amazing place for life lessons.

What have you done to help with the cost of lessons?

Hedging the cost of skating

Two classes, one or two lessons, public skating pass, a couple of practice ice times.

Skates, practice clothes, bags, gloves, book covers, blade guards.

Year end pizza party.

A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you're talking real money. How do you keep your husband finding out what it costs pay for it all?

Volunteering
At some rinks, they'll trade volunteer hours for practice ice coupons. It's not exactly "free" because it costs you time, but it's a great way to cover practice ice cost. (Let's hope the IRS doesn't catch on.) Do me a favor and be righteous: don't sell your free coupons to non-volunteers at a discount. (Here's how you can tell someone is doing this-- they monitor FAR more than the number of sessions their skater is actually using.) Don't take your free coupons but not actually show up for your monitor time.  Don't show up and "monitor" when there's already a monitor there. Don't sign in as a monitor and then sit in the stands. (Don't ask where I observed all these behaviors.)

"Skating" job
Concession stand, junior coaching, really coaching, working at the local skate shop, rink guard, even babysitting.  Many skaters, teen and adult, take the edge off the cost by taking on extra jobs specifically to cover skating expenses. Parents will sometimes do this as well. It's a lot to do for your kid, but it's better than putting everything on the credit card, or cashing in a 401k.

Junior coaching
Sometimes pros will have their older or higher test students teach or supervise their younger students, and will knock a little off the bill for this.  This also helps the parents of the younger students, who may (should) be charged a lower fee for that time.

Semi-privates
Ask your pro if your skater can share lesson time with other kids at her/his level for some lessons.

Set asides
In other words, a special "fund" just for skating.  This might be an extra $5 or $10 or $15 a week. It might be that every time you pay a skating bill, you stick $10 in a box. Or make it a dollar each time you go to the rink, or a hundred dollars every time your skater is in a test or competition. You'll be amazed at how quickly this will add up.  This is a great way to make sure you have the funds when you need new skates, or for an out of town competition, or that pesky synchro bill.

Putting the kid to work
Not really helping financially, but a lot of skating families make younger kids "earn" their skating time.  They put specific monetary values on extra household chores and pay the kid in private scrip, redeemable for lessons, skates, practice ice, etc.

How do you help cover skating costs?

How much is too much?

Late summer: major Club competitions, like Broadmoor, Detroit, DuPage.

Fall:  qualifying competitions (Regionals and Sectionals)

January: Nationals

That's the competitive schedule.  Spring through early summer is time for learning new programs and skills and taking qualifying tests; late summer is for gearing up conditioning and perfecting the program.

EVERYBODY takes a break after their final competition, be it Regionals, Sectionals or Nationals.

But below the top couple of hundred skaters, who make it past Regionals, or the several dozen who make it past Sectionals, there are lots and lots of local club competitions.

Lots and lots.

I hear about skaters doing 7, or 8, or 12 or 13 local competitions, plus Regionals.

And all I want to say is: are you insane?!

Most coaches will have a competition circuit-- the several competitions to which they always take their skaters. My daughter used to do 3 to 5 non-qualifying competitions each year.

If you are doing a competition a month, when are you learning those new skills, or preparing the next test, or improving conditioning and strength? All you'll be training is the program.

In academic parlance, you'll spend all your time teaching the test.

If your non-elite Juvenile through Intermediate child makes it to Sectionals, he should not be doing any competitions between Regionals and Sectionals. If he makes it past Sectionals, he should probably not be doing more than one local, low-pressure competition before Nationals. Here is the U.S. Figure Skating recommendation for "periodization" or annual training arc.
So what do you do if your coach is constantly scheduling competitions?

Ask
If you have a coach who is encouraging a heavy schedule of non-qualifying competition, make him tell you why.  What is your child getting out of it? What clear progress should you expect from the activity? What are the coaches' goals for all this competing? Younger coaches in particular might be more susceptible to feeling like they have to have kids in every competition, partially because they're still finding out which competitions they like, or because they think they should, or because that's what their coaches did.

Also ask the skater-- does she like competing this much? Sometimes kids will just go a long to get along and will start to passive-aggressively check out: by resisting practice, deliberately throwing competitions, non-deliberately throwing competitions (i.e. missing solid skills, because they're stressed), etc. Remember that a lot of kids won't complain about a heavy schedule. For one thing, most kids trust the adults to know what they are doing, and are unlikely to question an authority figure. (Unless they're my kids, who somehow never got that message. I wonder why?)

Ask parents of other coaches and find out if they have similar competition obligations. (Yes, you can talk to parents of other coaches about anything you want.) If it's wildly different, ask your coach about this.

Cost
Aside from the impact on skill acquisition, there is considerable cost-- costume, travel, time lost from work or school.  Your coach should not get to make financial choices for you. If your coach isn't hearing your despair, pull the money card. Give her a competition budget, and tell her you can do competitions within that amount, and not over, without an extremely compelling reason.  (In fact, if more parents just had a skating budget, instead of just coming up with whatever the coach demands, there would be a lot fewer unhappy skating parents.) 

What are we missing?
Is there another activity that you or your skater would like to do that is being squeezed out by "extra" competitions? Cross training, after-school activities, academics, "me" time are all lost in a packed competition schedule.

Competitions, even the "serious" ones, can be fun, or they can be a chore. Don't make it a grind.

How many competitions does your skater do each season? Is there a plan?

Cake or death?

Just said that to get your attention. If you don't know what I'm talking about (caution, language).

The choice today is take a beginning class or buy your own skates?

I think this is pretty much as easy as cake or death, where your own skates=cake and rental skates=death.

Most people who can't skate in beginner class would be just fine if they had skates that hadn't been ruined because budget cuts at public rinks, and profit margins at private ones, means that no one ever replaces their rental skates anymore. They just grind the blades into dust.

You can tell a bad blade-- it will be narrow at the back end, instead of square. The bottom edge, which should have a curved hollow and two clear edges, will be flat. The "profile" (the side view, essentially) will be wavy.

Then there's the "we're out of 9s, here's a 10" problem. Badly fitted skates don't just mean loose, or tight. It means the blade is the wrong length for your foot, making it harder to balance properly.

So where were we? Oh, yes, cake or death.

The problem is that beginning skating class costs about the same as decent recreational skates. So people think "well, we'll see if she likes to skate, then we'll get skates." Problem is, she's not going to like skating if the crap rentals are preventing her from standing up.

I believe it is in the PSA Manual that says that coaches shouldn't tell students that the rental skates are no good, because it reflects badly on the rink, and sets up possible liability. I have also been told by at least one rink that telling people their rental skates are no good is grounds for dismissal. Really. So your coach may or may not tell you if the skates are part of the problem.

I say, spend the money on a pair of skates and go skating together once a week for 6 months. THEN take lessons.

What to get the coach for Christmas (redux)

I first posted this in 2010. Here are my thoughts on gifts for coaches, with some updates!

For some reason that escapes me, a lot of parents are hell-bent on giving gifts to their skating coaches. And it fills them with anxiety. It's a weird sort of relationship-- this is your employee, but on the other hand the coach is kind of the boss. Plus, she's your friend? Or not? Personally, I love getting those clumsy hand-made pictures from the little kids, or a "certificate" promising no back talk for a month from the teenagers. But parents persist-- they want to give presents.

So what do you get your skating coach?

A bonus.

That's right. Give your coach a bonus. Your coach is your employee. I do understand that he or she is also your friend, and that you entrust her with your precious child (I mean that in the best way, no sarcasm intended), but in general, this is not someone you would otherwise have much of a connection to.

Now, because of the intimate nature of the relationship, sometimes parents are uncomfortable with handing over extra cash. It seems so cold. So make it a gift card to a local department store like Target or Macy's, or a pre-paid Visa card that can be used anywhere. If there's a concession stand at your rink, see if you can set up an "account" for your coach with a set amount of money in it.

If you really insist on an item, make it coaching related: the latest hard cover "tell all" book about skating scandals, or a pair of gloves or a scarf. I wear those little trading pins all over my coaching jackets, and I had a student once get me a collection of Olympic figure skating ones. A very thoughtful gift. (I confess, while I personally don't care if you get me a gift, I do like swag as much as the next person.)

I knew a coach who had a system that just made me shudder: she actually steers her kids toward a certain store that she likes, and tells everyone to get her a gift card from there. I guess there's a certain practicality to that, but my grandmother would be rolling in her grave.

A Tweep asks: is there a formula for how much to give? And you'll be happy to hear that, yes, there is. A week's lesson fee. If you take one lesson per week, then Christmas or Hanukkah week, double the check, with a notation in the memo line "holiday bonus." This might seem like a lot if you're doing multiple lessons, for instance national qualifiers will be paying upwards of $500 per week for multiple lessons approaching unlimited. This seems like a big bonus, yes? On the other hand that coach got your skater to Nationals. Or helped her land her triple salchow. Or doubled her component score in a season. Or just spent a lot of time nurturing your child. Work it into the budget.

If your coach is only working with you once a week, then I think it's fine to just send a card, or yes, that $10 Starbucks gift card. (I confess, the $5 cards drive me crazy-- so, I spent a year with your kid, and you're, um, buying me a cup of coffee? I have gotten $2 cards, which doesn't EVEN pay for a cup of coffee. Really, folks, think about this. Better to do nothing but "Happy Holidays" and a hug.) The more lessons you're getting, the more progress your skater is making, the more you really should be considering this not as a Christmas present, but as a bonus for a job well done.

P.S. to my parents reading this: I like unmarked, non-sequential bills in small denominations and condo timeshares in Aruba. No no no, just kidding. Adorable pictures and hugs are fine.

Here's the late great Ice Mom on the topic, and some very specific suggestions from The Examiner (old article, internal links may not work).

Are you giving your coach a holiday gift?

Get it in writing

I make all my students sign a contract. Okay, call it a "coach's disclosure statement"

It includes my coaching rates, ice charges, admonition to practice, schedule vagaries, cancellation policy, lesson rules (like late arrival), and a statement about changing coaches.  It has a liability waiver, for what it's worth. It has contact information for both parties, and the skater's birthday.

I get a copy signed by the parent or adult student at the first lesson. They get a copy to keep.

A second page talks about decorum, parent do's and don'ts, proper attire, competition, and other FAQs.

Such a contract is highly recommended by the PSA, and yet I know for sure of only 3 coaches who do this. I am the ONLY non-competitive coach I know who does this. When I first starting teaching, I asked some more experienced coaches if I could take a look at their contracts so I would have a model. Most of them didn't use a contract; several actively disdained the idea (and used it to add to the myth that I didn't know what I was doing). The ones who had one refused to share it, because it was "proprietary." (At which point I simply went to the parents and asked them if I could take a look. And they showed me. Really, coaches can be such idiots.) I'm guessing that some of the coaches who told me they don't do contracts actually do, but didn't want anyone to know, for some reason that I can't fathom.

All elite coaches (those with Nationals-bound students, generally) have contracts with their high level students. Contract disputes have been behind some famous coach-skater break ups. It's been speculated that a contract dispute is what split Michelle Kwan from Frank Carroll, and possibly cost her the Olympic gold.

Of course, I'm not trying to get a percentage of your future earnings, as I'm pretty sure there won't be any, at least not from skating (not if I'm your coach, anyway, lol). I'm just trying to make it clear to everyone what the deal is.

The coach seems like your friend. She loves your child. She's a gas to talk to.

But this is a professional relationship.  If your coach doesn't have a contract, at least ask her for her rules in writing. If she won't do it in writing, sit down with her, and ask about them and you write it down: fee structure and billing practices, arrival policy, coaching change policy, missed lesson policy, make-up lesson policy, skating attire policy, competition policy, music policy.  Believe me, every coach has a policy for these things, whether they know it or not.

If they tell you "don't worry about it," insist. If they refuse to let you know how they deal with these things, find another coach. (This is not the same as a coach who hasn't thought about it-- many young coaches won't have realized how important this is. That means you can be the one to help a young coach develop her policies.)

Does your coach have a written contract? How did you feel about it? What are some good points in the contract?

The cost of coaching

We talk a lot about the high cost of learning to skate. But what about the cost of being a skating coach? Here's the low down.

PSA membership: $120
PSA continuing ed (ratings requirement) $40 to $300 (depending on if there are events in your area, otherwise you have to pay for travel)
Liability insurance: $85
USFS membership: $65
USFS background check $43
USFS coaching certification (tests through PSA) $75
ISI membership $65
ISI background check (same info, different company) $40
Red Cross First Aid certification: $40 (actually $120, but you only have to do it every 3 years)

That's $610 to $870, equivalent of up to 2 months of class take-home pay (assuming 14 hours of classes at $12 to $20/hour, which is what a lot of rinks pay, even for nationally rated coaches). Rinks do not cover this expense. One rink I worked for allowed one $50 credit per year for an educational event.

Coaches pay all these fees out of pocket, plus their own health care, retirement, and equipment. There is no positive benefit to covering these expenses like an effort to help coaches form unions so that they get guaranteed income, pension and health benefits, and job protection.

Coaches are all subject to forced lay offs several times a year when the rink shuts down, which can also impact your private lesson income, and if your regular classes happen to fall on a holiday, tough luck. You can get credentialed out the wazoo and never get a raise.

There is a punitive aspect-- if you don't get credentialed you cannot take students through testing or competition, and there is a movement afoot to make even baby coaches jump through these hoops.

Coaches complain about this system a lot, and rightly so. USFS, PSA and ISI need to add positive benefits to the high cost of being ethical in this business by pressuring rinks and clubs to treat coaches like the highly qualified professionals that they are.

Coaching discounts

I'm having an argument with a young coach at my rink. A family wants her to take their skater through a competitive season, including qualifying events, but told her upfront "we can't pay your full rate." I maintain that this is unfair to the coach, especially a coach with whom they have no track record. My friend feels that a child who is motivated and talented deserves her shot and should not be hobbled by her financial situation.

Skating is an expensive sport. There is a fundamental unfairness because, unlike popular scholastic sports (especially boys' sports, hmmmm) it is inaccessible to families of lower means. It's not an NCAA sport, so you can't use the excuse that you'll end up with a college scholarship because of the skating. It's not a team sport so there are no economies of scale. In the U.S. skating talent is not subsidized at the developmental levels, let alone for beginners.

The truth is, no one can afford this sport. Even at the lower levels of qualifying--PreJuv through Novice, you're talking about upwards of $15,000 a year in costs. At the Junior and Senior international levels, it can skirt six figures.

So what's a coach, and a family to do? Can you ask for a coaching discount?

Negotiating a discount with a coach who is giving you a high volume of lessons makes sense, especially if there's either an established relationship, or a demonstrated level of success; for instance if you've already medaled at the national level (or have reasonable expectations to do so) and are switching coaches or ramping up an existing relationship. The coach knows that you are going to be taking a high volume of lessons; it's reasonable to set this up as a weekly fee on almost a salary basis-- the coach takes a bit of a hit on the hourly in exchange for guaranteed income and the prestige of a high performing student. "Volume" discounts or, essentially, retainers are common at high competitive levels.

You will, however, probably be paying full price for extras-- the choreographer, spin coach, stroking coach, dance coach, off-ice specialists, jump coach, etc. Make sure that you're not stiffing your primary coach unduly.

I believe that telling the coach up front that you have to have a discount, with no evidence that you will stick with the coach is exploitative. I would say instead, approach it as above-- if you're trying to compete at a national level, ask the coach how much time he or she thinks this would require and what the full fee for that would be. See if the coach offers a volume discount. If he doesn't, broach the subject yourself, and negotiate this. Do not present it as an ultimatum-- if you don't give me a discount we won't hire you. Especially young coaches need money and need to establish themselves; they're not really in a position to refuse. Don't take advantage of this.

You can also wait for a coach to offer. I have a very talented student that I knew was on scholarship at the rink; I offered to take the skater on for a private and any semi-private group class I set up for free. In fact, this mother refused to comply--she insisted that she pay something, so I charge them $10 an hour.

You also want to be careful not to set yourself up for future grief-- is this coach going to hold you hostage to your discount? What if you have to change coaches? Can you get the same discount from a new coach? Will the old coach tell the new coach that you actually "owe" him a lot of money because of unnegotiated discounts or because you didn't pay the full amount and he just said "pay me later." (This happens--watch out for discounts that aren't really discounts.)

Discounts are a way to pay for a competitive career. But be sure you know what you're buying.

Should you be giving your skating coaches vacation pay?

I ask, because your skating coach is in fact paying you to take vacation, by foregoing his or her pay when you're out of town.

I had one of those weeks-- two students out of town for spring break, one sick, another more or less kidnapped by grandma "for Easter." Hope they had fun, because it meant my income was down 40% for the week, and I didn't know about it ahead of time. (Even the vacationers didn't tell me until last week.)

How would you like to never know, from week to week, what your income would be? I actually only plan for 40 weeks per year from any single student; even though I have to hold those lesson times for 52 weeks, I can only count on getting paid for 40 of them. Further, I can't take my own vacation, because then I lose another week or two of income.

High level coaches on retainer presumably don't have these issues because they've negotiated a season's retainer fee-- they get paid the same amount every week for a set range of lesson times. If they're smart they've worked days off into this.

But most of us don't have that luxury. We work week to week for casual, recreational skaters, who never realize that their Florida vacation is costing some hapless coach (or nanny, or piano teacher, or tutor) a couple of days groceries.

Take the poll-- do you think it's fair to have to cover your lesson fee even when you're on vacation?

TANSTAAFL

Is your coach comping you lessons? Is she letting you pay "when you can"? Is she sending bills infrequently, so that you don't have to worry about them? How about giving you "discounts"?

What a great deal. Here's what one coach told me about these practices.

According to this coach, high level coaches will comp, discount, or carry students to pay when they can, so that if they try to switch coaches, Coach Old can go to Coach New and say, y'know, they owe me a lot of money; if you take this student I will report you to the PSA". Taking on a student when there is an outstanding bill to the old coach is strongly discouraged by the Professional Skaters Association and USFS. Basically, by not insisting on full, timely payment, the coach is buying your indenture. As long as you owe money, you can't switch.

Here's the lowdown, in ascending order of bad idea:

Infrequent billing
Rating: not too bad, if you control it
This is the coach's problem. If they can somehow afford to live without getting regular paychecks, that's their worry. You don't have to play along. Simply write that check every week anyway, and when they finally bill you, you have, in effect already paid it.

Discounts
Rating: get it in writing
If you are taking a lot of lessons, a couple to several hundred dollars per week, discounts make sense. You are a guaranteed income stream for the coach, you're reducing his administrative time, and you're a valuable customer. But beware of discounts that are too deep. I've heard of coaches reducing fees by as much as 70%, and then coming back when there's trouble in paradise and stating that the family "owes" them, not necessarily money, but loyalty. If you are getting a discount, get a contract that states the discount and exactly what the expectations are (for instance, I would say it's perfectly reasonable for a coach giving a significant discount to expect the student not to switch coaches mid season).

"Free" lessons
Rating: too good to be true
Again, this can be a way for an unethical coach to buy your loyalty, in effect to indenture you. Now, lots of coaches comp talented kids who legitimately can't afford lessons; I've done it myself. But if you're a well-off family, or have a competitive skater, beware. TANSTAAFL (There ain't no such thing as a free lunch).

Skate now, pay later
Rating: toxic
"Don't worry, just pay me when you can." Bad idea. Bad Bad Bad Bad Bad idea. If you cannot afford to pay now, you cannot afford to pay. Period. Cut back on lessons, raise money through community fundraisers or letters to friends and business associates, whatever. Do not buy what you cannot afford. That coach will never let you go. If you carry a large balance and want to switch coaches, your competitive career is over. And if you're not a competitive skater, what what what are you doing?

What to get the coach for Christmas

For some reason that escapes me, a lot of parents are hell-bent on giving gifts to their skating coaches. And it fills them with anxiety. It's a weird sort of relationship-- this is your employee, but on the other hand the coach is kind of the boss. Plus, she's your friend? Or not? Personally, I love getting those clumsy hand-made pictures from the little kids, or a "certificate" promising no back talk for a month from the teenagers. But parents persist-- they want to give presents.

So what do you get your skating coach?

A bonus.

That's right. Give your coach a bonus. Your coach is your employee. I do understand that he or she is also your friend, and that you entrust her with your precious child (I mean that in the best way, no sarcasm intended), but in general, this is not someone you would otherwise have much of a connection to.

Now, because of the intimate nature of the relationship, sometimes parents are uncomfortable with handing over extra cash. It seems so cold. So make it a gift card to a local department store like Target or Macy's, or a pre-paid Visa card that can be used anywhere. If there's a concession stand at your rink, see if you can set up an "account" for your coach with a set amount of money in it.

If you really insist on an item, make it coaching related: the latest hard cover "tell all" book about skating scandals, or a pair of gloves or a scarf. I wear those little trading pins all over my coaching jackets, and I had a student once get me a collection of Olympic figure skating ones. A very thoughtful gift. (I confess, while I personally don't care if you get me a gift, I do like swag as much as the next person.)

I had a conversation with a coaching friend recently that just made me shudder: she actually steers her kids toward a certain store that she likes, and tells everyone to get her a gift card from there. I guess there's a certain practicality to that, but my grandmother would be rolling in her grave.

A Tweep asks: is there a formula for how much to give? And you'll be happy to hear that, yes, there is. A week's lesson fee. If you take one lesson per week, then Christmas or Hanukkah week, double the check, with a notation in the memo line "holiday bonus." This might seem like a lot if you're doing multiple lessons, for instance national qualifiers will be paying upwards of $500 per week for multiple lessons approaching unlimited. This seems like a big bonus, yes? On the other hand that coach got your skater to Nationals. Or helped her land her triple salchow. Or doubled her component score in a season. Or just spent a lot of time nurturing your child. Work it into the budget.

If your coach is only working with you once a week, then I think it's fine to just send a card, or yes, that $10 Starbucks gift card. (I confess, the $5 cards drive me crazy-- so, I spent a year with your kid, and you're, um, buying me a cup of coffee? I have gotten $2 cards, which doesn't EVEN pay for a cup of coffee. Really, folks, think about this. Better to do nothing but "Happy Holidays" and a hug.) The more lessons you're getting, the more progress your skater is making, the more you really should be considering this not as a Christmas present, but as a bonus for a job well done.

P.S. to my parents reading this: I like unmarked, non-sequential bills in small denominations and condo timeshares in Aruba. No no no, just kidding. Adorable pictures and hugs are fine.

What do you get your coach for the holidays?