Little kids like to watch the Zamboni.
I suppose it's the novelty of a large vehicle driving around indoors, or the funny shape, with the driver perched on the back like a hood ornament with agoraphobia.
I like what the Zamboni leaves behind.
A fresh, clean, untouched sheet of ice is a magical place. Midday, the rinks are empty, and the sheet stays clear. If you're the first one there, or the only one, your movement is imprinted. You see how you unconsciously match stroke for stroke. You start to consciously trace it, counting laps.
Once around, twice, three, four times around and the strokes line up without your really trying. On a clean sheet of ice you can feel the glide and hear the push and empty your mind, so that your mind is a clean sheet as well, with nothing but the rumble of the blade to hear and the print of the blade to see.
***
I like to trace the first 5 figures-- outside circle 8s, insides, threes to the center, serpentine left and right. Lay a figure, trace it twice, step over a blade length. Lay the figure, trace it twice, step over a blade length. And again, again, again.
When you're done, on that clean sheet of ice, you've laid a skaters' spirograph of traveling circles, clear and obvious on the shiny, untouched surface. Skill and error clear and obvious.
***
Standing on the fresh surface of an empty ice rink is the closest thing to infinity this side of orbit. The walls are far away, the ceiling immaterial, the white shiny surface blending into the boards and the glass barrier. You'll never have this much interior space to yourself anywhere else. Three quarters the size of a football field, and yet you can race all the way around in a few seconds. You'll feel the wind in your hair and on your face, but there is no wind that you don't bring yourself. Stop and the wind stops.
Except that when you stop, you don't stop. You keep gliding forward, leaving behind, just a trace.
Showing posts with label rinks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rinks. Show all posts
Feb 21, 2013
Dec 2, 2012
Outdoor skating with my honey!
Xan and Wei-Gung happy as can be!
S - K -A -T -I -N -G!
Yes, of course those are Ice-Halos we are wearing! (They just won a nice award!)
Do you have an outdoor rink near you?
Dec 29, 2010
Mind wandering
I got recruited to be a skate guard today, when two of the scheduled kids didn't show up. And no wonder. This is a very boring job when there's no one to talk to.
So, in between telling the dads that no it's NOT okay to skate with the baby when you can barely stand up yourself, explaining to the hockey boys why six of them linking arms and then skating forward as fast as they can is not nearly the universal amusement it seems to them, and convincing the mothers of assorted 7 year olds that the reason their kids can't stand up is not "weak ankles" but rather "untied skates," I came up with some marketing ideas. The chance of these getting a hearing, let alone implemented, at my home rink is just about zero, so feel free to steal them.
Extended public skate
A few times a year, add a half hour or 40 minutes to public skate, so you can fit in an ice cut and an exhibition between the first and second hours. Invite local skating champions, the rink's own Nationals qualifiers, the synchro team (and the synchro team from the local college), skating "names" who are home for the holidays, groups/soloists from an upcoming rink ice show or competition, and even the top hockey team to do performances or demonstrations for 15 to 20 minutes.
Best time to do this would be before the ice show or before whichever session has historically poor enrollment. Everyone who watches the exhibition gets a 10% off coupon for whatever program you're trying to enhance. You could make this a regular thing--say the first Sunday of every month, so that people start anticipating it. If the coupon thing gets out of hand, make it first 50 people to come get a coupon, to limit your exposure.
But frankly, freebie coupons pay for themselves in the long run, through new customers, increased use by existing customers, and the goodwill they create.
What, more discount coupons?
Every year, so many rinks start their winter session the second or third week of December, hold one or two classes, and then immediately take a one or two week break for the holidays. Not to put too fine a point on it, this is stupid. People don't realize classes are starting; they're all waiting for January, or they know classes are starting but wait until January to sign up anyway. So why not make those two beginning weeks free drop in classes (or you only have to pay for skates if you don't have your own). Everyone who comes to those, gets a 10% off coupon (or whatever, basically one free class) for the upcoming session.
If you're afraid of regular customers abusing this, make it just for the tot and beginning classes, or just for people who have never taken classes at your facility before. Maybe for the freestyle levels, you do one-off clinics; figure out some sort of rink-enhancing freebie you could do for them too. (After all, they're your best customers. Or just make it free to any FS skater who's signed up for the last 2 sessions, to reward them for all the money they spend there the rest of the year.) You might need to do a couple of 8 or 9 week sessions to make the calendar work, instead of 10 week sessions, but classes would be bursting at the seams.
Still more freebies
I love giving away other people's stuff.
Everyone who comes to any public skating session during Christmas break and last two weeks of August gets a 10% off coupon (basically one free class) to the next session. You do this at Christmas because there are tons of new skaters using your public ice at that time of year, and you do it in August to encourage people to sign up for skating instead of soccer. We lose more kids to soccer every fall. I find it absolutely incredible that the only thing at the rink advertising classes this week was a densely covered schedule stuck away in an upright file in a dark corner. Nowhere is there a big bright sign saying SIGN UP FOR CLASS!
Folks, "if you build it they will come" only works in the movies.
Introductory private lessons on public skate
I don't know about other coaches, but it makes me completely insane to watch the skating guards and random kids "teaching" on public sessions (especially on those selected public sessions where the pros are not allowed to teach). Why not hire your pro staff to do private mini-lessons during public skating? You'd purchase a coupon for, say $10 for 15 minutes (with the specific time noted on the coupon), and hand it to one of the pros for a short lesson. The pro would turn in all the coupons and get paid one class fee for each half hour (i.e. two mini-lessons).
I'm not done giving stuff away yet
The week before the class test, everyone in class gets a free public skate pass. This will pay for itself, because the kids will bring their parents, their friends, their sibs, spend money at the concession stand and will start working public skating into their regular activities, so they'll come back and spend again.
Skate with a friend day
Last day of the session kids should be allowed to bring a buddy-- anyone from little sis to BFF to grandpa. You could put age restrictions on it, and make it one friend per skater. Then (wait for it) give every one of those friends a 10% off coupon for the next session.
So, in between telling the dads that no it's NOT okay to skate with the baby when you can barely stand up yourself, explaining to the hockey boys why six of them linking arms and then skating forward as fast as they can is not nearly the universal amusement it seems to them, and convincing the mothers of assorted 7 year olds that the reason their kids can't stand up is not "weak ankles" but rather "untied skates," I came up with some marketing ideas. The chance of these getting a hearing, let alone implemented, at my home rink is just about zero, so feel free to steal them.
Extended public skate
A few times a year, add a half hour or 40 minutes to public skate, so you can fit in an ice cut and an exhibition between the first and second hours. Invite local skating champions, the rink's own Nationals qualifiers, the synchro team (and the synchro team from the local college), skating "names" who are home for the holidays, groups/soloists from an upcoming rink ice show or competition, and even the top hockey team to do performances or demonstrations for 15 to 20 minutes.
Best time to do this would be before the ice show or before whichever session has historically poor enrollment. Everyone who watches the exhibition gets a 10% off coupon for whatever program you're trying to enhance. You could make this a regular thing--say the first Sunday of every month, so that people start anticipating it. If the coupon thing gets out of hand, make it first 50 people to come get a coupon, to limit your exposure.
But frankly, freebie coupons pay for themselves in the long run, through new customers, increased use by existing customers, and the goodwill they create.
What, more discount coupons?
Every year, so many rinks start their winter session the second or third week of December, hold one or two classes, and then immediately take a one or two week break for the holidays. Not to put too fine a point on it, this is stupid. People don't realize classes are starting; they're all waiting for January, or they know classes are starting but wait until January to sign up anyway. So why not make those two beginning weeks free drop in classes (or you only have to pay for skates if you don't have your own). Everyone who comes to those, gets a 10% off coupon (or whatever, basically one free class) for the upcoming session.
If you're afraid of regular customers abusing this, make it just for the tot and beginning classes, or just for people who have never taken classes at your facility before. Maybe for the freestyle levels, you do one-off clinics; figure out some sort of rink-enhancing freebie you could do for them too. (After all, they're your best customers. Or just make it free to any FS skater who's signed up for the last 2 sessions, to reward them for all the money they spend there the rest of the year.) You might need to do a couple of 8 or 9 week sessions to make the calendar work, instead of 10 week sessions, but classes would be bursting at the seams.
Still more freebies
I love giving away other people's stuff.
Everyone who comes to any public skating session during Christmas break and last two weeks of August gets a 10% off coupon (basically one free class) to the next session. You do this at Christmas because there are tons of new skaters using your public ice at that time of year, and you do it in August to encourage people to sign up for skating instead of soccer. We lose more kids to soccer every fall. I find it absolutely incredible that the only thing at the rink advertising classes this week was a densely covered schedule stuck away in an upright file in a dark corner. Nowhere is there a big bright sign saying SIGN UP FOR CLASS!
Folks, "if you build it they will come" only works in the movies.
Introductory private lessons on public skate
I don't know about other coaches, but it makes me completely insane to watch the skating guards and random kids "teaching" on public sessions (especially on those selected public sessions where the pros are not allowed to teach). Why not hire your pro staff to do private mini-lessons during public skating? You'd purchase a coupon for, say $10 for 15 minutes (with the specific time noted on the coupon), and hand it to one of the pros for a short lesson. The pro would turn in all the coupons and get paid one class fee for each half hour (i.e. two mini-lessons).
I'm not done giving stuff away yet
The week before the class test, everyone in class gets a free public skate pass. This will pay for itself, because the kids will bring their parents, their friends, their sibs, spend money at the concession stand and will start working public skating into their regular activities, so they'll come back and spend again.
Skate with a friend day
Last day of the session kids should be allowed to bring a buddy-- anyone from little sis to BFF to grandpa. You could put age restrictions on it, and make it one friend per skater. Then (wait for it) give every one of those friends a 10% off coupon for the next session.
What's your marketing idea for your rink?
May 17, 2010
Healthy snacks at the rink
Reposted 5/17, because I somehow posted it at a prior date. Someday I'll figure this all out.
Time, culture, and access are the three big barriers to providing healthy snacks for our kids. I can't tell you how many times I've heard the conversation at the vending machines: you can get cheez-its or pretzels, but not cookies or chips. Of course, they all have identical ingredients, but somehow the cheez its and pretzels FEEL healthier, because, hmmm no sugar? (Not true. Maybe sounds like they have no sugar.)
My student was given a dollar by her dad for a vending machine snack after her early morning lesson this week; he probably expected her to get something marginally acceptable for breakfast--a bag of cereal, or a granola bar, or even Sun Chips. At least they're not fried.
She got skittles. We both jumped down her throat. Dad confiscated them, but I'm not so sure he would have if I hadn't been there.
Concession stands are not much better. Convinced by the culture that they have to feature only the worst food--ring pops and microwave french fries--they reinforce ideas either that we can fool ourselves into believing that processed foods are healthy if they include "reel froot juice" or that it doesn't matter as long as we go home to a healthy dinner (usually also highly processed).
The best thing to do, of course, is to carry a bag of apples, or peanut butter sandwiches, or raisins, or even homemade cookies with you to the rink or on errands. And I wish more parents would just do this. Why do we let strangers choose what food our kids will eat?
There is light at the end of the tunnel, however. My rink changed, and yours can too. After years, nay, decades of variously awful concession stands, or NO concession stand, we have a new vendor, Michelle, of Healthy Concessions, Inc.
And she's fantastic.
First, she's a skating mom, so she really gets the need to have healthy food at concession. The last concessionaire, who was actually okay-- he had different types of tea, and was open a lot-- but would say he "couldn't" sell things like yogurt and fresh baked goods, and hamburgers made of, um, hamburger (instead of those premade microwave things), because "no one will buy them."
Apparently, not so much.
Michelle serves real fruit smoothies--just fruit and milk,--and Torani sodas. She bakes shortbread and brownies from real ingredients. Fresh salads, fresh paninis, cafe style coffees made from fair trade, organic, Casteel Coffee, which furthermore is a local company.
She's got the usual concession stuff too-- those nasty ring pops that kids love, hot dogs, pop corn and soft drinks, ice cream treats. But she balances them with oranges, bananas and lots of good stuff.
And she's thriving. I hear kids being talked out of ice cream treats in favor of the smoothies, and skipping the microwaved cheese sticks in favor of a ham-and-cheese panini. She Has Grown Up Food. I've been able to start eating dinner on Wednesday nights again (when I teach from 3 to 9 with only a half-hour break), because she lets me put in an order ahead of time for her marvelous "special salad" (mixed greens with homemade glazed pecans, tomatoes, and dried cranberries), so it's ready when I get off the ice, without my waiting in line.
Michelle, stay forever! If you want to know about getting a Healthy Concessions stand at your rink, or would like her to cater an event, call her at 847-226-7103. Let's keep this lady in business!
Time, culture, and access are the three big barriers to providing healthy snacks for our kids. I can't tell you how many times I've heard the conversation at the vending machines: you can get cheez-its or pretzels, but not cookies or chips. Of course, they all have identical ingredients, but somehow the cheez its and pretzels FEEL healthier, because, hmmm no sugar? (Not true. Maybe sounds like they have no sugar.)
My student was given a dollar by her dad for a vending machine snack after her early morning lesson this week; he probably expected her to get something marginally acceptable for breakfast--a bag of cereal, or a granola bar, or even Sun Chips. At least they're not fried.
She got skittles. We both jumped down her throat. Dad confiscated them, but I'm not so sure he would have if I hadn't been there.
Concession stands are not much better. Convinced by the culture that they have to feature only the worst food--ring pops and microwave french fries--they reinforce ideas either that we can fool ourselves into believing that processed foods are healthy if they include "reel froot juice" or that it doesn't matter as long as we go home to a healthy dinner (usually also highly processed).
The best thing to do, of course, is to carry a bag of apples, or peanut butter sandwiches, or raisins, or even homemade cookies with you to the rink or on errands. And I wish more parents would just do this. Why do we let strangers choose what food our kids will eat?
There is light at the end of the tunnel, however. My rink changed, and yours can too. After years, nay, decades of variously awful concession stands, or NO concession stand, we have a new vendor, Michelle, of Healthy Concessions, Inc.
And she's fantastic.
First, she's a skating mom, so she really gets the need to have healthy food at concession. The last concessionaire, who was actually okay-- he had different types of tea, and was open a lot-- but would say he "couldn't" sell things like yogurt and fresh baked goods, and hamburgers made of, um, hamburger (instead of those premade microwave things), because "no one will buy them."
Apparently, not so much.
Michelle serves real fruit smoothies--just fruit and milk,--and Torani sodas. She bakes shortbread and brownies from real ingredients. Fresh salads, fresh paninis, cafe style coffees made from fair trade, organic, Casteel Coffee, which furthermore is a local company.
She's got the usual concession stuff too-- those nasty ring pops that kids love, hot dogs, pop corn and soft drinks, ice cream treats. But she balances them with oranges, bananas and lots of good stuff.
And she's thriving. I hear kids being talked out of ice cream treats in favor of the smoothies, and skipping the microwaved cheese sticks in favor of a ham-and-cheese panini. She Has Grown Up Food. I've been able to start eating dinner on Wednesday nights again (when I teach from 3 to 9 with only a half-hour break), because she lets me put in an order ahead of time for her marvelous "special salad" (mixed greens with homemade glazed pecans, tomatoes, and dried cranberries), so it's ready when I get off the ice, without my waiting in line.
Michelle, stay forever! If you want to know about getting a Healthy Concessions stand at your rink, or would like her to cater an event, call her at 847-226-7103. Let's keep this lady in business!
Mar 30, 2010
Party!
Birthday parties, school field trips, family reunions, girl scouts.
Most ice rinks can be rented for groups and they are surprisingly inexpensive. The smaller rink (about 40 x 70 feet) at my facility rents for about $75 per hour, plus additional charges for a party room and skates. There's often a discount for school groups.
But what should happen once you get there? What about kids who can't skate? Are there safety rules? Here's a brief guide to making your party or field trip fun, safe, and rewarding for everyone.
When you rent the space
Make sure you know how much time you actually have on the rink. If you the party is 2 hours long, and you only have the rink for an hour, you need to have something to do during the other time, be it birthday cake, or brownie meeting. Some kids want to be at the party but are really afraid to skate, ditto the adults. You need someplace for them to be (as well as a place to put everybody's stuff). Facilities almost always have a separate party room for that sort of thing. There will be an additional charge for the second room, but it's a really good idea.
Have a plan
"Skating party" is a little vague. For birthday events, it's obvious that the focus is the birthday, with all the bells and whistles, and skating is the activity, with the main event being the party. But I see too many brownie and girl scout troups and school groups coming in with the vague idea of "skating." Is this part of the PE curriculum? Is it just for a fun play day? Is there a badge to be earned? How much time will you need before and after to get skates on and off? What sizes do the kids wear? Do the adults in charge know how to tie ice skates, and how to make sure that skates are tied properly? Is there someone to supervise the non-skaters or to teach the beginners?
Once you know why you're going, then make a plan so that you achieve this goal. Even a simple fun day needs a goal, which at the very basis should be "no one gets hurt." I have done disastrous school groups where the teachers consider the safety lecture a waste of time, refused to let the pros check skates "because he needs to be on the ice with everyone right now" and ended up with 6 injuries in an hour. Crowded public skating sessions work largely injury free because everyone has to abide by certain rules to ensure safety, such as everyone skates in the same direction, no jumps, no more than 3 people holding hands, get up right away if you fall, no hotdogging, etc.
Tell all participants what to expect
Again, even fun day school groups need to know the plan, and this includes the kids, the accompanying teachers, and any parents who are along. Schedule might run something like this:
• Everyone meet in party room (or lobby, for a school group)
• Pick up your skates and wait on the benches
• Skates on instruction, then everyone put on skates
• Adults check skates to make sure they're tied properly
• Falling demo and rules review in lobby
(This whole thing shouldn't take more than 15-20 minutes, or less)
• Everyone on the ice, experienced skaters first, brand-new beginners at the end.
• If you have skating pros, they line up everyone but the beginners for a brief (10-15 minute) class on rules, skills, and safety
• Beginners wall-crawl to the nearest corner for instruction (again, 10-15 minutes).
• End with free time, but rules will be enforced
Once you're there
A well run school group will start with everyone being handed skates, and then waiting for a rink pro to instruct them in trying the skates (all the way up, using all pegs, nice and tight, no trailing laces). I've never seen it happen, but I live for the day when the teachers or parents come ahead of time to get a safety lecture. Teachers, if you come into my rink, don't start playing "who's in charge" games with the pros. They wouldn't tell you how to run your classroom, don't tell them how to run a rink.
One adult needs to stay in the lobby at all times. Kids are consummate escape artists. Rinks are often warming/cooling centers, and at any rate are usually public facilities, with lots of strangers kicking around. Children should not be in the lobby unsupervised.
Know where the first aid kit is at the facility, and who is authorized to apply first aid.
Once everyone's skates are on and checked (a group of 60 can do this in about 15 minutes), everyone, and I mean everyone should be required to practice falling down and getting up in the lobby, even the ones who already know how to skate. This works best in groups of 20 or fewer, so either the teachers and parents need to know how to teach this, or you need enough pros to cover the group.
Skaters should then get on the ice with the pro or supervising adult, for a brief class and safety lecture. Most of the time will still be free time, but no one will get hurt, the scared ones will feel taken care of, and everyone will know what to expect.
Fellow travelers
All adults on the ice must know how to skate. They don't need to be former Olympians, but they should at the very least not be a liability. If a parent who can't skate wants to come, then they can be in charge of the lobby or the party room, checking skates, accompanying kids to the bathroom, etc. A children's outing is not the place for you to learn how to skate. Parents, be honest about your ability, because we're going to notice the second you step on the ice if you were lying.
Hiring rink pros to help
I cannot stress enough how important I feel this is. School groups always seem to hire pros, but they never seem to know what to do with them. Why pay $20 an hour for the rink pro, when you don't even use them as skate guards (i.e. enforcing the rules). I was recently yelled at for "interfering with the kid's fun" after telling a boy he had to stand up because people kept tripping on him when he laid flat on his back on the ice. (He thought it was hilarious.) Or the boy that went out with his skates completely untied, and the teacher explained to me that "he didn't have time to tie them, because he needs to stay with the class."
At a birthday party, the rink pro can do a small class with the beginners, to get them moving, and will also know games that everyone can play. Again, this needn't be the whole time, but it helps involve everyone. If it's a brownie or girl scout troupe, ask a pro to help you come up with goals that need to be accomplished to earn the badge.
What the rink should do
Rinks need to provide all rentals with a rule list regarding behavior on the ice and in the lobby, the role of any adults in charge, liability (both injury and personal property). I'm always amazed at rinks that don't give at the very least a brochure, and better yet one complimentary family skating pass to every single person who comes to a party or school outing. If your rink doesn't do this, write a letter to the head of the facility or the park district suggesting this as a good PR and marketing move.
I believe that there should be a skating professional in the building for children's parties. This might be an actual pro on the ice with you, or the skating director in her office, or the head guard. Someone who knows skating and skating injuries should be there. If they don't guarantee this, hire a pro to help with the party.
You don't need to be able to skate to have a great time at a skating party. I've had kids whose first experience on the ice was at a skating party; without it they would never have thought to skate. My own daughter first skated at a preschool outing. (Yes, 3 to 5 year olds. It works fine.) In fact, I didn't even know there was a rink 5 minutes from my house until she did this.
Skating parties are a blast. But do it right.
Most ice rinks can be rented for groups and they are surprisingly inexpensive. The smaller rink (about 40 x 70 feet) at my facility rents for about $75 per hour, plus additional charges for a party room and skates. There's often a discount for school groups.
But what should happen once you get there? What about kids who can't skate? Are there safety rules? Here's a brief guide to making your party or field trip fun, safe, and rewarding for everyone.
When you rent the space
Make sure you know how much time you actually have on the rink. If you the party is 2 hours long, and you only have the rink for an hour, you need to have something to do during the other time, be it birthday cake, or brownie meeting. Some kids want to be at the party but are really afraid to skate, ditto the adults. You need someplace for them to be (as well as a place to put everybody's stuff). Facilities almost always have a separate party room for that sort of thing. There will be an additional charge for the second room, but it's a really good idea.
Have a plan
"Skating party" is a little vague. For birthday events, it's obvious that the focus is the birthday, with all the bells and whistles, and skating is the activity, with the main event being the party. But I see too many brownie and girl scout troups and school groups coming in with the vague idea of "skating." Is this part of the PE curriculum? Is it just for a fun play day? Is there a badge to be earned? How much time will you need before and after to get skates on and off? What sizes do the kids wear? Do the adults in charge know how to tie ice skates, and how to make sure that skates are tied properly? Is there someone to supervise the non-skaters or to teach the beginners?
Once you know why you're going, then make a plan so that you achieve this goal. Even a simple fun day needs a goal, which at the very basis should be "no one gets hurt." I have done disastrous school groups where the teachers consider the safety lecture a waste of time, refused to let the pros check skates "because he needs to be on the ice with everyone right now" and ended up with 6 injuries in an hour. Crowded public skating sessions work largely injury free because everyone has to abide by certain rules to ensure safety, such as everyone skates in the same direction, no jumps, no more than 3 people holding hands, get up right away if you fall, no hotdogging, etc.
Tell all participants what to expect
Again, even fun day school groups need to know the plan, and this includes the kids, the accompanying teachers, and any parents who are along. Schedule might run something like this:
• Everyone meet in party room (or lobby, for a school group)
• Pick up your skates and wait on the benches
• Skates on instruction, then everyone put on skates
• Adults check skates to make sure they're tied properly
• Falling demo and rules review in lobby
(This whole thing shouldn't take more than 15-20 minutes, or less)
• Everyone on the ice, experienced skaters first, brand-new beginners at the end.
• If you have skating pros, they line up everyone but the beginners for a brief (10-15 minute) class on rules, skills, and safety
• Beginners wall-crawl to the nearest corner for instruction (again, 10-15 minutes).
• End with free time, but rules will be enforced
Once you're there
A well run school group will start with everyone being handed skates, and then waiting for a rink pro to instruct them in trying the skates (all the way up, using all pegs, nice and tight, no trailing laces). I've never seen it happen, but I live for the day when the teachers or parents come ahead of time to get a safety lecture. Teachers, if you come into my rink, don't start playing "who's in charge" games with the pros. They wouldn't tell you how to run your classroom, don't tell them how to run a rink.
One adult needs to stay in the lobby at all times. Kids are consummate escape artists. Rinks are often warming/cooling centers, and at any rate are usually public facilities, with lots of strangers kicking around. Children should not be in the lobby unsupervised.
Know where the first aid kit is at the facility, and who is authorized to apply first aid.
Once everyone's skates are on and checked (a group of 60 can do this in about 15 minutes), everyone, and I mean everyone should be required to practice falling down and getting up in the lobby, even the ones who already know how to skate. This works best in groups of 20 or fewer, so either the teachers and parents need to know how to teach this, or you need enough pros to cover the group.
Skaters should then get on the ice with the pro or supervising adult, for a brief class and safety lecture. Most of the time will still be free time, but no one will get hurt, the scared ones will feel taken care of, and everyone will know what to expect.
Fellow travelers
All adults on the ice must know how to skate. They don't need to be former Olympians, but they should at the very least not be a liability. If a parent who can't skate wants to come, then they can be in charge of the lobby or the party room, checking skates, accompanying kids to the bathroom, etc. A children's outing is not the place for you to learn how to skate. Parents, be honest about your ability, because we're going to notice the second you step on the ice if you were lying.
Hiring rink pros to help
I cannot stress enough how important I feel this is. School groups always seem to hire pros, but they never seem to know what to do with them. Why pay $20 an hour for the rink pro, when you don't even use them as skate guards (i.e. enforcing the rules). I was recently yelled at for "interfering with the kid's fun" after telling a boy he had to stand up because people kept tripping on him when he laid flat on his back on the ice. (He thought it was hilarious.) Or the boy that went out with his skates completely untied, and the teacher explained to me that "he didn't have time to tie them, because he needs to stay with the class."
At a birthday party, the rink pro can do a small class with the beginners, to get them moving, and will also know games that everyone can play. Again, this needn't be the whole time, but it helps involve everyone. If it's a brownie or girl scout troupe, ask a pro to help you come up with goals that need to be accomplished to earn the badge.
What the rink should do
Rinks need to provide all rentals with a rule list regarding behavior on the ice and in the lobby, the role of any adults in charge, liability (both injury and personal property). I'm always amazed at rinks that don't give at the very least a brochure, and better yet one complimentary family skating pass to every single person who comes to a party or school outing. If your rink doesn't do this, write a letter to the head of the facility or the park district suggesting this as a good PR and marketing move.
I believe that there should be a skating professional in the building for children's parties. This might be an actual pro on the ice with you, or the skating director in her office, or the head guard. Someone who knows skating and skating injuries should be there. If they don't guarantee this, hire a pro to help with the party.
You don't need to be able to skate to have a great time at a skating party. I've had kids whose first experience on the ice was at a skating party; without it they would never have thought to skate. My own daughter first skated at a preschool outing. (Yes, 3 to 5 year olds. It works fine.) In fact, I didn't even know there was a rink 5 minutes from my house until she did this.
Skating parties are a blast. But do it right.
Mar 21, 2010
How to cope with a new rink
So if you have to switch, how do you make it work?
If the new rink is going to be your new home rink, work yourself into the culture there, but not too fast. First step is:
Educate yourself
Hang out for a week--drop in and find out which sessions are crowded, which tend to be "high" and which have more beginners. Watch the classes to see what coaches interact a lot with the kids, and if there are any that make a point of coming off the ice between classes (if they can) to talk to parents. Are there classes where all the kids are smiling (or classes where they're not)? When is the ice show or exhibition, and what are the rules for participating (some rinks put up barriers to this, like you have to be in the program for the prior two sessions to get a solo, which is insane-- what about the Freestyle 8 kid who just moved to town? Sorry, no, you're not one of us.)
Second step is a negative one:
You don't know anything about this rink. Don't come in talking about how your other rink did xyz differently; that statement will be interpreted as "you guys don't do this right." Absorb the culture, don't roll over it. I would frame all my initial interactions as a search for information: "we're new here, how does this rink do [whatever]?" NOT "I don't get how you do this here, at our old rink, it works like this; blah blah blah." (That is what people will hear. We're basically a selfish species, we don't care how it works at your old rink, we're never going there, especially if everyone is like you.) Don't bash the old rink or the old coach or any skaters you knew there. Figure skating is a very small world. Forget 6 degrees of separation. In the skating world, it's more like 2. I can get to pretty much any skater you can name through just another two people . Further, this is how skaters talk to each other when they first meet. They'll determine where you're from, then start with, oh do you know Coach A? Well, no, but I know her student Y, etc.
Snark at the rink will come back and bite you on your frozen arse.
Third step is get involved
Sign your skater up for a class. Sign up for two! Take a class yourself. If it's ice show time, volunteer. Sign your skater up for the ice show. If you've missed the deadline, talk to the skating director and see if there's a way for your skater to be involved (last year two of our best skaters had to compete the week before the show and couldn't be in it, so we found them a couple of old costumes and sent them out as tot wranglers). Introduce yourself to the moms and dads in the stands (remember, no old rink gossip or "we do things better!") Bring a cake for the next birthday or holiday, set it out in the lobby for all the kids. If there's no holiday, just make one up.
There are new families at our rink who you'd swear have been there since the kids were tiny, because they've absorbed the culture and made themselves a part of it. And there are kids who grew up there that still sit on the sidelines, looking forlorn and lonely, because their moms won't talk to anyone, won't sign them up for classes, and yank them away the second they're done.
Guess which kids will keep skating?
If the new rink is going to be your new home rink, work yourself into the culture there, but not too fast. First step is:
Educate yourself
Hang out for a week--drop in and find out which sessions are crowded, which tend to be "high" and which have more beginners. Watch the classes to see what coaches interact a lot with the kids, and if there are any that make a point of coming off the ice between classes (if they can) to talk to parents. Are there classes where all the kids are smiling (or classes where they're not)? When is the ice show or exhibition, and what are the rules for participating (some rinks put up barriers to this, like you have to be in the program for the prior two sessions to get a solo, which is insane-- what about the Freestyle 8 kid who just moved to town? Sorry, no, you're not one of us.)
Second step is a negative one:
You don't know anything about this rink. Don't come in talking about how your other rink did xyz differently; that statement will be interpreted as "you guys don't do this right." Absorb the culture, don't roll over it. I would frame all my initial interactions as a search for information: "we're new here, how does this rink do [whatever]?" NOT "I don't get how you do this here, at our old rink, it works like this; blah blah blah." (That is what people will hear. We're basically a selfish species, we don't care how it works at your old rink, we're never going there, especially if everyone is like you.) Don't bash the old rink or the old coach or any skaters you knew there. Figure skating is a very small world. Forget 6 degrees of separation. In the skating world, it's more like 2. I can get to pretty much any skater you can name through just another two people . Further, this is how skaters talk to each other when they first meet. They'll determine where you're from, then start with, oh do you know Coach A? Well, no, but I know her student Y, etc.
Snark at the rink will come back and bite you on your frozen arse.
Third step is get involved
Sign your skater up for a class. Sign up for two! Take a class yourself. If it's ice show time, volunteer. Sign your skater up for the ice show. If you've missed the deadline, talk to the skating director and see if there's a way for your skater to be involved (last year two of our best skaters had to compete the week before the show and couldn't be in it, so we found them a couple of old costumes and sent them out as tot wranglers). Introduce yourself to the moms and dads in the stands (remember, no old rink gossip or "we do things better!") Bring a cake for the next birthday or holiday, set it out in the lobby for all the kids. If there's no holiday, just make one up.
There are new families at our rink who you'd swear have been there since the kids were tiny, because they've absorbed the culture and made themselves a part of it. And there are kids who grew up there that still sit on the sidelines, looking forlorn and lonely, because their moms won't talk to anyone, won't sign them up for classes, and yank them away the second they're done.
Guess which kids will keep skating?
Mar 19, 2010
Switching rinks
There's lots of anxiety and advice about switching coaches, but changing rinks is another issue that comes up, both for kids in group classes and with private lessons.
Sociologist Ray Oldenburg first proposed the theory of the "third place," those public gathering places, outside home (your "first" place) and work or school (your "second" place), as crucial to healthy civic society. Places of worship are the most common third place, but in consumerist America, the marketers quickly latched onto this concept and started promoting malls, coffee shops and other places of commerce using this idea. The public sphere has been slower to catch on, but parks, community centers, and yes, ice rinks, are natural "third places" because of the amount of time people spend there.
It's hard to change your third place. It's a community, nearly a home, and it's a place whose culture you understand. Anyone who has switched rinks understands how out of place you feel at the new one; how they don't seem to do anything right, and how they don't embrace newcomers. A "third place" that gets it will have programs that quickly incorporate newbies into the culture, be it food in the lobby or multiple extracurricular activities and strong volunteer programs.
So why do it? Well, there are good reasons and bad reasons. Here's some good reasons:
You've moved to a new community
In a new community, choose your rink by proximity, unless you have a reason to go somewhere else, like your old coach has hooked you up with a new coach in the new place, or there is a particularly strong program at a farther rink. No sense adding the anxiety of travel time when you're already anxious about the new place, plus your skater is more likely to encounter kids from his or her own "second" place, namely school, at a neighborhood rink.
Problems with your existing rink have become intolerable
It happens. Practice ice is poorly managed, costs are too high, classes are inadequate or nonexistent, coaches are unprofessional, there's a toxic synchro team, you name it. Start by asking your coach if there's a different place to skate. Most coaches teach at more than one rink. If you really can't stay at your current rink and it's the one closest to you, you'll have to eat the travel time. If you don't have a coach, try signing up for lessons at a different program just to try it out. Ask the skating director at the new program to test your skater so you get placed in the correct level. There is wide variation of passing standards from program to program.
Your skater is specializing in an area not offered at the current rink
This is common with Synchro, Pairs and Ice Dance. You can still take classes at the old rink, but your training is going to happen somewhere else. My daughter went through this, and she missed the people at the old rink, but developed new relationships at the dance sessions.
Your coach changes rinks
This is actually only a reason to move your lessons, not your practice or your classes. You don't have to follow the coach to a new rink. I've seen coaches try this, and the parents all just quit on them, and stay put, because for most skaters it's not about the coach, it's about the family at the rink.
Some bad reasons:
They won't advance my skater, so I'll just sign up for the next level at a different rink. Who will know?
The coaches will out you at the first class, and furthermore they'll start thinking that the people at the other rink are idiots, or why would they have passed this skater?
I've antagonized everyone at the old rink, and am slinking away in shame
Don't do it. Mend your fences, change your ways, and stay put. Every town needs a village curmudgeon.
Sociologist Ray Oldenburg first proposed the theory of the "third place," those public gathering places, outside home (your "first" place) and work or school (your "second" place), as crucial to healthy civic society. Places of worship are the most common third place, but in consumerist America, the marketers quickly latched onto this concept and started promoting malls, coffee shops and other places of commerce using this idea. The public sphere has been slower to catch on, but parks, community centers, and yes, ice rinks, are natural "third places" because of the amount of time people spend there.
It's hard to change your third place. It's a community, nearly a home, and it's a place whose culture you understand. Anyone who has switched rinks understands how out of place you feel at the new one; how they don't seem to do anything right, and how they don't embrace newcomers. A "third place" that gets it will have programs that quickly incorporate newbies into the culture, be it food in the lobby or multiple extracurricular activities and strong volunteer programs.
So why do it? Well, there are good reasons and bad reasons. Here's some good reasons:
You've moved to a new community
In a new community, choose your rink by proximity, unless you have a reason to go somewhere else, like your old coach has hooked you up with a new coach in the new place, or there is a particularly strong program at a farther rink. No sense adding the anxiety of travel time when you're already anxious about the new place, plus your skater is more likely to encounter kids from his or her own "second" place, namely school, at a neighborhood rink.
Problems with your existing rink have become intolerable
It happens. Practice ice is poorly managed, costs are too high, classes are inadequate or nonexistent, coaches are unprofessional, there's a toxic synchro team, you name it. Start by asking your coach if there's a different place to skate. Most coaches teach at more than one rink. If you really can't stay at your current rink and it's the one closest to you, you'll have to eat the travel time. If you don't have a coach, try signing up for lessons at a different program just to try it out. Ask the skating director at the new program to test your skater so you get placed in the correct level. There is wide variation of passing standards from program to program.
Your skater is specializing in an area not offered at the current rink
This is common with Synchro, Pairs and Ice Dance. You can still take classes at the old rink, but your training is going to happen somewhere else. My daughter went through this, and she missed the people at the old rink, but developed new relationships at the dance sessions.
Your coach changes rinks
This is actually only a reason to move your lessons, not your practice or your classes. You don't have to follow the coach to a new rink. I've seen coaches try this, and the parents all just quit on them, and stay put, because for most skaters it's not about the coach, it's about the family at the rink.
Some bad reasons:
They won't advance my skater, so I'll just sign up for the next level at a different rink. Who will know?
The coaches will out you at the first class, and furthermore they'll start thinking that the people at the other rink are idiots, or why would they have passed this skater?
I've antagonized everyone at the old rink, and am slinking away in shame
Don't do it. Mend your fences, change your ways, and stay put. Every town needs a village curmudgeon.
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