Here comes fall

Only the faithful skate through August, or the seniors, who have one more shot at testing before heading to college.

The Learn-to-Skate moms seem desperate to have their skater pass before heading off to not skate for the next 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 weeks. This has always puzzled me; it's not like not passing 3rd grade. Just re-take the level in the fall; your kid will be really good at it, and will pass at Thanksgiving really strong for the next level.

Here's what to think about for end-of-summer skating, and getting ready for fall.

Test or wait, freestyle
Test. If you're that senior, forget your pipe dream of skating in college and continuing the tests while you're at school. Not even Michelle Kwan could handle this, no way you are going to be able to continue devoting as much time to this while at school, where you have no support group who is remotely going to understand this obsession, and where you don't know the coaches. Step it up and get test ready for that last session at the end of August.

And by the way, pay now, because those sessions fill up.

Test or wait, learn-to-skate
Wait. At all learn-to-skate levels (sorta, see below), you can only benefit from taking it again. I know it feels like failure, and I know you've been working really hard, but if you're not going to skate between the end of the summer session and the fall session, you are going to lose some polish. Sign up for the same level.

Test or wait, Delta
Test. Delta is so boring, I'd say try to avoid taking it again. This does not apply to USFS Basic Skills 7 and 8 (the comparable levels) which have a more interesting set of skills.

Gear up for fall
If you can afford it, double up on privates (i.e. take several over a couple of weeks), in the couple of weeks before the session starts up. This might be enough for a learn-to-skate student to hone those skills and get passed up a level, and will also just get you back into the swing.

Gear up applies not only to your skating, but also to the actual gear. Take out everything and see what needs upgrading. Do the skates still fit? Think about new skates now, rather than suddenly realizing a week before the winter exhibition, or g*d-forbid Regionals, that your skates don't fit, or your blades are a mess.  Get new skating tights, make sure your skating togs fit, throw out the Zuca liner if it's moldy and smelly, and get a new one.

Check the calendar
Know when skating classes and potential lesson ice are. Don't wait until you've double- or triple-booked the fall play, skating and the orthodontist. Remember that skating is not just from class/lesson start to class/lesson end. You have to get there, you have to change, you have to put on skates, and then do it all in reverse at the other end. A free style skater needs an additional 10 to 15 minutes at each end of the skate for warm-up/cool down. A 30 minute class or lesson is as much as two hours travel plus prep.

Talk to the coach
Know what your goals are for this year. A new jump? Regionals? Testing? Auditioning for Synchro? If you are cutting back on skating, know that as well, and talk to the coach and the skater about how to manage that in a healthy way.

Figure out when you can volunteer
Rinks need rink moms who work a whole lot more than they need rink moms who sit in the stands and gossip. Ask the Skating Director how you can help while you're in the building. If your child is at least 10, think about where you can go while your child is skating. There are probably places nearby where you could volunteer, too.

Music
If you're a USFS competitive skater, you've probably already got your music for Regionals. If you don't, get on it, you are way behind. If you're Test-Track or ISI, doing only non-qualifying events, you still have time to change music and choreography, since you're not tied to the calendar quite the same way. Use this time to choose new music and choreography.

What are you doing to get ready for fall?

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?

Ice time

If there's one common refrain at every rink I've ever skated at it's "Why doesn't [my skating discipline] get more ice?"

Hockey thinks Freestyle is a waste of valuable ice ("there are only 25 kids out there-- why isn't this hockey ice? We'd have 10 kids on the ice at a time, at a discounted price! Uh, wait...")

Freestyle thinks hockey gets free ice ("They schedule ice that they never use! We  should make that dance ice, which would have at least 4 people on it! Maybe. Unless we decide to do off-ice that day.")

Beginner coaches think the freestyle skaters mentally paint targets on the tots. ("They have more ice than anyone! Maybe they could have one session a week without high level kids? And it needs to be the most premium ice right after school. Except I don't need it until after soccer ends. But please reserve it.")

The truth is there isn't enough ice in a typical rink. Private rinks are going to go for the biggest bang for the buck, which is usually hockey because it's cost effective to schedule, even though it's less lucrative on a per-skater basis. Training rinks are going to want enough freestyle ice at premium times to attract high level skaters. Skating schools need practice ice during or after class sessions, to maximize use. Everyone needs public, because that's where most of your new customers come from.

Don't even get me started on the bastard child of skating programs, in other words, Synchro.

The truth is, that rinks need to allocate ice for the best return on investment--how can they maximize use and retain customers? This means that tournament ice needs to be reserved, even if the home team bombs out in the quarter finals, so that the big game never happens. The freestyle skaters need extra ice before the big competitions. Classes and public are cash cows-- you can fit a lot of paying customers onto class ice (as noted above, hockey's going to have 10 kids on the ice, and maybe 20 kids on the boards; freestyle tops out around 30. Classes or public might have 200. Do the math.)

If you're in a small market, you're stuck with the schedule at one or two rinks. If you're in a big market like Chicago, where there are 50 rinks in a 25 mile radius, stop complaining, and start driving.

You can make the schedule at your home rink work, or you can find ice that fits your schedule.

What you can't do is change the equation.

How do you deal with less than optimum scheduling at your home rink?

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.

Unmotivated

A reader emailed me that her Basic Skills kids "love to skate but they hate going to the rink". This was further complicated by the fact that getting to the rink was also exhausting to the mom-- both because of a long commute, and because of having to motivate them to go every time.

So how do you motivate skaters, especially beginners who aren't yet as invested emotionally, or don't have as much cool stuff that they can do?

Transitions
Sometimes the issue isn't skating, it's everything around it. You want to watch tv. You have homework. "None of my friends skate; they think it's weird." And on and on.

So this is not always a skating issue, sometimes it's a parenting issue. And the parenting issue here is, who is in charge? They're kids! Yes, they have a strong will, but honestly folks, if you can't get your 5 year old to do what you say, or if you're offering him the option to negotiate, skating lessons are the least of your worries.

In other words, stop negotiating, and just go.

They don't always have to have a lesson
The mom in question was having 2 lessons and and 2 classes per week, at Basic 6 and Basic 8 levels. That's quite a lot of skating at that level; I think she could probably sacrifice one of those sessions to a "fun skate." Take them to one of the weekend public skates, and promise you won't make them "work". At that level, everything they do on the ice is "on task" pretty much, whether they know it or not. Saturday and Sunday afternoon free skates are FULL of kids from the classes; they'll find people they know and make friends and then skating will be about fun instead of about work. (It's also cheaper, plus if they get into it, there are carpooling possibilities, saving you a chore)

Bundling
If your skaters are doing privates, class, and practice (and maybe off-ice or dance as well), think about "bundling" them-- back to back class+lesson, or tack skating onto an existing trip (piano lesson, regular grocery shopping, immediately after school, whatever) so that you're already out anyway.  Some parents do homework at the rink--you get there right after school, get them a snack from concession and do homework, then have skating class as a reward for getting some homework done!

Socialize
Encourage your kids to develop rink-based friendships. If they seem to connect with a certain child, find the parent and set up play dates, or see if they're at the rink early so the kids can hang out. Sign up for class together; even share a semi-private lesson (this also helps with costs).

What not to do
No bribes. No trades. If you really want your child to skate, and you know she likes it/is good at it, stop making it a choice.  You don't have to be mean about it, just matter of fact. Skating is one of the things you do.

What strategies have you used to motivate your skater?

Involving your family

A reader tells me

I started skating a few months ago, with lots of practice, plus private lessons. Since I'm able to get to the rink on my own mom has never really watched me skate. For some reason, she seems really uninterested in my skating--she hasn't even met my coach! Do you have any ideas on how to get my mom involved with my skating?

Here's some ideas:

Adult presence required
Ask around your home school group if you can do a once a week half hour "baby sitting on ice" with younger children, either ones you already babysit for, a local homeschool network, or the younger sibs of friends.  You could even ask the rink if you can post a notice. Charge them or not, your call, but I would suggest $3 per kid, plus the cost of ice and skate rental (if you get 5 kids, that's a nice chunk of change). Tell your mom you're not comfortable doing this without her on the premises; she doesn't have to skate.

Impresario!
See if the rink will allow you to set up an exhibition. Again, you could ask around a home school network if you're home schooled, or open it up to skaters from the rink, or just ask around to see if any of your friends skate.  Ask your coach to see if the local synchro team would like to be your headliners, or if she's got a high level skater who'd be willing to show off her program. Your mom might have friends who used to be skaters and might like to show off a little as well.  Municipal rinks might even donate the ice for this purpose if it's in the middle of the day when it's just sitting around empty anyway. Your school or home school might give you some kind of service learning credit for something like this; my own daughter arranged an exhibition her senior year.

I need your help
You could also just tell your mom flat out, "I really want you to come watch me skate, would you come once a month and see how I've progressed"? Or even ask her to "test" you--make up a little skills sheet based on the ISI levels and have her check off what you've learned.

Coach insists
Tell the coach you want her to discuss your progress with your mom every couple of weeks.

Ice shows, local competitions, and exhibitions
Signing up for the ice show, competition, or the rink's exhibition (with your own solo program) is a sure fire way to get family and friends to learn about your skating. ISI and Basic Skills competition sounds scary, but in fact they're a lot of fun, even for beginning skaters. A good coach can come up with choreography that makes even a Pre Alpha skater look really good. Don't worry if you "can't do anything." Non-skaters find a simple glide completely miraculous, especially if it's accomplished by someone they know, who they didn't know skated!

What have you done to get your family involved in your skating?

Why specialized classes?

To have a really robust free style program at your rink, you need to offer something for as many types of skaters as possible-- the axel-challenged, the once-a-weekers, the my-coach-or-no-coachers, the delusional, the competitive, the recidivists (i.e. haven't skated for 3 years, and think they're still at the same level they were when they left).

In rinks with only skill-level classes-"Free Style 5" "Freeskate 4"- you'll start seeing class enrollment drop off, as kids get bored or discouraged. A synchro program can help, although at least one local director thinks that Synchro teams run by municipal programs (as opposed to club-run) are problematic at best, and program-killing at worst.

Specialty classes, on the other hand, give kids a reason to skate, and can reward their strengths, instead of feeling like punishment for not measuring up.

For one thing, they aren't in any "curriculum" so you get to tailor them to your program. Have a lot of competitive kids? Take a page from USFS and do "media training" to teach kids (and parents) about how to promote themselves, and about responsible use of social media in a "professional" context. Or run "competition class" where kids act as judges, with training in ISI and ISU judging protocols.

If you have a lot of delusional kids, who think they're better than they are, rather than constantly berating them, have a choreography class, or junior coaching, or Moves.

Are you primarily recreational? Want to lure your regular public session people into more classes? How about Ice Games (races, rotation Olympics, or whatever you can some up with). Take a look at ISI competition categories, even if you're a Basic Skills rink. ISI has tons of marvelously creative categories-Couples, Family, Rhythmic, Team-that would be fantastic as a class (and might boost your rink's participation in ISI events).

I've always liked the idea of a permanent "clinics" class in the curriculum--three week classes that you can do a la carte (at a premium) or in a sets of three for a regular class rate. You could do these mini-sessions in Spins, Intro to Jumps, Choreo, doubles or triples, Axel or double axel, whatever you want. A class slot devoted to specialty clinics can help your coaches, as well, allowing them to sign on to present whatever their specialty is.

Specialty classes don't have to be on-ice, either. Keep people in your facility by offering them in sets-- practice ice/levels class/specialty class/off-ice class marathons, with a price break, to keep people in your facility. Throw in discount coupons for your pro shop or concession stand for people who sign up for this. Off-ice can be traditional conditioning-/dance-based classes including aerobics, or dance, or yoga, or pilates, but they can also be informational, like the above-suggested Media class, or training in judging protocols (parents would take this one, I bet), or "draw" class, where you learn about the marks that jumps, spins and moves make on the ice (literally, you draw them. I love draw class).

A lot of programs have Power and Jump classes, but too often these are just the levels classes with a different name. Your specialty classes should be just that--special.

Rotate the coaches through the classes. This is a great way to help younger coaches, by giving them the opportunity to really shine in something they're good at. Too many rinks never alter the schedule--they have Coach Seniority teaching FS6 on Tuesdays at 6 for 20 years; who cares if everyone hates Coach Seniority and only his students sign up for class.

To get the classes going, pair them with the rest of the program--a discount certainly, or some sort of cumulative benefit for taking multiple classes--ribbons, "skater of the month" awards, etc. Give friend-discounts for bringing new people into the program. Give it some time as well; at least 3 sessions so it can catch on.

Remember the statistics- there are 500 elite skaters nationwide, and I hate to break it to you, but they aren't at your rink. Rinks need to stop running programs as though everyone is the Broadmoor, and start serving the tens of thousands of committed recreational and workaday competitors who just love to skate.

What unusual specialty classes does your program, rink, or club offer?

Fall ice

To most people, summer is just hitting its high, with the hottest days and the August vacations still to come.

For skaters, it's time to start thinking about autumn ice.

For competitive skaters summer is what we call "early pre-season." It's the time to choose music, work on the new program, nail the new jump and create that perfect level IV spin. You're working hard, but the goal right now is simply working hard. Late pre-season starts in August, when you're revving up the intensity of your work outs, starting run throughs, and putting the finishing touches on the costume. The first significant non-qualifying club competitions are in August, and Regionals comes in late autumn.

Seriously competitive skaters already have their schedules and their training plans in place, but what about the rest of us? From once-a-week class participants to recreational competitors (who don't necessarily go to Regionals, or haven't a prayer of getting any farther than that), it's also time to start thinking about the fall. Here are some things to line up:

What's your goal for this year?
This can be to master a skill like a jump or a spin. You might be aiming to pass a level (or more) in class, or to take (or starting taking) tests, whether USFS or ISI. It can be to skate a certain number of hours per week, or to start private lessons. Whatever it is, you should define it, and work towards it. If the skater is a young child (8 or under) you can guide this goal, but the skater has to own it, even a very young one (for skaters this young, call it a "promise"). For tweens, 9 to 13, the parent and coach can start the conversation, but the skater has to set the goal. Teenagers might be given a nudge to think about it, but most of the process has to come from them.

Goal setting for skating is one of those skating-teaches-life-lessons things, and aside from knowing your budget is the most important thing you'll do in skating each year. If you can afford either private lessons or synchro, but not both, you've got to think hard about what your goals are, and be happy with your choice.

What else are you doing, besides skating?
This is critical to understand for many reasons. First, the other things you're doing take up time. Other sports, school government, church, mosque, or temple responsibilities, college applications all require commitment. Know where these commitments will balance with skating, where they'll take precedence, and where they can be deemphasized. Check the schedule for conflicts and resolve them now, including letting the coach know.

What's your family up to?
Are there vacations planned? Is grandma coming for a visit? Are there going to be transportation issues? All these things will affect your skating schedule and progress; if you understand upfront what's going on in the rest of your life, your skating life will run more smoothly, and you'll be able to adjust your expectations (both up and down).

What can you afford?
This should probably be first on the list, because along with time, it's the thing that somehow seems to creep up on skating families. Have a skating budget ("we can afford $$ per week for ALL skating expenses), but also have a contingency budget so that if an uexpected expense (let's call it an opportunity) comes up, you can cover it guilt-free. We take all the singles out of our wallets every night and set them aside. You will be amazed at how quickly this adds up. Remember that skating expenses includes not just classes, lessons and practice ice, but also off-ice training, training clothes, synchro fee, USFS & ISI membership, competition fees, costume, and travel (even a competition across town is probably going to involve a meal), etc. Don't be afraid to tell the coach exactly what your budget is, and how much flexibility you're likely to have.

And finally, the most important question for a skater to ask themselves, now certainly, but also at every step of the way:

Are you still having fun?