October 2009
Early October 2009
The New Guy
Ice Castle brought in a new coach. I shall call him Dylan*. Dylan is in his early twenties and is still an active competitor. Don’t get too excited. I doubt you have heard of him. I certainly hadn’t, not that I keep up with every competitor in every discipline at every level. I finally looked up who he is on the Internet. He is accomplished, and he’s a good skater. I don’t know how much teaching experience he has, but he certainly has the credentials to coach at much higher levels than are available at Ice Castle, which is primarily a recreational and hockey rink. I am actually surprised he bothers with Ice Castle considering his commute and potential. This leads me to believe Dylan is a beginner in terms of coaching and needs to get experience somewhere before moving on to a rink with an established and productive skating school.
Dylan teaches very few low level classes. In fact, it seems he has acquired all of the better classes that used to go to me and other coaches. I cannot argue with Dylan’s credentials. He has the skating resume to coach far above Basic 8. But everybody has to start somewhere. I was very disappointed when the skating director handed over my low freestyle group to Dylan. I worked with this class all of last spring. Despite Dylan’s obviously superior skating accomplishments, I felt hurt and even betrayed. This may not be rational or reasonable, but it is how I felt. Yes, Dylan is hands-down the better skater, but I do not know if he is a better teacher. Maybe the director intends to rotate this group among all the coaches so everyone has an opportunity to teach freestyle students, and the students will be exposed to different perspectives. No matter how I feel, this would be fair, and I can accept it. I still miss my good class. I loved working with those kids.
The New Guy may have negotiated with the management to teach primarily higher-level students. Like everyone else, he wants to recruit privates. Now that Dylan is in charge of the low freestyle group, it is likely the parents will ask him for private lessons when they are ready to take the next step. Of course, they could still approach me if they and/or their children preferred me for some reason. However, in my experience, the current group instructor has a distinct advantage over other staff when private lessons are requested. Certainly Dylan must charge more per hour than I do because of his qualifications, which may be a factor in my favor. Dylan has the background to take kids to competitions, if that is their ambition. Since I lack a childhood competitive history and have never been interested in adult competition, Dylan definitely would be the better choice. At this point, I am not looking to coach in that capacity.
If Ice Castle is to build a freestyle program, it needs pros like Dylan who can meet the competitive needs of students. It also needs pros like me to teach kids the basics and get them started. If my students reach a level where they want to compete, I may decide to refer them to Dylan. I just don’t want to lose the opportunity to work with children who skate beyond one-foot glides and stumble through crossovers. Since beginners make up the bulk of Ice Castle’s clientele, I have become very competent at teaching basic skills. The manager gives me big classes other instructors may not be able to handle. My beginners love the games we play and the fun we have in class. They are surprised that class is “over so soon”. I find that flattering. This is my third season at Ice Castle and I have carved out a space for myself but want to continue growing as a coach by working with higher-level skaters. We’ll see what happens as the season progresses.
*** Names have been changed.
Week of October 25, 2009
My Butt Hurts
I came to the rink early intending to warm up before teaching evening classes. I had been doing this regularly and, unfortunately, warm-ups have accounted for most of my personal skating lately. However, for the past few weeks, I have been busy with other obligations and have just been getting to the rink on time to put on my skates and take a couple of laps before students arrive. I want to maintain at least a little weekly personal skating to stay comfortable on my blades.
Barring serious injury or illness, I believe a person who has attained a high level of competence in figure skating will never completely lose their ability to skate reasonably well. Obviously, “high level” is a relative term. I look like a beginner compared to someone who recently passed senior freestyle, but over the years, I have amassed a wide variety of skating skills and appear very much the seasoned professional while on the ice. Of course, there is also a difference between a pro skating with Stars on Ice and one who teaches at a local rink. But I could go on with qualifiers forever. I’m still a decent skater. That’s the point I want to make, even though I don’t train anymore.
I started stroking around the rink and doing crossovers. My butt muscles began to ache from the effort; my lower back too. I used to skate for at least two hours without any soreness whatsoever. This means I am out of skating condition. My body is no longer used to the rigors of this sport. I managed to drill a nice attitude spin on the first try. That is what I mean by “never losing the ability to skate”. Moves that were ingrained are still ingrained. On the third attempt, I hit a decent camel. Camels are harder and require more effort and concentration. I did a nice, big salchow and a series of waltz jumps that left me breathing deeply. The students and parents who had gathered before class thought the display was fascinating. They don’t know any better.
I would really like to get back into fighting shape, but I don’t see it happening right now. I have too many other things going on in my life to dedicate the required time. This does not mean I never will, I just don’t right now, but it is in the plan for the future.
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