What are the steps to becoming a learn to skate/CanSkate Coach?

[singerskates]

Hi, I called my coach tonight for a totally unrealted subject but when we were done with the initial subject, my coach asked me if I wanted to become a coach. Yeah, I was on my club ice teaching some kids how to do the waltz jump, left forward and right forward outside 3 turns and outside edges and loops to prep the for the waltz jump. I guess my coach and her mom that also helps run my new club was watching me coach these 3 kids. They must have liked what they saw because my coach was on the phone with me asking me if I wanted to become a coach. She was serious too. Now I don't even have my prelim FS yet but I love to teach, I program assist on CanSkate and Learn to Skate and I teach music. I've been teaching music for 7 years in grade schools and at church. I don't have my teaching papers though. Never went for them. I guess I was gifted with the ability to teach. Anyway, my coach is looking into having me take a CanSkate Coaching course and then testing it while I get my prelim, Junior bronze and Senior Bronze FS. Boy do I have my work cut out for me now.

Anyone is the same boat?

I'm close to getting my prelim FS. I have one dance I need for my prelim dances only because my knee was sprained on test day and the knee hurt too much. I already know the Fiesta Tango and only need my Swing and Willow to pass the junior bronze dances. Plus, I plan on testing my intro and bronze interpretives too.

Oh, I'm 41 and only have been skating for 4 and half seasons. the last, was cut short due to surgery and the first was cut short due to broken elbow. so if you average it out it's really been 3 years of skating from holding on to the boards to doing loops and flips.:?:

[arena_gal]

I'm in a similar position and was told by a high level coach this year that I could be a Canskate coach (yeah sure, where would I find the time) slight problem that I've never taken a test - something about having to wear a dress and tights. I have a teaching background.

I was also told that if you're testing for the sole purpose of passing the FS test in order to teach Canskate, especially in an area with coach shortages, that the judge gives considerable slack to the quality of the elements, wonky camel and sit spins and the like, but the stroking portion of the FS test has to be of high standard.

To be a Canskate coach you need to pass complete prelim freeskate test, prelim skills, complete prelim dances and one complete junior bronze test, like the complete Junior Bronze dances. Then you do a level 1 course (one weekend) and a Canskate course (another weekend) and a home assignment and that's it. Send an email to your section coaching rep to see when they're doing the next Canskate course.

To be a full level 1 coach you need all those tests and Jr Bronze skills and complete Jr Bronze Freeskate, plus mentoring and more assignments, takes about a year.

http://www.skatecanada.ca/english/programs/coaching/nccp.html (Skate Canada Coaching site)

[Azlynn]

I envy you the opportunity. Sounds like you've really got a supportive background going on, and should take full advantage of the opportunities being offered. You could try it for a while and see if you want to test further and make the committment to all of Level 1 coaching.

'My' club has been going through Level 1 and Canskate coaches for the last few years - this year, someone has come in from outside and is being trained. It definitely feels like there's a shortage of Canskate coaches, although not a shortage in regular coaches. I'd love the opportunity, but there isn't the support for me there. I've even been considering giving up being a PA as I'm tired of how I'm being treated.

Anyhow, there's my two cents. :) I'd say just go for it and see how it turns out. G'luck!

[plinko]

Singerskates, go for it!

It's very hard to get Canskate coaches, that is, coaches that do Canskate only. There's lots of coaches out there but they want more than Canskate hours. If you want to do Canskate and let that be known in your area, I bet that the tests will come easily for you. It's one of those times that you wish you had passed some tests as a kid.

In Ontario, because of how they've changed high school, finishing at grade 12, by the time they finish the canskate course they might be able to coach for half a year and then they're gone to university. With the full NCCP 1, they don't get finished at all. So the pool of young adults that were happy to do a couple of hours of Canskate is disappearing and there are lots of clubs that would be overjoyed to have an adult come in and teach Canskate. There's more than a few clubs in small communities that have uncertified coaches teaching Canskate because that's all they can get.

Canskate isn't all just kids doing waltz jumps, there's grunt work in there with lots of 3, 4 and 5 year olds rolling around on the ice and you've got to be good with kids more than having high levels of skating ability.

[singerskates]

I've been teaching kids since my youngest was 1 yrs old and she's now 17. I've taught Sunday School to kids 2 to 6, did Junior Church with kids ranging from 3 to 12, still doing youth group kids aged 7 to 13, once lead youth group with 10 to gr. 12 and I've taught instrumental music in grade schools to grade 1 to 8 and vocal music from prekindergarden to junior kindergarden to grade 8. So yeah, I have a nack with kids.

It's only been a month and a bit and by program assisting at my club, I've gotten 10 troubled petrified kids to skate for themselves when the coaches couldn't get the kids to do anthing but cry or lay on the ice. forward, backwards, two foot jump, falling down and getting up own their own.

[Azlynn]

Originally posted by plinko

Canskate isn't all just kids doing waltz jumps, there's grunt work in there with lots of 3, 4 and 5 year olds rolling around on the ice and you've got to be good with kids more than having high levels of skating ability.

Amen. The current trainee coach at our club is apparently too good to teach anything but levels 6 and 7. Personally, at our last session, I spent the entire time with several 3 year olds just crawling around on the ice and throwing balls around. We'd done some other things to begin, then just spent the last 15 minutes relaxing and having fun, so that when time was up, they didn't want to leave. :)

[IceDreams]

My club requires that a candidate be at least 16 years of age and have passed through USFSA Intermediate freestyle or higher. Skaters that meet these requirements still must submit a resume of their personal skating achievements to be reviewed by the board. Other criteria, such as attitude, ability to work with others, leadership, etc. are also taken into consideration. These are the requirements to be a *paid* Learn-to-Skate instructor. Most clubs have much looser standards (if any) for volunteer instructors. I would highly recommend teaching, paid or unpaid. It is very rewarding to work with children (and adults!) and to be a part of their skating successes.

[Klara]

I want to become a CanSkate coach also. I did teach for 2 seasons while i was a skater, and attended the Canskate clinic to become an instructor. I didn't know until a while ago its not really valid anymore :(

I still plan to get this but ive stopped working on my preliminary free for while a while now. Iam close to 30 so i wish i had taken when i was younger and my coach had suggested it. However i plan to work on this again. I also need Prelim skills. Ice dance i have up to senior Bronze so that was not a problem. Is there really payed position for who of us who may get to the level of being a Canskate professional coach but do not have the level of skating to teach the higher levels?

[jp1andOnly]

some clubs will hire you to just teach Canskate. Soem clubs can not afford to. You'd have to call the club to find out