Coaching as a Program Assistant

[singerskates]

I'm filling in here and then for coaches who somehow can't make it to the rink and also helping to drill the Christmas showcase numbers into the kids heads.

I really don't care why, I'm coaching even though I'm only a program assistant. It's plain fun to do, the kids like me and so do their moms. It doesn't matter as long as the kids have fun and so do I.

Today's coaching experience:

Worked with another coach on a group of skaters known for the Holiday Showcase as Elves. They had a wipping pinwheel. Half of the skaters were fast and half slow. It didn't look like a pinwheel at all. Then the backwards skating was slow. I'd lead them and have to stand there waiting for them to show up. LOL And I was skating slow... Let's just leave it there.

Then I was just messing around on the ice when I was called over to coach one of the kids one on one because something happened and her coach couldn't show up. I got to teach her gliding on one foot both backwards and forwards. AFter that I was to teach her gliding backwards on a curve to get her ready to do waltz jumps. It took a while but she got it. I then taught her to step forward onto her left outside edge. Next was putting it all together for the waltz jump. But first I had to fix her waltz jump for a standing position.
She was overjoyed to get her first waltz jumps done.

I can't wait to teach her a toe loop jump.

I hope she remembers all the details I told her and showed her.

Brigitte

[Justine_R]

Well done! I am also a program assistant for the Preschool and Canskate programs here in Canada. Theres so many great kids that I love to work with and its great to get to share the joy of figure skating with anyone who wants to learn!

Be proud of yourself, you taught her a waltz jump:)

[slusher]

I work as a program assistant, on pre-starskate group, I have 11 girls who love skating. I don't "coach" per se because it's a group program, I remind them of the coaches instructions and correct as taught, but I am not permitted to teach things before the coach does. That would be "coaching" and I'm not qualified. Even if I got my Canskate level, that doesn't qualify me to teach Starskate, and these kids are no longer in Canskate.

I spend most of my time getting across the idea that all these little jumps and spins and spirals end up in a program and that you have to do them all over the entire ice for a minute and a half without stopping, getting in other people's way, talking to friends or hanging out at the boards.

I also try to give them the feeling that ice dance is fun. That's been a tough sell. :lol:

So, mainly as a program assistant, I'm an introduction to ice addiction mentor.