going along for the ride

[Sk8pdx]

There may have been discussions about this topic before, so if there is another thread out there already, could someone please guide me there?

I have read many posts about traveling and competing. (Like AN and O'dorf)What do people generally do as far as bringing their coach along for the trip? I am sure that the cost may vary from different coaches.

I inquired already and I would need to pay all airfare, loging, meals and competition fees which is all very respectable since it is their time away from home and a displacement of their regular lesson schedule and or work.

As if skating weren't expensive already but $$ may have just thwarted my dreams of attending AN someday.:cry: While I love my coaches, the fact of the matter is, I cannot afford to bring them. Is it necessary to have a coach send you on the ice? Maybe some of you who have attended AN or other competitions where you have had to travel a greater distance can give more insight on this and all you coaches out there on the forum as well.
:?: :?: :?:

[Terri C]

No you do not need to bring your coach with you! Actually, there is a "unwritten" rule that at most, adult skaters do not bring their coach to the Adult Competitions. I've put myself out at both New Years Invitational and Peach Classic!

[lovepairs]

Sometimes audlt skaters working with the same coach will pool their resources and split the cost of bringing their coach to AN and Oberstdorf. Sometime, if you have a strong relationship with another skater, they can coach you through it rink side. Most adults put themeselves out there, but I think we are going to be seeing more and more coaches at the adult competitions as the sport grows.

One year I saw a coach working with one of his students at AN, and I just went up to him and asked him if he would coach me through my event. He did, and it was really great. I paid him his coaching rate by the hour, and he made a huge difference in my camel spin, which I still use to this day. It was a wonderful experience to work with someone new, unexpected, and at the spur of the moment! :P

[Debbie S]

I've never been to AN, but based on what I've seen at other adult comps and have heard about AN, most adult skaters don't bring their coaches to comps. As you said, the cost is often prohibitive. Even for comps within driving distance, coaches will ask for mileage reimbursement as well as compensation for their hotel stay, gas, and tolls (if applicable) in addition to their coaching fees. Skating is already expensive enough, so most adults rely on their friends to hold their music, water, warm-up jackets, etc, and give them encouragement or last-minute advice. And some adults just put themselves on the ice, which works out fine, too.

I used to have a coach with me at comps, but not anymore. I've found that it wasn't really worth the extra money, unless the comp is local and there are no transportation expenses. My coaches do a good job of preparing me for competitions, and by the time I arrive at the comp, I can easily handle my own off-ice and on-ice warm-up. Generally, you're going to perform the way you do in practice, so if you've practiced well and are prepared well, you'll do just fine.

[phoenix]

I've been thinking about this since I'm going to Lake Placid in August & there's no way I can afford to have my coach go, much as I wish he could be there.

But I've wondered--what if 1 or 2 of his other girls go....and they want him to come....so they pay for his travel, lodging, etc. But since I haven't kicked in for all that (still would be too expensive for me), what happens at the comp--does he ignore me since I haven't paid for him to be there? Could I pay for his time to coach my practice & put me out for my event? But that wouldn't be fair to the girls who paid for his trip..... Anyone have any thoughts on that scenario?

ETA...I'm in the midwest, so this would involve airfare, rental car, hotel for almost a week, the works! 8O No way I can do it.

[Isk8NYC]

I used to skate in the ISI Lake Placid competition regularly, as did many other skaters. (It's open to all ages.) My coach would tally up the events she had to cover for her students, including practices, then divide her expenses by that number. She then charged her expenses to us based on the average expense/event. If she had to cover 5 practices and 5 events, and her total expenses were $100, she would charge $10/event and practice. If I had four events, I paid $10*4 - $40. Obviously, we always had to commit in advance. "Drop ins" or skaters who weren't her regular students, paid double that amount.

(I made the numbers easy for me to do the math since I'm "calculator-dependent". :roll: )

[phoenix]

I used to skate in the ISI Lake Placid competition regularly, as did many other skaters. (It's open to all ages.) My coach would tally up the events she had to cover for her students, including practices, then divide her expenses by that number. She then charged her expenses to us based on the average expense/event. If she had to cover 5 practices and 5 events, and her total expenses were $100, she would charge $10/event and practice. If I had four events, I paid $10*4 - $40. Obviously, we always had to commit in advance. "Drop ins" or skaters who weren't her regular students, paid double that amount.

(I made the numbers easy for me to do the math since I'm "calculator-dependent". :roll: )

Ah, I see, that's interesting. But I'm guessing if any of his other students go, there would only be a couple....and since it's such a long competition, the expenses would be easily over $1,000 just for his travel & lodging.....I couldn't swing that even if it got split 4 ways.....

[Isk8NYC]

You're right: if the expenses were high and the students were few, it would be expensive. I have to say my coach never "milked" it. She stayed at an inexpensive B&B and rode on the bus with one of the Clubs. Plus, she had a LOT of students, so the average was pretty reasonable.

If I knew I was her only student in a competition, I wouldn't even ask her to go with me. I knew she'd be losing her regular lessons on top of incurring expenses. So, I either put myself on, or had a friend "coach" me for the event. I also remember other coaches from our rink handling the pre-event warmup, but I don't think I had to pay them. (They were probably hoping that I'd take lessons from them when we got back home. Little did they know I was clueless and never even gave it a second thought at the time. "Kenny was so nice and stayed for my warmup and event.")

[Sk8pdx]

No you do not need to bring your coach with you! Actually, there is a "unwritten" rule that at most, adult skaters do not bring their coach to the Adult Competitions. I've put myself out at both New Years Invitational and Peach Classic!
Thank you Terri C and others for the info. Whew! Thank goodness for "unwritten" rules. I was beginning to stress out for a moment. That just goes to show how inexperienced I am as far as traveling long distances to compete (but any AN "virgin" would have never known.) so I am glad I posed the question.:)

...Yes, My coach would usually divide her expenses by the amount of her students attending the event. So far I am one of the rare adults at my rink that shows more serious ambitions. At least now I can proceed with my dreams being more informed.

[VegasGirl]

Ah, I see, that's interesting. But I'm guessing if any of his other students go, there would only be a couple....and since it's such a long competition, the expenses would be easily over $1,000 just for his travel & lodging.....I couldn't swing that even if it got split 4 ways.....

The only away competition I ever did was a 4-5 hours drive from where I lived and we were required to bring the coach... or rather you were able to go if your coach went. The coach charged a set fee per event and then split his travel expenses between all attending students.

Still, it was a pretty expensive 1 day affair for me and my daughter (we each skated in one event) totalling almost $1000 between entry fees, travel expenses and coach fees.

[Lenny2]

I have another suggestion. You might ask your coach if he/she knows a coach who is local to the area where the competition is being held who might be willing to work with you while you are in the area. That way, you would have someone who could help you during warm ups and practice sessions but you could pay them hourly without having to pay travel expenses. Our coach frequently offers to hook us up with another coach if we'd rather not take her with us to competitions.

[jenlyon60]

For the Pro-Am dance competitions that are non-local, I don't have a choice about paying coach fees (since I'm skating with my coach).

He usually charges mileage, lodging, meals + a per-event fee. The mileage/lodging/meals are divided up among all the skaters he takes, then each of us has different per-event fees, depending on what and how many dances we're competing.

For an event like the Lake Placid dance competition in August, where he is gone for most of a week, and must cancel normally scheduled lessons, my coach will charge loss of income as well (loss of income because if he's not there to teach, he doesn't get paid, and bills still have a nasty habit of showing up in the mailbox). Again, that will be divided up among all of us that he takes to Placid to compete.

[plinko]

This has caused a huge rift in my coach/skater relationship. I'm the only adult my coach has, and it is an "unwritten" rule that the coach goes to all the events. Actually the coach picks the events, you go. The kid skaters pay, but then there's usually 30-40 skaters at the weekend event and the cost works out to $10 - $15 per skater. As an adult, I'm on a different competition circuit and I'm the only one. After paying dearly for my coach for my first event of the season, I asked my coach to train me from then on so that I could go to competitions "unescorted".

Well I thought I caused hell to freeze over. "go by yourself?" Yes, I knew that very few people bring a coach and there would always be someone who would be happy to hold your skateguards as you went on. It was not my own coach's experience that people go to competition on their own, although it was obvious that I was the only one with a coach at the previous competition, so it was happening! I did two competitions after that on my own, the first was a blow out, the second I did much better. I spent time with a close friend doing simulations of competition "on my own". This was so useful.

The bigger problem I think is that the big competition was in a place this year that my coach and lifepartner wanted to visit. I was thinking anyways of finding the cash to bring the coach because it was such a big event until I was told I'd have to pay for the cost of a private room as the coach would not share, nor drive with me as we had done in the past as the partner wanted to have a little "vacation" and would come along with the coach. Vacation was the wrong word to use at that point, since I was figuring out how to go to this competition sharing four or five girls in a room, and just felt my coach didn't get it. Then I asserted that I would definitely go on my own.

I can understand paying airfare, mileage, missed lessons, coaching fees, but when someone was treating my competition as an excuse so they could have a vacation on my nickel, I saw red. I know I would have to pay for a room but it was the manner in which it was all said, including ways that they were planning their free time once coach was "done with me".

Don't get me wrong, there are certain moments at a competition when you want your coach, but when you can't afford it your coach has to understand and prepare you to compete on your own and put your interests first. I feel, that as I'm my coach's only adult skater, that sometimes I'm training the coach, not the other way around!

[slusher]

oooh, I had a girlfriend who had that happen, but she didn't know her coach brought his wife until she got to the competition and saw them both standing there. The wife hung around her husband, although she's not into skating, and was a terrible distraction.

I would never send my kid to competition on their own. But, almost the entire club goes with the coach so the cost is reasonable. If I luck out and there are adult events at that competition, then I have a coach too. But, for all my adult-only competitions, I went on my own. The cost was just too much to be able to take a coach, and I'm okay for getting ready on my own, I've done it enough times. It's actually weird having a coach now. No one cares if you have one or not at an adult event, you need what you need.

I'd go to adult nationals without a coach. I know enough other adults to chum with. I don't know about going overseas on my own, totally on my own, I'd try to hook up with another skater from my home country.

[techskater]

I am lucky in that my coach has a huge adult contingent and generally we all chip in (and she picks up "out of town students" at AN's and Mids who chip in for expenses as well). So, coming from Chicago to Dallas, our cost per person for expenses was $41. Then she bills us accordingly for events.