Rink's new coaching policies---grrrr!!

[phoenix]

Got a letter today out of the blue from the rink where I do most of my coaching. New policies in place (doesn't say when they will be effective) include:

--no more teaching on public ice (where are we supposed to put the little LTS kids learning crossovers & staring at the ice? Out w/ the junior FS girls?? We don't have ANY low level FS sessions. Where am I supposed to put my 70 year old lady who loves her skating lessons??)

--coaches can no longer skate for free on public sessions (we used to get unlimited free freestyle ice--this is the final removal of any benefit for coaches at this rink)

--$150.00 annual fee to coach there (never a fee before)

--coaches are responsible for making sure their students have paid for their ice time (huh? I'm not a rink employee, I'm an independent contractor. If you can't monitor your own business that's not my problem)

--coaches teaching learn to skate group classes must buy a $150.00 coaches jacket that has the rink logo on it (yah right, I'm not buying a coat I don't even need & can't wear anywhere but that one place)

I'm so bummed, now I have to find ice time at a different rink & move all my students over.....I'm not a full time coach, I'd have to raise my lesson fees to cover the additional costs (and I just raised them for the first time in 5 years not even a month ago!! Can't do it again!!) It's so discouraging, we're trying to build the sport, encourage all ages to enjoy it, and they dump all this stuff on us. This will mean a longer drive for me to the next nearest rink, but I don't seem to have much option. BAH!!! I'm so bummed! :cry:

[Isk8NYC]

Why don't you have a chat with the Skating Director? It could be that the new rules were geared towards other coaches, and you were overlooked when the policies were designed. Also, ask about teaching privates during the group lesson ice time. It's much less crowded and hectic than the public sessions - could be a good workaround for the older woman and the little kids.

I can't believe they're charging you to skate the session plus a coaching fee. I know a lot of rinks do, and I know a lot of coaches try to avoid teaching there because of that policy. If you have a no-show, you're LOSING money. Plus, when I'm at a public session, I am approached by at least three people every time, asking about the rink's group lessons. (I'm on staff at this rink.) I'm their salesperson at those sessions - they should be paying me!

I've been "bamboozled" about session fees. One pair of students always paid me for the lesson, but I found out they weren't paying the session fee for admission. I found out by asking to see their hand stamp for admission because our guards were checking for the first time in ages. Turns out the mother had been skipping that step, and she played dumb when I pointed it out to her.

I'm not sure what the deal was with the other student, who still takes from me, and pays the fee each week. The skater has a little brother who takes group lessons. Last year, the mother said she had taken care of it with the Director. I asked the Director if they were all square for the ice time and she replied yes. I figured it was okay and I taught the kid each week. I think the Director didn't realize there were TWO kids, one in group and one in privates. One week into this year's season, I asked the Director about the fee for this girl, and the Director got a little angry, realizing that the fee wasn't being paid. It was just a miscommunication, but I was caught in the middle. I don't know what they discussed - I was on the ice.

I handled it by sending the father in to "fill out the registration form" and pay the fee as if it were being done all along. I hope the office collected for both weeks, but I don't know for certain and I'm not dogging them for the money. I like teaching this student, I like the family, and I'm not going to chance losing her as a student.

As for the jacket, $150's a lot of money. Before you agree to pay for the jacket, check it out and try one on first. I have a great jacket with a zip-out liner, but the zipper on the front isn't two-way. Can't unzip the bottom to allow for hip movement and bending. I was on staff at a rink where they also said it would be $150 for the jacket. Once people started asking questions and trying on, they chose a different jacket that was less expensive. Someone also pointed out that, if the rink wants them wearing the jackets, the rink should pay for at least half of the cost. They did, and it was a great savings. We ended up paying $75 for a really well-made jacket. (Plus, they didn't get around to embroidering the rink name on it, so mine is "generic" - I use it when I teach in different rinks.) Also, the school should have a "no-name" jacket in the office, in case coaches forget theirs at home.

[AshBugg44]

I'd be thrilled if I only had to pay $150 per year to teach. I pay $110 a month!

Our skate school director also wants us to at least make sure our parents know of any fees for ice time - such as if they are skating on a freestyle for the first time.

Our benefits for coaches here are awesome, and the same as any other rink employee. Free public sessions, freestyle sessions, and a group class! If you're a parent, your children can use the benefit! It's great!

I think that no coaching on public sessions is ridiculous though! Are you honestly supposed to put little tots who can barely march on their own on a freestyle session? First of all, those parents won't pay that kind of money for FS sessions, and 2nd of all, that child is going to get ran over and terrified!

[flippet]

I think that no coaching on public sessions is ridiculous though! Are you honestly supposed to put little tots who can barely march on their own on a freestyle session? First of all, those parents won't pay that kind of money for FS sessions, and 2nd of all, that child is going to get ran over and terrified!

I think Isk8NYC's suggestion of asking to teach on group ice is a great one. Where I used to skate, there were no lessons on public ice, either. It made a LOT of sense to me, as I skated at a couple of other nearby rinks that DID have lessons on public ice, and as a public skater, those lessons were SUPER annoying. I think that if I'd have been the student, I would have been intimidated by all the can't-stand-up-to-save-my-life public skaters skating into my path.

Public skaters don't have a clue where a lesson skater might skate--and they shouldn't have to. Lesson skaters shouldn't have to avoid ankle-biters who think it's funny to take a running slide down the ice, or who gravitate toward anyone doing anything complicated.

Where I skated, we had a group lesson time where there were fewer groups, and the groups were either older, or more advanced, or both. For instance, one session I recall had four or five adults in a group freestyle lesson (F1-F3), two 12-14-year-olds in a shared F1 lesson, three or four adults in Alpha-Delta lessons, and one 12-year-old hockey boy in a private speed-drill lesson.

It's the perfect atmosphere for skaters who aren't up to skating with the high-speed freestylers, yet need to be on non-public (and non-crowded) ice.

[AshBugg44]

Well all we have to teach on here is public ice or freestyle. No group ice time. There is no private instruction to be done during group classes, which are all huge and there's no extra ice anyways.

[Mrs Redboots]

First of all, those parents won't pay that kind of money for FS sessions!Interesting - our teaching ice is way cheaper than the public sessions are! Small ones are fine in the evening patches (they're still called patch here, even though very few people ever do figures, although one of the coaches was this morning), but can be overwhelmed on a busy morning session with elite dancers buzzing around all over the place.

Our coaches have to pay "rent" to the rink, which includes the cost of the patch ice plus a capitation fee per pupil.

[Clare]

Our coaches have to pay "rent" to the rink, which includes the cost of the patch ice plus a capitation fee per pupil.

Ah, I wondered how that worked- thank you for answering a question I had never actually asked aloud :)

Clare

[samba]

Sounds to me as though Phoenix has got off very lightly so far, as Mrs Redboots has demonstrated, it is much different in the UK and yes at some rinks, such as Milton Keynes, the coach takes the patch fees also from the pupils.

[jp1andOnly]

In Canada, there is no coaching allowed on public ice. If you are a coach you need to be hired by a club and coach on their ice. However most clubs have a variety of sessions to coach on, such as learn to skate (some clubs allow privates during group time), pre-junior (a session invented to take care of our removed canfigureskate sessions. Some clubs do 1/2 group lessons with 15-30 minutes of free time which a coach can give privates on), junior freeskate session, intermediate session, senior session, competitive session, etc.

[4rkidz]

Actually I have observed coaching on public ice in Canada, but the coach usually stands on the sides - but the parent still gets the bill! Fair enough this was several years ago, but it did happen - not sure about these days?