How do you feel?

[teresa]

I was wondering something. Do you like or dislike being called an adult skater if you are one? Either way, why?

I truly don't. I am an adult and I do skate however. I've thought about this some. I think it's because when I first started skating a skating parent called me an "adult skater" and didn't say it very nice. I felt like a dirty word sorta at the time. Second, my old coach used to always tell me I couldn't learn certain things because I was an "adult skater". I hated this to say the least. (I have learned many of things I wasn't supposed to do. =-) ) Anyhow, I just say I skate. I just leave out the adult, because it's obvious I am one.

I really would like to hear your thoughts.

teresa

[Bill_S]

I don't mind either way. I don't pay much attention to what others think or how they phrase their comments.

Perhaps being a male skater in a mostly female sport has hardened me to taunts and slights. It's like a boy named Sue, if you remember that old song.

Or maybe it's because I'm old and grumpy...:lol:

[patatty]

I don't really think about what category I fall into. Most skating parents I have met have been very supportive and impressed that I can do the things I do. Many parents have told me that their daughters really admire me (even though those kids can outskate me by a mile). I have overheard (or heard second-hand) some very obnoxious comments made by a few coaches regarding "adult skaters", and that has been upsetting, especially since those coaches also teach adults. It makes me sad that someone's coach has such little respect for them and the rest of us.

[jazzpants]

It would depend on the context and intent of which I'm being called an "adult skater."

But yes, most of the non-skating adults are quite amazed when I tell them I'm 40 and compete as a figure skater. (Some of the adults think of me as their "on ice" baby-sitter/adult playmate for their kid... :P )

[Rusty Blades]

I refer to myself as a competitive skater, just one who falls into the adult category. Since my coach and I actively promote "adult skating" I would never malign the term!

[Skittl1321]

I've never heard "adult skater" used negatively around here, so I'm totally okay with it. It explains why my hips have a bit more padding than the typical skater, and why my jumps are a bit lower- but it doesn't provide any excuses for why I can or can't do certain elements.

[Sk8Dreamer]

How about being an "adult skater" who has got to be the slowest learner in the universe? I don't mind being called an "adult skater," but I wish I could show people that adults can actually skate! As opposed to being an adult who "tries" to skate.

Is there anyone else here who loves skating but doesn't 1) find it relatively easy and/or natural; and 2) doesn't have time to commit more than 3-4 hours a week to it?

(I should sign this "intensely frustrated." <g>)

[teresa]

I'm enjoying reading all the comments.

sk8dreamer,

If I was honest, I would say that I have been lucky learning skills. Easier than some anyhow. I wouldn't say things were natural. Everything is a process. Sometimes the process is longer than others. I skate between 6 and 7 hours a week. I have many peers who do a great job on 3 or 4 hours. Don't be frusterated with your progress. Skating is a journey and just worry about your trip.

teresa

[doubletoe]

I don't mind being referred to as an Adult Skater because I enjoy breaking people's stereotypes of adult skaters and forcing them to redefine what they think we are. I say, bring it on! :twisted:

[Thin-Ice]

I have a friend who says she doesn't mind being called "an adult skater" -- because that means she's qualified to skate at AN... BUT when her coach wants to motivate her he tells her "you're skating that like an adult, not a skater".

I think the tone of voice he uses and the fact she trusts him to push her help mitigate how that might otherwise be interpreted. Two years ago she told me she would "never have a layback spin" and couldn't even imagine wanting to work on laybacks. He started her working on laybacks last year and now there's one in her new program. So he does push her past what she thinks her limitations are.

[Mrs Redboots]

I am an adult skater, in every sense of the word!

[RachelSk8er]

I don't really care. I think when it comes to skating, I've been battling stereotypes my whole life. For years I dealt with the whole "synchro is for skaters who can't really skate" stereotype--I got that all the time from singles skaters back when I wasn in high school, my usual defense to that was "wanna come over some time and see my national medals? Or maye you'd like to watch the videos from when USFS sent my team to international competitions in Europe? What, you've never even made it out of regionals in novice ladies? I competed at the senior level for the first time when I was 13! Who's the "real skater" now? :lol: Synchro isn't for people who can't skate, it's for a different kind of skater (both in terms of on-the-ice and personality). It's like comparing swimmers to divers. Do swimmers consider divers people who just can't swim fast?

I like to think that I set a good example of someone who isn't afraid to try new things...like switching disciplines at age 26. Or as someone who promotes the fact that skating really is a lifelong sport--something you can do through college and as an adult (even if you take time off--I took a year here and there). Or someone who proves that you can stay active in something like skating even though your "real life" is hectic--I work full time and attend law school at night. So if that's what they want to define as an adult skater, fine with me. The other adults who skate at my rink range in time skating and ability, but they, too, are professors, lawyers, doctors, parents (some are parents of skaters), full-time coaches, etc. And I generally find that all the kids (including the home schooled prodigys who train at my rink) and parents are, for the most part, really respectful toward us.

I always make sure I take the time to talk to our teenage skaters about all of the opportunities that are available to them in terms of skating when they are adults, whether in college (collegiate conference for singles, joining synchro, etc) and the benefits that continuing to skate has (and putting them in contact with synchro coaches at schools they are interested in, helping them find the right info on the USFS site, etc). I also try to make them aware of other non-school related opportunities that are open to them ("young adult" category at some competitions, being able to come to adult nationals when they turn 21). I think it's important to look at these kids as our future adult skaters and rope them in! So many of my friends quit after high school or during/after college, and there is no reason to do that!

I still don't know how true "adult skaters" (in the stereotypical sense of an adult who doesn't even strap on a pair of skates until they were adults) do it. I'd be scared to death to flat out be learning to skate at my age (or older)!

[sk8lady]

How about being an "adult skater" who has got to be the slowest learner in the universe? I don't mind being called an "adult skater," but I wish I could show people that adults can actually skate! As opposed to being an adult who "tries" to skate.

Is there anyone else here who loves skating but doesn't 1) find it relatively easy and/or natural; and 2) doesn't have time to commit more than 3-4 hours a week to it?

(I should sign this "intensely frustrated." <g>)

HAHAHAHA!!

I did not start skating till I was 28 and I do not have one scrap of talent! Nothing comes naturally and I have to work like a fiend for every single new thing I learn. I didn't start making progress till I started skating at least 4 hours a week (but with only 5 months of ice a year it's still been awfully hard to move ahead...). It took me forever to get my scratch spin. I'm hoping to get my loop before I'm so old that I have to use a walker to get out on the ice but after 15 minutes of working on it I'm so sore that I have to stop!

But, having said that, I'm finally working on more advanced spins--my coach just started me on a layback and the sit-backsit is starting to look like a real spin--and I competed at Adult Nationals this year (I qualified by passing the first six ice dances, which allows you to compete in Interpretive) and I wasn't last (not that there's anything WRONG with that!).

You just have to keep plugging away at it. Eventually the kids and even the skating parents get used to you and treat you like a skater and not a lunatic! There's plenty of us out here just like you.

[BatikatII]

I am an adult skater who didn't start learning til I was 38 and don't' mind the term as long as it's not used derogatively.

I do have to work very hard to stop looking like a skater who learned as an adult though, (as opposed to one who learnt as a child who - even if they have had a long lay-off before coming back to the sport - invariably look more at home on the ice than most adult learners can ever hope to achieve).

We just had a skate camp at our rink and I was extremely gratified when one of the parents watching told me I didn't look any different to the kids out on the ice and I wasn't in the lowest group either.

As more skaters continue in skating once they reach adulthood I think the derogatory use of the term 'adult skater' will hopefully fade, as well as the fact that more and more adults who learnt as adults are proving that they can learn to skate as well as some of the kids.

I only skate about 2-3 hours a week with 1.5 of those hours being in lessons (2 free skating and one ice dance).

[Rusty Blades]

I do not have one scrap of talent! Nothing comes naturally and I have to work like a fiend for every single new thing I learn.

Me to, only I started at 56! My coach has the patience of a SAINT because I learn in a month what the kids learn in an HOUR! (Then I forget half of it before the next lesson!)

[RachelSk8er]

I think the lack of natural talent is why I've actually stuck with skating for so long. I learn things quickly and easily so as a kid and in college, I never had to try or work hard in school (well except law school now), was good at music, art, my job came relatively easy, etc. However, with skating, I've always had to *work* hard to be successful and achieve my goals.

[Skittl1321]

One of the positive comments I've gotten from my coach about how she loves teaching an adult is this:

When we work on moves, right before I start she asks me to name the 5 things she's told me to focus on for the move. I can answer all 5, and if I think about it, can attempt to apply them. She tells me her kid skaters often just look blankly- having forgot the focus. (These are things like "don't back off on the first 3-turn, deep knee bend on each crossover, don't look down, use all the space on the end pattern, finish with as much speed as possible: not really big technical things)

Another coach also mentioned that he loves that he'll give us footwork in class one week, and I remember what it is the next week. The kids can all do the footwork, I usually can't, when he tells them it, but none of them remember it the next week (and he usually doesn't either, until he asks me).

[singerskates]

I still don't know how true "adult skaters" (in the stereotypical sense of an adult who doesn't even strap on a pair of skates until they were adults) do it. I'd be scared to death to flat out be learning to skate at my age (or older)!

It's easy. We were the coach potatoes who use to just watch our favourite skaters compete and do ice shows on TV and/or in person. But then one of our favourite skaters inspired us to try skating for ourselves. So then we try inline skating first because well, we don't know anything about any skating clubs or ice skating at all in our own towns. But soon, some how through the grapevine we find out about a group of adults skating at a local rink. So we go to check it out with a newly bought department store no support skates. The adult skaters that are there at the rink take pity on us helping us to get the basics. We continue for a while like this. Then we have no ice for a time. See an ad about ice when we've already become hooked but still can't do much, so we go and do something foolish but find that if we can make it through that, skating isn't all that scary as we thought. So then we search out skating clubs and join one to take real lessons. The rest is history. The reason we keep on skating is that we the real "adult skater" are addicted for life. And even though we thought we'd not skate through the summer, we couldn't help ourselves and signed up anyway. We adult skaters are the most consistant with attendance at the summer skating school.

How do I feel abot being called an adult skater? Happy. It took quite a while to become an adult. It's easy to just put on a pair of skates and stand on the ice. But to be an adult skater, an adult who doesn't just put on the pair of skates and stand there but does things on the ice with the skates, learns, creates, executes and emotes feelings from the bottom of our blades to the top of our grey (or someday grey) hairs with our movements on the ice is joyous. Where else can an adult play like a kid sharing their heart?

Although, I must admit. I want to look like the best skater I can be. So I must quit examining what I'm doing on the ice with my head almost planted in the ice and say a keyword to myself "audience". This gets me to lift my head and share my soul with the audience which fixes my posture everything else. Then I can be a better looking skater who happens to be an adult and that's the kind of adult skater I want to be.

[JazzySkate]

I've always been proud of being an adult skater and I've been skating for 28 yrs. Yes, I've had sarcastic comments thrown at me: "Are you going for the Olympics?" "Skating's for kids!" as well as compliments. Not to brag but I've tested, competed, including the first two AN's and wish I could dangle every test result and medal high 'n dry in front of those negative talkers and say: "Now-what was that about skating being for kids??!"

Second, my old coach used to always tell me I couldn't learn certain things because I was an "adult skater

Interesting. Before AN (some) coaches were reluctant/refused to teach adults. They figured adults weren't "going to the Olympics" so why bother teaching them. Adult Skating Camps, Adult Level Groups, etc. didn't exist. After ANs the adult skating community boomed as well as skating programs for adults and (some) coaches who were reluctant to teach adults "suddenly" realized that was another source of income for them. Bet your old coach is now teaching adults(!)

Be proud you're an adult skater - through AN we've finally gotten the recognition we deserve : ) I've taught tots - adults and I never hesitate to teach adults nor do I demean their confidence because I truly understand how they're feeling: I started out the same way they did: afraid, yet determined to learn.

[sk8lady]

Another coach also mentioned that he loves that he'll give us footwork in class one week, and I remember what it is the next week. The kids can all do the footwork, I usually can't, when he tells them it, but none of them remember it the next week (and he usually doesn't either, until he asks me).

I don't personally remember a thing. I write everything down in a little notebook with a pretty cover that HappySkates gave me last year, usually before I even get off the ice because otherwise I menopausally forget everything instantly!! (Probably ought to cross-reference this to the "getting old sucks" thread)

There was something else I was going to add but I've forgotten what it was...

[Morgail]

Generally, I don't mind it. I am an adult who skates. I do mind it when it's used in a condescending way. The people at the rinks I skate at seem to be supportive of adult skaters, so I don't often hear the term used in a bad way.

What I really, really don't like are generalizations of adult skaters - ie. we're slower, we take longer to learn things, we don't like to jump or we'll never learn doubles, we all learned to skate as adults (or, the opposite - we're trying to relive the glory days of our youth). Not all of those things are true of every adult skater. Everyone is different, and it annoys me when people think all adult skaters are the same. Someone may not like to jump, but she might pick up dances faster than the kids. Someone else may have learned as an adult, but is landing doubles now. Generalizations aren't true of kid skaters, so why should they be true of adult skaters?

[coskater64]

Well, I was a horrible skater as a child...so ...at the age of 44, I am an adult, and I do skate. That is the end of it, my life, my sport that I enjoy.:twisted::twisted:

[samba]

I'm an adult skater who thinks she's a kid, trouble is the body doesnt believe me.

[looplover]

I'm fine with it - the adult skaters are well-respected at my rink because we've got one of the top masters skaters there (I always think that may be why, anyway). Now at my last rink the kids didn't respect us as much and it used to bug me!

Plus as I get older I like it...it'll be a lot of fun to be called an adult skater when I'm 70!

[RachelSk8er]

It's easy. We were the coach potatoes who use to just watch our favourite skaters compete and do ice shows on TV and/or in person. But then one of our favourite skaters inspired us to try skating for ourselves. So then we try inline skating first because well, we don't know anything about any skating clubs or ice skating at all in our own towns. But soon, some how through the grapevine we find out about a group of adults skating at a local rink. So we go to check it out with a newly bought department store no support skates. The adult skaters that are there at the rink take pity on us helping us to get the basics. We continue for a while like this. Then we have no ice for a time. See an ad about ice when we've already become hooked but still can't do much, so we go and do something foolish but find that if we can make it through that, skating isn't all that scary as we thought. So then we search out skating clubs and join one to take real lessons. The rest is history. The reason we keep on skating is that we the real "adult skater" are addicted for life. And even though we thought we'd not skate through the summer, we couldn't help ourselves and signed up anyway. We adult skaters are the most consistant with attendance at the summer skating school.



It's not the "how do you find a club" that's hard...if I hadn't started as a kid, I don't think I'd be able to put on a pair of skates and learn to skate at age 27 if I hadn't been on the ice before! I'd be scared to death.

[Mrs Redboots]

It's not the "how do you find a club" that's hard...if I hadn't started as a kid, I don't think I'd be able to put on a pair of skates and learn to skate at age 27 if I hadn't been on the ice before! I'd be scared to death.
But you're just a baby! I started skating at the age of 42, when you and my daughter were about 14. But then, if I had skated as a kid, I would have given up because I am not a natural athlete (I'm not any sort of athlete, really!); as an adult, I don't care. I love skating, and it's good exercise.

[Bill_S]

I love skating, and it's good exercise.



Me too. Sometimes when asked about why I started figure skating again at age 50 (8 years ago), I say my doctor told me to do something for exercise or have a heart attack.

I go on to tell how I lost 20 pounds in the first year, and they start to see the light. That's usually enough to satisfy their questioning.

[singerskates]

It's not the "how do you find a club" that's hard...if I hadn't started as a kid, I don't think I'd be able to put on a pair of skates and learn to skate at age 27 if I hadn't been on the ice before! I'd be scared to death.

It's my love for the music, skating and the chance to share myself with an audience when I've finally got my program together that keeps me coming back to the ice. Plus I love how it feels to move on the ice. I started at the age of 38 and I'm now 46. When I started I had just broken my elbow and my surgeon didn't want me to go near an arena. I told him right there in the hospital after waking up, that as soon as the eight weeks were up, that I was going to join a skating club and get lessons. In 2005 I had a work place accident and the doctors said that I wouldn't be able to skate again. I proved them wrong even though for a year, I was not really sure I could come back. I had to start all over again and be extra careful because of my herniated discs (upperback). But I'm determined to prove that I can skate well dispite what I've gone through. It's my never give up spirit, wanting to fight my way out of a corner and the challenge that keeps me interested.

Oh, I forget to answer the question, "How do you feel?"

I'm going to answer, "With my hands." ROTFLOL

[Sk8Dreamer]

HAHAHAHA!!

I did not start skating till I was 28 and I do not have one scrap of talent! Nothing comes naturally and I have to work like a fiend for every single new thing I learn. I didn't start making progress till I started skating at least 4 hours a week (but with only 5 months of ice a year it's still been awfully hard to move ahead...). It took me forever to get my scratch spin. I'm hoping to get my loop before I'm so old that I have to use a walker to get out on the ice but after 15 minutes of working on it I'm so sore that I have to stop!

But, having said that, I'm finally working on more advanced spins--my coach just started me on a layback and the sit-backsit is starting to look like a real spin--and I competed at Adult Nationals this year (I qualified by passing the first six ice dances, which allows you to compete in Interpretive) and I wasn't last (not that there's anything WRONG with that!).

You just have to keep plugging away at it. Eventually the kids and even the skating parents get used to you and treat you like a skater and not a lunatic! There's plenty of us out here just like you.

I also have no skating talent, while everything else in my life came pretty easily. So except the bit about age 28--I'm a lot older than that!--it all sounds pretty familiar...until I get to the part abut loops and spins. After several years of skating, I still can't get a backward, one-foot glide strong or long enough to manage back edges; my 3-turns look like Frankenstein on ice; and suddenly I'm freezing up on crossovers. Talk about frustrating! Spins and jumps seem like things I'll never experience as anything but a spectator! I also made my best progress when skating more than 3 or 4 hours a week. But I just don't have time to skate more than that--especially considering the time in the car to get to and from the rink (not to mention the cost of gas!!!)--and my "progress" feels to me like it's going backward. Skating is the most challenging thing I've ever tried, and I love it, but I'm afraid the challenge part is beginning to wear me out. I certainly don't expect myself to skate like a kid, and I don't mind being an adult skater or being seen AS an adult skater, but I don't like possibly being seen as the "why the heck is she even trying" adult skater on the ice.

[quarkiki2]

I feel like I'm an adult skater in the truest sense of the word. In that I'm and adult and a skater :)

That being said, right now there are so many things happening in life (what with the two small children and all) that my focus is on staying comfortable out there, nailing everything in my synchro programs, and learning a real scratch spin. So, in other words, the same as last year. And I'm fine with that -- I don't live close enough to the rink to make extra practices, so I'm happy learning my beginner dances and skating with my team!

I competed for the first time this past April and my only goals were to a) skate a solo program and b) not look like Frankenstein's monster. I met both goals, so I consider it a success. :)

[starskate6.0]

You did the right thing dumping your old coach . Nobody (including my coaches have ever said Im to old to do anything.. Iv tried triples , death drops and back flips and my coach has never said ( No you can't ).... Im 49.

skate till you drop honey. Its what keeps you alive, its why your here I applaud you......:bow::bow:


I was wondering something. Do you like or dislike being called an adult skater if you are one? Either way, why?

I truly don't. I am an adult and I do skate however. I've thought about this some. I think it's because when I first started skating a skating parent called me an "adult skater" and didn't say it very nice. I felt like a dirty word sorta at the time. Second, my old coach used to always tell me I couldn't learn certain things because I was an "adult skater". I hated this to say the least. (I have learned many of things I wasn't supposed to do. =-) ) Anyhow, I just say I skate. I just leave out the adult, because it's obvious I am one.

I really would like to hear your thoughts.

teresa

[jskater49]

I don't mind being an adult skater or being called and adult skater and I don't mind having lower standards to pass. I'm estatic that I've turned 50 and can pass dances at a lower standard. Becuase I work darn hard just to get to that lower standard. I'm not 18, I don't look like an 18 year old, I don't skate like an 18 year old and I never will skate like an 18 year old and I'm fine with that.

[teresa]

starskate6.0,

Thanks. =-) To set the record straight, I didn't DUMP my old coach. I did make a change looking for someone who believed in letting me determine my abilities and not a label, adult skater. I also needed a positive coaching style. I truly believe my old coach believed that adults who didn't skate as children couldn't learn more advanced skills. My new coach just keeps pushing me along with an open mind and I am learning more difficult skills. Granted, I don't have the finese of a child or child to adult skater. Still, I am learning and improving. I also take longer in learning these skills but if I don't give up I can. Having a coach who treats me like I can, and not forever telling me that I can't, makes a big difference in my attitude. I probably will skate until I can't. =-) I love the challenge of the sport. I'm impressed with all the skills you have learned. Wow! My hardest skills are novice moves (adult gold) and silver/gold (adult) freestyle. I would like to try doubles someday. I've got the falling thing down pat. =-) May never get this far but having a positive minded coach keeps me motivated that maybe I could. Gotta set high goals. =-)

teresa

[celticprincess]

I don't mind being an 'adult' skater, even though I look very young for my age and fit in with the seventeen yr old elite skaters. Im actually glad to crossover to the adult skating track, so then I wont be up against a 5 yr old contortionist(like at my first comp...*cringes*). My biggest issue is my parent's POV on it. My mum is under the impression that since I started late that I really shouldn't be competiting or even doing shows. She thinks Im much too old for that sort of thing being 22. She will not set foot on the ice because she hurt her knee the last time she was on it and afraid to come back. I try to tell her that theres a whole divison for adult skating and in my case Showcase skating...but she just does NOT understand. It gets me so mad sometimes. What does she expect adults to do sit around and stay on the sidelines and watch kids achieve their goals. I mean sure, there is NO chance I will ever make it to Olympics and I've known that since the day I started. My severly closed hips will not allow it and that sort of dream is not realistic. But what's so wrong with adults wanting to compete at small non qualifing comps or ANs?

My dad and the rest of my family LOVE the idea of me skating and it's been something that makes me stand out. My grandma on my dads side is dying to come a see me skate as are my aunts and uncles. This just gets frustrating because I'm a naturally born performer and skating is something that I actually feel like Im doing well in. And not having the chance to showcase it, saddens me. Has anyone had simular experences? Please share.

[Mrs Redboots]

My dad and the rest of my family LOVE the idea of me skating and it's been something that makes me stand out. My grandma on my dads side is dying to come a see me skate as are my aunts and uncles. This just gets frustrating because I'm a naturally born performer and skating is something that I actually feel like Im doing well in. And not having the chance to showcase it, saddens me. Has anyone had simular experences? Please share.Not really, although my parents thought - and still do think - that the idea of unathletic, klutzy me doing something as graceful as skating when a fat, middle-aged woman - a bit ridiculous. However, they have also seen me standing on the top step of the podium at an international competition, something they never thought they'd see in this lifetime!

You go and skate and enjoy your father's side of the family's approbation! Your mother will either come round or she won't, and there's not a lot you can do about it either way. But you may tell her from me that there are many skaters still competing well into their seventies and beyond!

[Rusty Blades]

Has anyone had similar experiences? Please share.

When I was 14 and took an interest in skating, my mother felt skating was a waste of time and money because I was "too old" and "would never go anywhere". My sister was 9 and, well, skating was ok for her. So I paid my own way as much as I could. I worked weekends for the skating club president, volunteered at the club (just to get on the ice) and skated until age 19 when I wrecked. I never had any support or encouragement but it didn't matter because I was doing it because I loved it. I knew I didn't have a prayer in competition but it didn't matter.

Thirty six years later (that's 36!), I decided to get back into skating for exercise. Despite having ZERO retained skill, within 3 months I got talked into trying for the Canadian Adult Championships the following spring (2007). Being alone at that point in my life, all my support and encouragement has come from other adult skaters. It didn't matter, I was doing this for ME and I made it to Adults in 2007 and again this year. This year I brought home a Bronze in Freeskate IV, the oldest age group, and I have NO inclination to give up competition yet, not as long as I am physically able to skate.

I think, as an adult, most people just don't get it. I am sure you will find your major support and encouragement from other adult skaters and from those who coach them. Make connections, value those friendships, and don't worry about what others think or say.

[Petlover]

I started skating 11 years ago at age 43, and my older sister started skiing around the same time. My mom was horrified, those activities weren't for middle aged women! But, it was okay for her 60 year old friend to start playing the violin. You guessed it, my mom has a master's in music, and taught piano and violin, and she never really approved of athletic activities. She's used to my skating now and even asks about it occasionally.

Luckily, my husband has always been super supportive. My best adult friends are my fellow skaters! And my doctor has told me many times that ice skating is absolutely the best exercise for me since I have pretty severe asthma.

[Sk8Dreamer]

all my support and encouragement has come from other adult skaters.

You were lucky to have that. My rink has few adult skaters, all at different levels, and no ice time set aside just for us. I'm usually out there with kids under 18 who are serious competitive skaters. One would think (or maybe one wouldn't!) that they'd respect, if not admire, an older person getting on the ice and trying to learn to skate, but my feeling is that I'm just an annoyance to them, and that they'd really rather I wasn't there. (And trust me, they get in my way a hell of a lot more than I get in theirs.) It's kind of disheartening and definitely intimidating, and it makes learning to skate even more difficult for me. (But I refuse to give up!)