My club rink is poorly maintained.

[Black Sheep]

Every Wednesday, I have to get up at 5:00 a.m. to make my private lesson at my club rink, which has clearly disintegrated over time. When I step on the ice, it isn't just chopped up from the session before--it's purely unskatable mush. Also there are little "hills" on the red lines which make centering spins impossible. On humid days, the plexiglass fogs up, and it's like skating in a gas chamber.

My club rink closes every August for its month of annual maintenance. When it opened up for the new season last week, it was in worse condition than ever. My coach says ever since our beloved "head" maintenance guy died in late 2007, the rink's condition has clearly declined. The people who run it now will not fix it: They tell us they'd have to close the rink for six months to fix everything and get it all up to high-quality standards.

For months, I've been begging my coach to come to my (well-maintained) practice rink for our lessons. He is well known and liked there, but he says right now he can't afford the PSA fees or whatever is required for the credentials to teach there.

I cannot go on dragging my butt to that poorly-maintained rink every Wednesday morning, but my coach is great and I don't want to burn any bridges between us. I've got a whole week to figure out how to get myself out of this rut....

[Isk8NYC]

My sympathies and I don't think the mgt is lying to you about the time frame to fix the problem. They do need to develop a plan to do the repairs before they lose business and/or have a catastrophic event. It's not going to get any less expensive to wait - more things will go wrong.

Our rink (county-owned rink operated by a management company) started a construction project to replace the Header pipe early this past summer. Think deep ditches around the outside, heavy construction equipment, fumes, and piles of dirt all around the rink for months. The management had to wait for the County's financial/contractual go-ahead to do the repairs and it came through unexpectedly after the summer programs had already taken registrations. They struggled through with a few interruptions, but many of the skaters and coaches moved to other rinks. Some of them don't seem interested in coming back to our rink, even after it reopens.

The old header cracked/lifted the concrete under the ice and also created 4' of "permafrost" underground. We've been without ice since Labor Day waiting for the permafrost to go down enough for them to repair the concrete and lay new ice. Hopefully, we'll be back up this Saturday, not that it really helps me much - I'm in NY/NJ next week for business so I'm losing another week of lessons.

[Black Sheep]

I just want to tell my coach I just can't skate there anymore. It's not good for me or my blades. He will come join me at my practice rink when he gets his stuff together....

[jazzpants]

Isk8NYC: Your rink sounded exactly like my rink a couple of years ago. We thought the first repair would fix the pipes, but it ended up being this long two month where we had to melt everything, and drill concrete to get to the ice. It was awful, though we are thankful that we had other rinks to go to and we do NOT have to go thru the same this year. Yup! No ice maintenance scheduled this year, so the rink stays open this year! :)

Black Sheep: I suspect that eventually your badly maintained rink will eventually be forced to shut down for repairs anyway. That said, hope that your coach will end up with a deluge of his other students begging him to go to your nice rink. Maybe that might work. Otherwise, well it's his business...

[herniated]

Black sheep - does your coach teach at any other rinks or only the crappy one?

[Isk8NYC]

I just want to tell my coach I just can't skate there anymore. It's not good for me or my blades. He will come join me at my practice rink when he gets his stuff together....

If you like him as your coach, don't burn the bridge. There's more to it than just what you want, you should consider your coach's position.

Some rinks do require PSA membership and accreditation, which it sounds like he is lacking. That's a costly financial investment ($120+ for the first year, plus annual membership and educational fees.) A single lesson each week won't help him break even. There's a long-term benefit because it makes a coach more mobile, educated, and (theoretically) attractive to new students. But, it's his decision and pocketbook.

I know of several rinks that lowered their PSA requirement for "guest coaches" but they pay a higher commission and don't teach any group lessons. That might be part of his reluctance and if you're really committed to changing rinks, you should be prepared for a lesson rate hike if he were to join them there.

Sounds like you think they won't care, but I would warn the management that you're very unhappy with the conditions and are "scaling back" your time at that rink in order to spend time at the better-maintained rink. I think they need a wakeup call.

I've known several rink managers that flipped out when they found out that a student was being coached at a different rink, especially by one of their own rink's coaches. They see it as an affront and a form of "poaching." In some cases, the management has banned coaches on the grounds that they violated their coaching contract.

Be honest with your coach, but be prepared to find a new coach if you're so determined to leave that rink.

[Black Sheep]

Be honest with your coach, but be prepared to find a new coach if you're so determined to leave that rink.

Either that or face having to do without a coach.

[Terri C]

Black Sheep,
I'm also having a issue with what was my main rink being poorly maintained.
The management has done everything and then some to get figure skating out of the building, from implementing difficult and costly contract ice, to letting go of our beloved ice monitor, cancelling sessions at the drop of a hat for hockey, you name it. Now, freestyle sessions are gone altogether and if we want lessons, it has to be on public ice, which was full of bumps and divots yesterday after the pre session cut.
My primary coach is one of only a very few that still teach there, and she has lost students to this situation. Because of her daughters' after school schedules, it's very difficult for her to travel to the two other rinks in our area to teach. Thankfully Secondary coach teaches at both the other rinks in the area and I can get lessons at either rink from him.
To add to it, the smaller sized rink near my house has had insanely crowded freestyles as a result and quite a few coaches from Problem Rink have moved over there.

[RachelSk8er]

Either that or face having to do without a coach.

I'm without lessons at the moment due to too many schedule conflicts between ice time, my coach's availability and my work/school schedules (and I've previously gone stretches without lessons for the same reason). It's not too hard, especially if it's competition season and your main concern is running your program, but you can develop bad habits in your jumps/spins without realizing it if you're not having regular check-ups. If you go coachless, at least try to get with your coach once every few weeks to make sure this isn't happening.

Or find a new coach. It sucks having to leave a good coach (I may need to do this for this season in order to reach my goals and it breaks my heart), but if other circumstances surrounding taking from that coach are not in your best interest and not in line with your skating goals, it's time to make a switch. I understand your coach not wanting to go through PSA/club resigstration and other issues at a new club if it is not financially beneficial for him/her.

[sk8ryellow]

Well I would first like to apologize for you having to skate on such crappy ice.

However, the fog on the glass and feeling like skating in a gas chamber is due to your rink not having a dehumidifier. Your rink needs a dehumidifier and those can cost up to 6,000 dollars. My rink does not have one but they maintain the ice which is always in excellent condition. The bumps on the ice however is unacceptable! Have any of your ice maitnance people been to NARCE? It is a seminar for maintaining ice and they would benefit from it. As for your coach not having a PSA acredidation in my opinion is unacceptable and the other rink is fully right not letting him teach without it. With all the new rules being put into affect your coach needs a PSA accredidation.

[Skittl1321]

I notice you are from Colorado Springs, so I'm making assumptions about your skating environment, but this statement, makes me think you are really making assumptions about others environments.

As for your coach not having a PSA acredidation in my opinion is unacceptable and the other rink is fully right not letting him teach without it. With all the new rules being put into affect your coach needs a PSA accredidation.

There are MANY good coaches out there without PSA accredidation. In some areas it's just not held as the be-all-end-all, and many coaches do not spend the money on it. The new rules really only affect qualifying skaters, and at a lot of the rinks I've been at, those skaters are not the majority taking lessons.

I can think of 3 coaches at my rink who have PSA accredidation, but they are actually based out of a different rink. Of those who consider my rink their "home" rink, NONE of them are PSA members.

It is not the norm in all areas, and lack of PSA creds doesn't make me think the OP has a coach problem.

[Black Sheep]

....and lack of PSA creds doesn't make me think the OP has a coach problem.

I don't. I want to please him with my best quality skating, which is impossible to do on crappy ice!

[Isk8NYC]

Skittl-ITA with everything you said.

In NY/NJ, the PSA only made inroads on new members because the USFSA put it in their requirements for coaches. Most of the rinks DO NOT require those credentials - they instead use their own judgement in hiring the best instructors. Probably why the pay scale for group lessons is higher in that area.

It's naive to believe the PSA has a magic wand that turns bad coaches into good just by paying a membership fee or taking a test.

[techskater]

I notice you are from Colorado Springs, so I'm making assumptions about your skating environment, but this statement, makes me think you are really making assumptions about others environments.



There are MANY good coaches out there without PSA accredidation. In some areas it's just not held as the be-all-end-all, and many coaches do not spend the money on it. The new rules really only affect qualifying skaters, and at a lot of the rinks I've been at, those skaters are not the majority taking lessons.

I can think of 3 coaches at my rink who have PSA accredidation, but they are actually based out of a different rink. Of those who consider my rink their "home" rink, NONE of them are PSA members.

It is not the norm in all areas, and lack of PSA creds doesn't make me think the OP has a coach problem.

There are also great coaches w/o PSA accreditation becuase they cannot afford it.

[sk8ryellow]

Actually you guys are very correct! I wasn't thinking at the time and with the costs of the PSA if someone doesn't have many students it really isn't worth it. I take my unacceptable PSA comment back, lol!!! I wasn't really thinking!

[Black Sheep]

Okay, I'll give my club rink one more chance this Wednesday morning. If the ice still isn't better, I will tell my coach right then and there I love him (respect-wise) but I'm through with my get-up-at-5am-to-skate-on-crappy-ice routine.

[Black Sheep]

Instead, I called up my coach last night and told him I just couldn't take 7am lessons on crappy ice anymore. I told him it was a waste of my time and his if I couldn't perform up to par. He was quite understanding. Maybe that will motivate him to get his stuff together and join me at my practice rink! 8-)